A coalition of students, faculty and staff members isn't taking the cuts to the northwest's flagship public university lying down. And they want to shine a light on these effects to some of the University of Washington's lowest paid workers.
The newly formed Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition is holding a rally Thurs., May 28 at 11:30 a.m. to confront the school's governing Board of Regents with a list of alternatives to what president Mark Emmert has said would be the "market driven model" of higher tuition for the school's 47,000 students.
Propelled by record state budget cuts, the changes -- a two-year, 28 percent increase in tuition and fewer spaces for incoming students, combined with staff layoffs and program cuts -- mean that public education will cease to level out social inequality. "Because of institutional racism," says the group in its "Public Budget" proposal to the Regents, their cuts mean that "our university will not reflect the economic and racial makeup of Washington state but will be increasingly white, elite, and upper class."