Cuts at CUNY: A Call to Action

Ambivalent as many people may be about CUNY, I can say that it won't get any better with $60 million less in state funding. Here's the following from the Professional Staff Congress:

Dear Colleagues:

I am writing with an urgent request for you to call your New York State Assemblymember this morning. You can find out who your Assemblymember is by entering your zip code on the Assembly site; if more than one representative is listed for your zip code, call them all: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/.

The New York State Legislature has been called back for an emergency session starting Tuesday, August 19. Today—Thursday—is the critical day to influence the Democratic majority in the Assembly, as they are preparing their position on the two issues that affect us: whether to accept Governor Paterson’s proposed $60 million cut to CUNY, and whether to approve a right-wing proposal for “tax caps” that would be the death-knell of public education funding.

The message is: “Stay firm on support for public education. As a constituent, I am calling on you to oppose any further cuts to CUNY and to oppose the tax cap. The proposed cuts to CUNY are an outright attack on the thousands of people who rely on CUNY for a college education. The property tax cap is a gimmick that would not provide real relief on local taxes and would devastate public education.”

The Assembly Democrats may decide their position this afternoon; we have to let them hear from us this morning. (If you don’t get this message in time, it will still make a difference if you call before Tuesday.) Thank you.

In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen
President