Sienna Jackson / Roundup
The national debt is like a spiraling cluster bomb of misery at this point. And a lot of the frustrations people are feeling center on just how we spend the money we still (still?) have, on the state and national level.
Think back to last year’s lack of budget resolution in California, when we went months without an approved budget for the state.
In the end, the budget that actually got approved cut deep furrows in all the wrong areas, particularly in higher education spending.
It seems a little counterintuitive that, in the midst of nationwide economic woes and a deficit of innovation and progress on our own soil, we would undercut the very means to future economic success.
After all, an uneducated workforce can only drive an economy so far before it becomes a liability.
Education is critical in developing a more effective workforce equipped with marketable skills.
These are people who can become high earners, entrepreneurs and small business owners, a vital part to any healthy economy.
It is through education that people can create opportunities to innovate, create and stay competitive.
It’s trends like that that serve as the driving force of a prosperous society, and the current budget does not encourage this growth.
Instead, these cuts to education will only hobble the people of California, people who are demanding the right to affordable education even as the opportunity is drawing farther away from them.
Enrollment at Pierce College alone has already topped 103 percent, the result of an influx of new students seeking to become more competitive in the job market, and we’re quickly reaching overcapacity.
It’s no wonder that students and educators are taking to the streets; on Monday, March 14, both Victory and Winnetka Boulevard will be closed for Pierce’s involvement in the ‘March in March’ protests across California.
With the state toeing the line of bankruptcy, we’ll all have to tighten our belts. Let’s just not do it at the cost of our future.
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