Cuts to higher ed approved

[NewsCopy]

  BATON ROUGE - Three higher education boards reluctantly approved budget cuts Thursday that will lead to faculty furloughs, reduced class offerings and higher tuition and fees.

The moves were taken to implement their portions of a $109 million reduction in higher education funding for the second half of this school year. Board members said that what makes it worse is that they are looking at a cut three times that size in June when a new state budget is adopted.

Cuts approved by the executive committees of the boards that oversee the University of Louisiana System, Community and Technical College and Southern University systems account for about $58 million of the total.

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Mike Hasten and Tina Marie Macias
mhasten@gannett.com
tmacias@theadvertiser.com

[MissingMandy]

I guess I don't understand...where did all the money go for the oil windfall? Did I miss something? They can't cut corners elsewhere, just higher education, so vitally important to Louisiana?

[LSUalum1]

I don't know. I used to be a Jindal supporter, but I've disagreed with him since he's become Gov. more than I have agreed with him.

I doubt if I would vote for him again. Of course, you never say never.

[RaginFan2]

_ I guess I don't understand...where did all the money go for the oil windfall? Did I miss something? They can't cut corners elsewhere, just higher education, so vitally important to Louisiana? _

Louisiana has a bizarre setup whereby most public expenditures are constitutionally protected. The biggest unprotected expenditures? Education and health care. They account for about 65% of the total available pool of expenditures open to cuts from what I have read. Does that make sense? And why are we #50 (or at least bottom 5) in health care and education? Hmmm, I wonder ...

[CajunNation]

I guess I don't understand...where did all the money go for the oil windfall? Did I miss something?

Our state budgets with money they don't have. They budget with money they think they are going to have. When the proce of oil went through the roof, they budgeted like they won the lottery and spent like it as well.

Now that the bills are coming due, the price of oil has hit bottom.

We spent money we never had. We promised money we will never get.

Hence, the butcher knives are out, and higher education is on the butcher block.

Don't you just love this state?