Monday morning TCCTA president Susan Edwards testified before the Subcommittee on Education of the House Appropriations Committee at the Capitol in Austin. Also testifying were officers of the Texas Association of Community Colleges William R. Crowe, president of Tyler Junior College and David E. Daniel, president of Midland College. Rey Garcia, executive director of TACC, provided additional testimony. Presidents and chancellors of community colleges from all over Texas were in attendance and stood simultaneously to be recognized.

 

Committee members listened intently as Ms. Edwards told them of students she knows personally who have achieved their dreams because of their local community college-whether in the transfer curriculum, developmental studies, or work force education. Proposed cuts could jeopardize these dreams, she said. Ms. Edwards mentioned categorically the need to adequately fund enrollment growth, health insurance, retirement programs, and the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund. The TIF includes the TexShare library program, and is set to expire if the Legislature does not restore it.

 

Ms. Edwards reminded the committee that 78% of the minority freshmen and sophomores attend community colleges. "If Closing the Gaps is to occur," she said, "it will occur in classrooms such as mine and in those of teachers all over Texas."

 

The word "crisis" is not an exaggeration these days, according to many community college leaders, who universally agree that the proposed budget, if adopted, would necessitate instructional curtailments more severe than any in recent memory. To compound the urgency, Governor Perry has proposed that community colleges pay 65% of the cost of health insurance for eligible employees, reversing a policy of providing such benefits that has existed since the 1970s.

 

Many schools are already curtailing course offerings, particularly in the summer, in an attempt to meet the Governor's mandate of seven percent cuts for the remainder of the current fiscal year. Travel budgets have been frozen on some campuses. A few college leaders, particularly from rural areas, worry that the viability of their institutions may be threatened by the proposed budget cuts.

 

TCCTA members are urged to contact their representatives and senators, urging them to support funding for Texas community and technical colleges. Visit the TCCTA Web site for useful information, including  the list of "tracked" bills, a printable "community college fact sheet," and a link to "Who Represents Me?" IMPORTANT: Do not write to public officials on college stationery, call or e-mail during the college work day, or use a college e-mail address.

 

The Web site also contains a printable TCCTA "Guide to Political Participation."