An Open Letter to Governor Brown and the Board of Regents: Refund Students, Not Wall Street Years into

a crisis caused by Wall Street, the 1% owe a tremendous debt to students. But California has an opportunity in this years state budget to refund this next generation. The corporate elite have made their money back and then some, in large part by winning tax breaks for themselves that have cost billions in cuts to education from pre-k through post-graduate. As a result, tuition is up 300%, and graduation for many now means unemployment and crushing student debt. The 1% are morally obliged to repay this debt to the next generation and this years state budget is the right place to start. Taxes on millionaires headed to the ballot this November will provide up to $9 billion in new revenue this year alone. If Governor Brown and the Regents really want Californians to vote for these initiatives, they need to promise now that enough of the new revenue will be set aside to reverse tuition hikes to 2010 levels and guarantee no further hikes for the next four years. This will fulfill our moral obligation as a state and assure Californians that the tax revenue measures are not a blank check. Unfortunately, UC, CSU, community college executives and the Governor seem hell bent on undermining the publics confidence in themselves and the tax initiatives. Instead of promising tuition rollbacks, they are negotiating Compacts behind closed doors that would increase tuition by up to 15% over the next four years. Just as bad, the deal would turn funding for the three systems into a blank check by removing nearly all oversight and safeguards, including: Elimination of enrollment targets, ending the right established by Governor Browns father for all qualified California students to gain admission to higher ed institutions. Elimination of protections for outreach and retention programs for underrepresented students. Unprecedented discretion for UC Regents many of whom are tied to Wall Street to use operating dollars in seeking loans for construction of legacy facilities, despite major conflicts of interest. Shifting responsibility for debt service payment on UCs bonds from the state to UC a move that with market volatility and rising interest payments could set UC on a path towards even greater tuition increases.

As if this deal wasnt bad enough, Governor Browns budget proposes to use new revenue from the tax measures that could have gone to tuition rollbacks for accelerating Californias bond repayments to the very same Wall Street banks that crashed our economy and buried our students in debt. Why would Californians vote these tax initiatives if this is how Sacramento plans to spend the money? We call on the Governor and the boards of the UC, CSU, and community college systems abandon their back room deal and put refunding higher education at the center of the state's budget process. Equally, we call on our state legislative leaders to reject inclusion of any such back room deal in the state budget. Finally, we call on our higher ed systems and Sacramento alike to commit that new revenue from the tax initiatives will go to stopping cuts to essential services, dignified retirement for low-wage workers, refunding education, and reversing tuition hikes. If the revenue measures pass, the money will be there to fulfill this commitment and give a new chance to our young generations. If you do not make this commitment, you put the revenue initiatives on the path to failure. Sincerely,