Higher Education needs a Bailout!

Tennessee's public universities and colleges are facing devastating budget cuts at a time when our state's economy desperately needs the opportunities that public higher education provides. Cuts proposed for next fiscal year, if approved, would cripple the state's ability to put its economy back on track. The federal government must act now to help Tennessee avoid such a catastrophe, by providing a bailout to the state with funding for higher education as a key priority. Tell me more

Talking Points

Higher education is an engine for economic growth. In the present economic climate our colleges, universities, and technical institutes are the largest job-creation program that the state has.
Cuts in the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Board of Regents budgets will decrease our ability to be innovative in areas such as new technology for medicine, communications, agriculture and alternative energy.
Although cuts to higher education appear to solve the immediate problem, they will only increase the state and national budgetary problems into the foreseeable future.
Investments in higher education are investments in the future of all Tennesseans. In the current economic environment, workers who face layoffs desperately need access to adequately funded state colleges, universities and technical institutes.
Public higher education provides opportunities for citizens to improve their skills. This in turn boosts the state's overall economic productivity and is a reliable way to establish a strong tax base and improve the Tennessee economy in the long term.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

(Edit Letter Below)

The economic crisis our country currently faces is truly daunting.

Everyone is talking about the bailouts for the financial services companies and for the "Big 3" automakers.  Almost no one is talking about the budget shortfalls facing states like Tennessee.

When economic growth slows, state tax revenues, like stock prices, fall.  In our state alone, the tax-collection deficit approaches $1,000,000,000.

Tennessee's state constitution requires a balanced budget at the end of each year.  When revenues fall, the governor and the General Assembly must reduce state spending accordingly. Currently higher education is a prime target for funding cuts.  Proposed reductions come after decades of under-funding of our state colleges, universities and technical institutes.

We know that higher education is immensely important if we are to get our economy back on track. Investments in public higher education are investments in the future of all Tennesseans. Ultimately these investments boost the state's overall economic productivity, and improve Tennessee's economy in the long term. In the present economic climate public higher education institutions are the largest job-creation program that the state has.

The General Assembly clearly recognizes the importance of higher education to create jobs and bring manufacturing to the state:  just today The Tennessean reported that state government will give Austin Peay State University $6.4 million to develop a curriculum to train employees to work in Hemlock Semiconductor's new polycrystalline silicon production facility in Clarksville, Tennessee.  This facility will employ between 500 and 800 Tennesseans.

In response to the crisis on Wall Street, Congress allocated $700 billion.  I urge you to act now and allocate federal funding to help offset state budget cuts to higher-education spending.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

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