February 8, 2005

ALBANY, N.Y. February 8, 2005 - New York State United Teachers today urged the Legislature to reject proposed cuts to SUNY and instead increase operating aid so the state university - as well as CUNY and the state's community colleges - can provide New Yorkers with an affordable, accessible and quality higher education.

"The single most important thing the Legislature can do is provide more operating aid to these institutions," said NYSUT President Thomas Y. Hobart Jr. The union president noted that state aid increases to SUNY and CUNY have averaged just over 2 percent a year since 1993-94 - not enough to even cover the rising costs of labor and energy. Hobart noted that, over the past 10 years, New York's rate of growth for public higher education ranks 41st among all U.S. states.

NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan B. Lubin said, "SUNY and CUNY are usually called 'state-funded' institutions, but with minimum funding increases over the last decade, they're barely even 'state-aided.' Maybe we should just call them 'state-located.'"

In testimony to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees Tuesday, Lubin said the level of operating aid proposed in the executive budget is not sufficient for SUNY and CUNY to carry out their missions. "These institutions simply cannot maintain stability under current levels of funding," Lubin said. "There simply isn't any fat left on the bone."

He said the proposed cuts to SUNY's budget - and the very slight increase for CUNY's senior colleges - would "not begin to undo the damage caused by years of underfunding and not-so-benign neglect."

Lubin called on legislators to recognize the critical role that colleges and universities play in fostering expansion of business and the state's economy.

"Today's economy is a high-tech, global economy that requires innovative research and highly trained, skilled workers that SUNY and CUNY supply," Lubin said. "Yet, instead of capitalizing on these assets by investing in them, the state is starving higher ed, providing the bare minimum in resources. We're not maximizing our potential to produce a workforce needed for the new economy."

Lubin said community college students had been treated even worse. The state is in violation of state law, he noted. The state is required to provide 40 percent of community college operating costs, but is only covering roughly 30 percent. Lubin called community colleges "a critical resource and economic engine in many places" and said the Legislature should reject the Governor's plan to shift more costs to students. "Community college students are paying too much," Lubin said. "It should be illegal, and it is."

NYSUT, the largest union in New York State, represents more than 500,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; academic and professional faculty at the state's community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York; and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.

CONTACT: NYSUT Media Relations and Communications. (518) 213-6000, Ext. 6313. E-Mail: mediarel@nysutmail.org.

NYSUT.ORG. Copyright New York State United Teachers. 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, New York, 12110-2455. 518.213.6000.