Thursday, March 31, 2011

By Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Keishia Coleman is a building cleaner at the University of Pittsburgh. She’s also studying there to become a nurse, aided by a benefit under which Pitt, like other schools, covers most tuition costs for full-time employees. She fears that if Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed halving of state funding to public universities leads Pitt to lay off workers, she could lose not only her current livelihood, but the financial help she needs to start a new career.
“It’s not just myself,” said Ms. Coleman, 41, of Stanton Heights, one of about 100 students and campus employees who rallied outside Pitt’s student union Wednesday protesting the governor’s deep cuts.
“There are many other workers here who are facilitating their education through the university,” she said. “They also have children who go here.”
Turnout for the rally on a campus of 26,000 students was far smaller than organizers had wished. But among those who did attend, there was little doubt about their feelings toward a proposed 2011-12 state budget that, at Pitt, could mean a loss approaching $110 million in aid.
Mr. Corbett has said the painful cuts he recommended are necessary to help plug a budget deficit of more than $4 billion that is a drag on Pennsylvania’s economy. He said public university students in the state already were enduring yearly tuition increases, even before he made his recommendations.
But those words garnered little sympathy Wednesday from rally-goers, including some union officials. Calls of “Governor Corporate” could be heard, with some in the audience chiding Mr. Corbett’s steadfast refusal shore up state finances by taxing natural gas produced by drilling into the state’s vast Marcellus Shale.
Standing on a porch of the William Pitt Union with the Cathedral of Learning as a backdrop, speaker after speaker warned of the budget proposal’s impact on Pitt students, employees and the region.
Some like Julia Johnson, 18, a Pitt freshman from the South Side, told the crowd she fears the cuts would necessitate a tuition increase large enough to drive her from campus.
Phil LaRue, 22, a senior from West Chester, Pa., warned that Mr. Corbett would pay a political price if his budget plan prevails. Mr. LaRue said he expects to be $40,000 in debt by graduation and that students following him could face even more onerous debt if the governor gets his way.
“He wants to shut the door of opportunity on thousands of young Pennsylvanians who just want to better themselves through education,” Mr. LaRue said. “We will not let this happen.”
He said the state’s economic vitality and educational opportunities should not be sacrificed in the name of giving corporations tax breaks.
“We don’t want to live in a state where the size of your bank account and not your talent and not your ambition [and] not your drive to succeed in life determines whether or not you even get a chance at success,” he said.
The rally was organized by student representatives as part of a bigger push at the state’s 18 public universities to mobilize students. A few of the rally-goers held signs, including one that read, “Balancing the budget on middle class families is not the way.”