Comments for Jindal's higher ed cuts could set state back decades at http://www.theind.com , comment 1 to 10 out of 10 comments http://www.theind.com Thu, 23 May 2013 06:22:16 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1254 I work for a university. I struggle as a widow to put myself through school, I support my family, I don't get much money, I will probably never be able to retire on whatever small pension I can get, and if the state cuts my job, I'm going to send all my bills to the capitol and tell them to pay them. I pay taxes, I am cutting my living expenses to the bone while I watch these legislators continually whine about not making enough money and wanting a raise. Well, if they get a raise, I'm moving to another state. I have watched the fall of what used to be a fine city, New Orleans, when I was growing up, I am watching the state fall deeper in a hole led by politicians who are greedy and don't care about the taxpayers who voted them in. Half my family has already moved out of state to get better jobs and education. The last few governors and the present one are ruining what is left of Louisiana. For those of you who are so adamant about cutting university jobs, you don't realize that this will cause more people to have to move out of state to get work. It's easy for those who don't work for universities to point the finger and cry they want their tax breaks, but realize this....some of us hard working, elderly people need their jobs----afterall, nobody whined about saving the chicken plant, nobody whined about saving the New Orleans Saints, so exactly where is our priority-----saving sports has always been more important than education in this state----same for universities---nobody would ever think about cutting football, but are readily available to increase unemployment by cutting jobs........let's start taking care of one another taxpayers and save education so our kids don't have to travel out of state to go to school, so we can help each other keep what few jobs are available in Louisiana so we don't have to move, and support one another to hang on to what is left of a slowly deteriorating situation in this state.........work together for the sake of all of us! - Jacki Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:38:19 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1239 I think the state needs to hold a series of brainstorming events to get the publics' input as to what they expect from their University system(s). Here are a couple of suggestions. 1) Get ride of most of the sports programs at the State University system. Why should UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, LA Tech, Southern, Southeastern, etc all have football programs when they are in fact one large university! None of these schools will ever compete against LSU (or most any other University in country) when they all fight for the same small pool of average in state football players. 2) Select and make a small number of "tier one" universities (for the sake of argument: UNO, LSU, UL-L and LA Tech) and pour money into these, keeping these "high research universities" and have all others feed into those "tier one". 3) Consider having one program that plays primarily into the arts. These could include everything from the LITE technology center in Lafayette to theater; and could be scattered across the state allowing the students to experience the cultures of N.O., Cajun & "southern". Perhaps, Louisiana could set a new model in high education (K-12 too) by starting fresh. Do not try to break down the old systems; just put totally new ones in place. Think outside the box - including long distance learning and outsourcing programs to different countries. Think globally not locally. - CRBushnell Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:49:29 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1237 I don't think higher education funding is an issue.....per capita I'd bet La spends more in total than most of the states mentioned above. The problem is the disfunctional higher ed system.......too many 4 yr institutions, too many university systems(4),and thus too many boards(4) managing these seperate systems. Inefficiencies and redundancy has to happen under these conditions. Until higher ed is reformed, I don't support increased funding. As for Savoie's comment about setting higher ed back 20 years, that may not be a bad idea. I suspect that those graduating 20 years ago were better prepared than those today. - justwandering Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:50:23 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1228 Anyone who wants a editable tax break instead of preventing something that will cripple the state in the future has SURELY benefited from higher education, right? I'm sure assuming that the University's ultimate goal is to steal and ruin the students and their families is correct, too. Sarcasm intended. - Educate yourself Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:20:00 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1227 Investing in education instead of cutting funding for education is the wisest thing we can do for the economy of this state. I was an English teacher for 30 years. The untapped talent and brilliant minds that are in our youth is astounding. Providing more educational opportunities to develop these minds would bring progress to our state and to our people. What is the matter with Jindal? - Elizabeth Deerman Sun, 31 May 2009 20:32:56 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1223 Now is not the time to be cutting funding to higher education in Louisiana. Almost every other state has better graded programs than those in Louisiana. Louisiana made the mistake of having too many universities for it's size. Duplicated programs in the State University System need to be cut and those cost saving passed onto other State Universities. The state should strongly consider closing two underpreforming universities and transferring those students to LA Tech, UL-Monroe, and UL - Lafayette. NO point in carrying on a poor tradition for the sake of tradition. The state should also consider increasing tutition. My oldest son attends Baylor in do nothing Waco, TX to the tune of $40,000. If UL - Lafayette had higher attendance standards (grade point average, SAT/AT scores, etc) he certainly would have been happy in Lafayette for the better cultural experience. So here comes my second son and he's looking at Virginia, Michigan, Duke, Wisconsin. Tutition cost is not the driving factor folks, it the very best education one can find to fit the students interest. Louisisana needs to look at what other near by schools are doing - University of Houston wants to move into tier one status, University of Texas A & M has a plan to move into the the top 20 universities in the country. Start making education #1 priority - that will improve business climate - maybe use Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida or North Carolina a model. - CRBushnell Sat, 30 May 2009 17:44:39 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1219 This state has several too many "universities" anyway. I absolutely want my tax break. I say cut and close if necessary. The real issue is the pay checks for those employed by the universities and the fat retirement that goes with employment by the state education system. In all this talk about taking my tax benefit, I don't hear the universities saying "If you give this to us, we won't have to increase tuition. We will give that back to the student." That's the ONLY way this would get my support. NO, the schools were VERY quick to pass this on to the students and their families. I have no sympathy for these spoiled, greedy, self serving institutions or politicians. I want what was promised to me. - Myrick6 Sat, 30 May 2009 07:56:46 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1212 UL Lafayette is the biggest employer in Lafayette. University towns are weathering the recession better than just about any other settlements. UL Lafayette, perhaps more than anything else, is keeping Lafayette afloat, as it was intended to do when it was founded--be an engine for economic growth. - claude Fri, 29 May 2009 15:12:05 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1211 Cut higher ed ! Its a huge money pit ! I haven't seen anything good come from higher education yet ! CUT EM ! CUT EM to the BONE ! - PlumpyBoy Fri, 29 May 2009 14:26:33 +0100 http://www.theind.com/home/4472#comment-1207 More money, less money, education says about the same but chicken, that's another matter. - All things considered Fri, 29 May 2009 13:21:58 +0100