Governor Corbett, I campaigned for you, I supported you, and I voted for you in 2010. So did dozens, if not hundreds, of other members of the College Republicans from the 14 PASSHE schools. I also had the honor of meeting you at a 2010 campaign rally. I’m a good conservative Republican and will be voting as such in the future. However, I am extremely disappointed in you. Why are you targeting PASSHE schools for extreme budget cuts?
Last year you proposed to cut state PASSHE funding by over half-about $600 million-all in the name of balancing the budget. Which is all fine and good, Mr. Governor, except you also proposed a $600 million increase in state funding for prisons. This leads me to question what your priorities are.
The 120,000 college students that attend PASSHE schools are the future of Pennsylvania and many of them simply cannot afford to continue to attend college because of your cuts that ultimately did pass the state legislature. Can you imagine if you got your way and half of the state funding was cut? You are hurting Pennsylvania’s future with your anti-PASSHE mentality.
You and I can probably agree that this country and most states need some better fiscal discipline, but if there is anything that is worthy of government dollars, it is education. If prisons and criminals deserve a surge in funding during these hard times then surely the state-owned universities and the students that attend them don’t deserve a funding cut.
The future of Pennsylvania depends on higher education. The college students of today will be the taxpayers of tomorrow and who, Mr. Governor, pays more taxes on average? College graduates or people without a college education?
College education is a good investment. Think of it that way. Think of the return that the state will get on its money by having more college-educated taxpayers. I’m not asking you to sympathize with the full-time college student working two part-time jobs, struggling to make it through school. Instead, I’m asking you to look at it through a strictly business and economic perspective.
On the other hand, what does your propensity to increase prison funding get us? Are convicted criminals in prison, not hard-working and bright young adults in college, the future of the state? Is that what you think? That’s a pretty bleak outlook on this great state’s future, don’t you think? Or, is the plan to send college students to prison instead of college? What a great plan that is. Do you realize that it costs a lot more to keep a prisoner incarcerated for a year than it would for the state to pay what it does now plus the tuition that the student pays? And that’s obviously not the only reason why that is a terrible plan.
Please stop cutting already modest funding for PASSHE schools. Just imagine that PASSHE educates 120,000 young people in Pennsylvania and that these young people are the future of the state. That should help. Mr. Governor, I urge you, do what is in the state’s best interest and do not cut another penny from PASSHE funding.
College students vote. I certainly vote. And you need to earn my vote if you run for re-election again in 2012 because I ultimately vote based on the candidate and not the party. Mr. Governor, you are currently not earning my vote. And I’m sure dozens of other College Republicans feel the same way. But it’s not too late to have a change of heart. I want to support you and I want your administration to succeed but you need to show that you have the courage to do what’s right, not just morally, but also fiscally. If you are truly a fiscal conservative you will cut other items in the budget and not PASSHE’s state funding. PASSHE funding is a crucial investment into the future taxpayers of Pennsylvania. The state can only expect to get out of its young people what it puts in. You can’t expect to deny worthy students a state-subsidized college education and think that the future of the state will be better because of it. That makes no sense. The future of the state is up to you, Mr. Governor. What are you going to do?
Bill Hanrahan is a fourth-year student majoring in political science and philosophy. He can be reached at WH750431@wcupa.edu.