August 30, 2010. With drastic budget cuts looming, there has never been a more urgent time for faculty to join UFF and convince legislators of public higher ed’s tremendous importance.
A Message from UFF President Tom Auxter
(Received August 27, 2010)
Dear Colleague:
This year, faculty in Florida face the greatest challenge ever. Federal stimulus money is about to run out, and the oil spill is affecting revenue projections in a state that is already one of four hit hardest by the recession. We are facing up to a six billion dollar shortfall before the oil spill losses in tax revenue are even considered.
The Florida Department of Education is instructing universities and colleges to be ready to return 5% of the funds for this academic year. FLDOE is also asking all of higher education to be ready for another reduction of 15% next year. If we lose 20% of our current budget, we will see massive layoffs on every campus.
On the other hand, if we are able to do what we did in the last legislative session, with help from our affiliate, the Florida Education Association (FEA), we could see steady state funding for higher education until the economy recovers. The outcome depends on how active faculty become.
Faculty are uniquely situated to make a significant difference. Because of your past efforts, legislators now accept our arguments that higher education is the key to improving the state economy. The alliances we have forged over the last two years of our legislative action campaigns give us an advantage in driving home the point — with the active support of students, parents, and community groups — about the value of higher education. This year, all of us will need to contact state legislators and ask them to maintain funding to build for Florida’s future.
We know from the last legislative session that faculty can change the result by contacting legislators intensively at certain pivotal times. The payoff for Florida faculty last spring seemed incredible to faculty in the rest of the nation — a plus 5% in total allocations instead of the minus 5%, or worse, almost everywhere else.
That is why I am calling on you to engage in the 2011 legislative session. We can do it again. But it will be the challenge of our lifetimes to maintain funding.
Join the UFF campaign to save higher education from cuts. By joining UFF, you are provided professional representation to defend your legal rights in the event that a layoff occurs. Join today!
Sincerely,
Tom Auxter
President, United Faculty of Florida
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