The scene inside Portland State’s Smith Memorial Ballroom Wednesday night was one that speaks highly to the notion of adequately funding higher education.
On stage sat four Oregon university presidents—Wim Wiewel (Portland State) Ed Ray (Oregon State) Dixie Lund (Eastern Oregon) and David Frohnmayer (University of Oregon)—who discussed the funding of higher education as part of a taping for OPB’s radio program “Think Out Loud.”
Students, parents, administrators, faculty and community members crowded the ballroom floor, listening attentively as the presidents spoke, even posing questions for the foursome to discuss.
While the event was saturated with intelligent talk regarding the current state of funding for higher education in Oregon, possibly the most impassioned moment of the night occurred when OSU’s Ray grimly forecasted the state’s future.
“The thing that keeps me up at night is not just the issue of ‘can we deal with the finances’,” Ray said. “I’m an economist and I can deal with budgets. My fundamental concern is that we are at risk of creating a permanent underclass of individuals in this society who have no stake in it because they have no chance to get the education they need to be successful.”
Those words registered an immediate shock on the face of the crowd—and for good reason.
When concentrating on facts and figures, proposed budgets and line items, money becomes the sole concern. As a country and as a state we recognize the tough economic times and therefore assume across-the-board budget cuts are necessary. But this is a rash line of thinking.
Ray’s words aren’t just a glimpse into the state’s future, but they also offer validation that when something like the poor economy is belabored and dwelled on for an extensive period of time, myopia is bound to occur.
The present economic struggles should absolutely be factored into how the Oregon Legislature allocates funds for the 2009-11 biennium. But what should also be taken into account is how the decisions reflected in the final budget will impact the future.
Wiewel addressed an ideology that shares many parallels with Ray’s bleak assessment of how Oregon’s future generations might engage with society. Portland State’s president called education a public good and asserted that while it obviously benefits the individual, it also pays great dividends for the common wealth.
In more ways than one, Wiewel hits the nail right on the head.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski has called for a 5-percent increase for higher education in his proposed budget. Many taxpayers may view this as a colossal waste of funding, but Wiewel’s point is that when someone receives an education the benefits pervade beyond the individual and enrich society as a whole.
This is because having educated individuals is an essential ingredient for any society. The Oregon Legislature need only look to the future to discover that those who are educated will play a vital role.
According to projections, there will be a need for approximately 600,000 skilled workers to replace retiring workers and fill new jobs in Oregon by 2014, and likely a significant number of those who will fill these positions will be students that are currently being educated in college.
Portland and sustainability seem to be inextricably linked at a time when the green industry is thought to be on the verge of exploding. First, Oregon must have the talent and support for this explosion to occur here, and then educated individuals must exist to fill the jobs created as a result.
Without a commitment to funding higher education, all of the benefits educated individuals provide could be lost, which is alarming at a time when record numbers of students are pursuing an education in Oregon.
Ray’s powerful remark sheds light on the fact that investing in education is not deserving of the “gamble” tag that many may attempt to slap on it. Investing in education is about the furthest thing from a gamble, because it means strengthening the foundation of both a society and economy.
While the vast majority of the discussion today is about how to combat the ills of a recession, the focus should shift to how the funding decisions made within this clouded environment will impact our future.
Forcing universities and colleges to cut back today might briefly cure the effects of a struggling economy, however, it is the long-term condition of Oregon that should be assessed at present.
Once that thought actually takes place, the message will be clear: Fund higher education adequately, or compromise the future of our state.