Funding California Education

WHEREAS since the 1960 Master Plan for College Education, California has guaranteed college opportunity to all qualified students, making California a national center for emerging industries and the world’s sixth largest economy, and

WHEREAS over the last ten years, as college costs have increased 26% nationally and 72% at the University of California, the percentage of college-bound high school graduates has declined and college graduates now carry an average of $19,000 in debt, and

WHEREAS on January 17th, 2007, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, the House of Representatives passed the College Student Relief Act of 2007 to cut the student loan rate on subsidized loans in half,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Valley Grassroots for Democracy supports efforts in the United States Senate and the House by Senator Edward Kennedy, Representative George Miller and others to improve national competitiveness by drastically cutting federally subsidized student loan rates and increasing Pell Grants, making loan debt manageable by limiting loan payments to a reasonable percentage of income and allowing payment over a longer period of time, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Valley Grassroots for Democracy ask the California State legislature to provide the necessary funding to buy out the proposed fee increase at California State University and also at the University of California, and implement the Legislative Analyst’s Office recommendation to support students at private universities by increasing Cal Grants.

Submitted by: Charlie Carnow, 40th AD
Passed unanimously by :Valley Grassroots for Democracy
March 2007