Taxes and tuition

The way I see it, as SUNY faces a possible tuition hike and major financial aid cuts, there are two solutions to New York's money problems for higher education.

One, we cut loose all the poor people. In this scenario, we stop pandering to those who barely stay afloat within SUNY and CUNY. By increasing the disparity between the uneducated poor and educated rich, there is a twofold result: the creation of both a larger minimum-wage workforce to compete with that of third-world countries, and a brighter educated elite to compete with rising powers India and China. After all, fewer poor people means smaller class sizes and an improved professor-to-student ratio.

Really, option No. 1 is a win-win situation.

Or, solution No. 2, we remember why it's called "public" education and (novel idea here) support the system with necessary public funds. How? That's the complicated part. But if Gov. George Pataki's budget proposal is any indication, an excellent starting point would be to (gasp!) raise taxes.

While covering the ramifications of Pataki's budget from a reporter's unbiased standpoint, I've come to lose faith in any politician's ability to properly address education costs. To be fair though, I've also realized there is only so much money in the budget for SUNY, and the governor's decision to possibly raise tuition by $500 (or cut the Tuition Assistance Program by $190 million) is not an easy choice. For the legislators who must now finalize the budget before its April 1 deadline, balancing between education and other areas like healthcare is not a job I envy.

However, when Pataki sat down to divvy up the state's funds, he did so this year with a $2 billion surplus. Instead of using that money to its maximum potential, New York's very own Curious George chose to award tax-cuts to the upper class and rich businesses. I don't think Pataki would ever secure a Republican nomination, but it sure looks like he's trying cozy up to potential backers for a presidential run in 2008.

Ironically enough, with Bush's mess of No Child Left Behind, it would probably serve Pataki's aspirations much better if he were to come out and prove he's strong on education. But Pataki's plans aside, there's a larger underlying problem: Americans hate the prospect of higher taxes. Even mention the idea and people freak.

But "taxes," much like "liberal" these days, is not necessarily bad word. Taxes pay for libraries, parks, road repair and, of course, public education, all primary societal needs. Why New Yorkers wouldn't want to put a few extra dollars towards improving SUNY is beyond me. Every single person in the state stands to benefit from a higher quality SUNY system turning out better-educated people. A few extra dollars from a tax break are worthless when you have to spend that much to replace the flat tire you got from a pothole in the road on the way to the store, which would have been preventable if maybe the person in charge Amherst's roads learned an extra thing or two about organization and leadership when he was a SUNY student.

If that example was too abstract, consider how property values would go up in Buffalo if everyone wanted to live here for its excellent public schools and colleges. If SUNY were given the funds it needs to best operate, perhaps it wouldn't be considered second-string to the University of California or Michigan. You'd get more young families with money moving into the Empire State, which, by the way, would increase the tax base.

But what do I know about higher education and finances? I'm just an English major, which is why I sought out former SUNY chancellor D. Bruce Johnstone, who now teaches educational leadership and policy at UB. Basically, professor Johnstone told me that when it comes to rising tuition and aid cuts, people like me who want to stem college costs, or even reduce them, are being a bit unrealistic. "Even if taxes were going to be raised," he said, "to roll back tuition is simply way down the political list, if not the ideological one."

Okay, but what about keeping tuition at least where it is? According to Johnstone, the issue is not stemming it, but figuring out how to keep tuition on pace with inflation and rising costs. Meanwhile, there's also the question of who pays for this, and even if the state could put more tax dollars into SUNY, there's a long queue of compelling needs right up there with higher education.

Although as a student it's easy for me to take this stance, I can't fully buy Johnstone's answer. There has to be a better way. There is too much riding on the state of higher education for us to bend to the status quo, the idea that there is nothing we can do. I've seen that when politicians care about something, they get it done. They find a way. If New Yorkers wanted to stem tuition, they would.

Instead, we care about tax breaks. Raising taxes wouldn't be any silver bullet answer, but ridding ourselves of this tax increase fear would go a long way towards putting our priorities in order and doing what's in the best interest for all New Yorkers, not just the top five percent.

But then again, I suppose that's about a realistic as an ideology that aims to cut the poor loose from SUNY.