BURLINGAME – David A. Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member California Teachers Association, issued this statement of solidarity today to support the statewide day of action by UC faculty and students protesting program cuts and huge fee hikes:
“The 340,000 members of the California Teachers Association support today’s efforts by UC professors, staff and students to protest and raise awareness about the devastating cuts facing California schools and universities. State budget cuts, the furlough days, fee increases and other actions taken by the UC administration have placed quality higher education further out of reach for thousands of California students, including current high school juniors and seniors who are trying to learn in a K-14 system dealing with its own massive cuts and layoffs.
“To add insult to injury, UC administrators gave themselves a raise in the midst of a 32 percent fee hike for students, reductions in class offerings and staff forced to take furlough days because of budget cuts.
“Today’s protest marking the start of the academic year shows that UC staff and students will not treat this year and the latest cuts as simply ‘business as usual.’ We applaud your efforts to fight for affordable, quality education and we stand with you in solidarity.”
(More information about the UC protest is at http://ucfacultywalkout.com/)