Budget Prioritization Issues - Essay Example

Budget Prioritization Issues, Budget Cuts, Increased Tuitions Affect Higher Education Learning in the institutions of higher learning entails the inclusion of several stakeholders. The agreement of fair play amongst the involved parties is an important aspect for the smooth running of the institutions. Issues that bring discontentment may include things such as poor allocation of funds to projects that favor the comfort of students in the colleges. There may result struggles from discontents which must be solved speedily. The party that must be kept agreeably comfortable at all times during any educational operation is the students’ body. Students always have a strong back-up on their demands: they could possibly organize a strike to paralyze all the operations of an institution if not heard. There are pressing issues and injustices that college students face in the course of their studies that ought to be addressed (Munoz 70). Activism is the act of lobbying for social, economic or political transformation using laid down policies, peaceful negotiations or forceful campaigns by an individual or group of people. Other scholars have also defined activism as the practice that advocates for enthusiastic actions in pushing for or when against a debatable issue. Many times, activism has been associated with objection, opposition or some absurd behaviors against established authorities (Munoz 72). However, activism has been a tool for facilitating positive actions and behaviors in the society. People involved in activism mostly have an accepted thought and vision for their society. Organizations, trade unions and political parties have used activism to lobby for international, regional and national actions about different issues in the society. Students, for the sake of this research, have also actively used their unions to lobby for changes in different sectors in the colleges and universities in which they learn. Examples of such include the East LA student Walk Out of 19 68, the Gidra-Asian American UCLA student publication in the 1960s and the 3rd World liberation front strike interested in creation of ethnic studies. Other actions included the Students’ non-violent Coordinating Committee, the push for women’s centers and LGBT centers on campuses and the Free Speech Movement among others (Yamane 14). All these were combined efforts of students in colleges to ensure that the interest of the colleges’ leadership was on proper use of finances for equality in education. The interest of this paper would be to find out whether the issues raised by the students were acceptable, reasonable and ethical. This study research would possibly unveil whether it was necessary for the students to stop academic progress in the university for almost half a year. The university of San Francisco majorly invested in the education of the white students: there was a lot of prejudice against the black students then. The event reflected in this paper is named the third world liberation front strike that occurred in 1969 in San Francisco city. This students-led strike happened in the San Francisco State University and took five months. The black students viewed the university administration as weak and racially prejudicial in most of its financial operations. To date, this has been the longest yet most peaceful strike in the account of United States Universities. The results of the strike included use of funds to facilitate equal rights for non-white students. The strike also paved way for the setting up of the college offering ethnic studies which showed a balanced use of the monies. Other universities were able to begin Ethnic studies for their students as well out of the San Francisco strike. The students were so determined to see the success of this strike such that there was nothing done against them could be a discouragement. The Demands University students in San Francisco had a number of issues they wanted addressed as soon as possible. The union formed by the black students formed a coalition with the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) as they lobbied for the demands. The students felt that much of the finances was being used on the white students: there was a desire for equal access to higher education both for the black students and the white ones. In addition, the students demanded a curriculum that included the study of the history of people and their way of life (Valdes 61). In the curriculum, as the students demanded, the minority communities had to be included. The idea behind this demand was that United States had to prepare its graduates to fit well in the complex and culturally plural civilization. The world, USA included was growing fast into a complex and intertwined composition of cultures: it was only properly done ethnic studies that would help one to understand how deal with each of the societies. The TWLF demanded that the blacks should have a say in hiring, retention and firing of the instructors in the faculties. Valdes (2002) believes that the directors and individuals in administration needed to be hired and retained while consulting with the black students (61). Prior to this strike, there was occasional hiring and firing of black instructors and administrators: this meant that funds were being misused in the process of interviewing and orientation of the new staff. The Black students’ union and TWLF demanded that the university should budget for fifty staff positions in the college for ethnic studies. The coalition also wanted the university to fulfill its commitment towards the non-white students by admitting the applicants in the spring semester. In addition, the TWLF asked the university to consider and accept all the non-white-students’ application in the fall that was approaching in 1969. Prior to this strike, less attention had been given to the application of the non-whites. Those who were taken in were either given very low courses or charged more tuition fee for lucrative courses. Lastly, the students demanded that a teacher called George Murray should not be taken out of his job. George Murray had to remain in his job at all costs: the students felt that his suspension was a proof of white domination over the blacks in a free society. The students’ bodies felt that everyone had a right to equal opportunities to employment and education in the United States. Other black people had to be hired into the university’s administration and financial control for equality. As a matter of demand, the students suggested that the financial aid officer, Dr. Helen Bedesem be replaced by a black. The salaries of black lecturers and faculty professors also had to be reviewed to the acceptable levels according to one’s qualifications. All these were demands that bordered on how expenditure was planned in San Francisco University. There was less focus on the needs of non-white students, instructors and other staff members. The injustices against blacks in the San Francisco University were way too much and this strike was reasonably good. There were some faculty instructors who were receiving either little or no pay; non-white students would be denied admission on account of their color. Very inhuman were the white University presidents and administrators to the non-white students and instructors so that they did not feel part of the university. To make matters worse, the university trustees could easily dissolve the programs done by the minority students; the blacks. This meant that the budget cuts were only to push the black students out of the university courses: no none-white was sure at any one time whether his/her course would stand the test of time. Was the Activism Necessary? Doubtlessly, the answer to this question would be, “Yeah!” As Johnson (2010) notes correctly, the challenges that the students faced in San Francisco university demanded the actions taken thereof (298). The allocation of budgets majorly favored the white students in the university. It is the necessity of the strike that made the white students’ association to join the blacks in their petition. Right to education is a universally understood language: the denial thereof there is abuse and ridicule to humanity and future of the young. San Francisco University’s denial of access to admission on the black applicants was not an abuse of the rights of these students. In addition, this practice was a breach to a universally accepted provision for all humanity. Impacts of the Activism A well organized well executed petition must always earn measurable results and this particular one was not an exception. One immediate result for this strike was the enhanced relationship between the white and non-white students. The assistance that the white students accorded their non-white fellows was a great show of solidarity such that the two groups bonded together closely (Fujino 372). The two groups struggled together and worked out possible ways to see the introduction of ethnic studies in San Francisco University. Communication was also enhanced as there was no obvious division between the white students and the non-whites. The students felt part of a great revolution that was happening then in Asia, America and Africa. I believe that the interconnection with the then current issues in the world was a moral boost and a unifying factor for TWLF and the black students’ union (Wei 15). The next result was about the twist in budget plan, cuts and fund allocation in the institution. The introduction of ethnic studies program in San Francisco University meant that funds had to be directed to this course from admission to hiring instructors and school directors. The strike laid a strong base for the introduction of ethnic studies with a college of its own. Classes for the instruction on ethnic studies on history and culture were begun in the University. I believe in the semester that followed, there were students admitted for a Bachelors degree in ethnic as was in the demands of the activism. It is surprising that even other universities begun programs on ethnic studies throughout San Francisco and United States as well. This was an amazing result of this strike: other universities also felt the importance of allocating funds to this course. According to a report published in 1981 by the Education Resource Information Center, a recorded 439 colleges in the US provided 8805 cultural courses. Finances were also directed towards the enhancement of equality in appointments in faculties and admissions of students to different programs as a result of activism. There are celebrations about the promises and fulfillments of “68” which include improvements on civil rights, social justice, political, legal and economic equality. In addition to these, the charges on the non-white students’ tuition were better regulated. Admission to public education is also equally open to all without considering color and ethnic origin. Away from finances, the strike paved way to prominence for some of the participants. The students who were actively involved in planning and executing the activism rose eventually to be great men and women in social justice, population health, legal matters, education, leadership development and public service. Some of the strike alumnus became Supreme Court judges, activists and academicians. The activism was a platform on which the students groomed their inbuilt ability to spearhead positive courses in the society. Apart from being influential in the country, some of the strike leaders went back to San Francisco State University to spearhead the formed department of ethnic studies. These were the best people to be part of the department: the burden of the courses was right in their hearts. Evaluating this strike and the impacts thereof, there is a feeling that this action was the best way out of the prevailing injustice against the black students. The university had been adamant in hearing peaceful talks: most of the changes made in the university followed strikes and protests. There are records of how much the protest did to change the traditions and programs of the University. Though this may look like a bad tradition to follow, the results are long-lasting. Other ways of solving such disagreements would be insisting on talks even after the university refused this method. Addressing issues through talks may be a more diplomatic option than taking to the streets (Cronin 157). However, when one party is less powerful than another, the latter method works well and is a sure weapon to positive results. Works Cited Cronin, Gloria L. A Political Companion to Saul Bellow. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2013. Print. Fujino, Diane Carol. Samurai among Panthers Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance, and a Paradoxical Life. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2012. Print. Johnson, Troy R. Contemporary Native American Political Issues. Walnut Creek [Calif.: AltaMira, 2010. Print. Munoz, Carlos. Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement. London: Verso, 2010. Print. Valdes, Francisco. Crossroads, Directions, and a New Critical Race Theory. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2002. Print. Wei, William. The Asian American Movement. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2009. Print. Yamane, David. Student Movements for Multiculturalism Challenging the Curricular Color Line in Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2014. Print. Read More