PRIVATIZATION AND THE UC

:THE BASICS

What is Privatization?

Professor Stan Glantz of UCSFhas put forward a simplequestion: “Should highereducation be treated as a publicgood (as envisioned by theMaster Plan) or should it beviewed as a private good to bepaid for by its customers(students and families) and byvoluntary private donors?”A

public model

foreducation recognizes thatknowledge benefits a commongood – that the state, thenation, and even the world arebetter off when people areeducated to think criticallyabout questions that effect usall – global warming,technological development,economic crisis, andcommunicating across andwith difference.A

private model

foreducation assumes thatknowledge is a private good –that schools are like factorieswhose products should go tothe highest bidder. Within this“university-as-factory” model,students are seen as thecustomers who pay foreducation to be delivered tothem. Only students willing andable to pay deserve an education.Or, students are seen as theproducts of a system funded bycorporations who pay universities togenerate future workers. Here, onlycompanies with enough financialcapital get to dictate who learns andwhat they learn.According to Lisa Duggan, ascholar of contemporary US politics,privatization can be understood as“

the transfer of wealth anddecision-making from public, more-or-less accountable decision-making bodies to individual orcorporate, unaccountable hands”

(2003, 12). Thus, while a publicuniversity is accountable to thepublic en masse, a private universityis accountable only to a select groupof individuals who tend to representan elite sector of the population. Asalready privileged elites benefit fromthe shift towards privatization,historically under-privileged groupssuch as people of color, workingclass people, people with disabilities,immigrants, queers and womenare excluded and harmed.For more information visit:utotherescue.blogspot.com orteachthebudget.orgThe state’s per-student

spending for UC has dropped nearly 40% in the last 20 years

–from $15,860 per student in 1990 to $9,560 per student today. How did this happen to the UC?Representatives for the state and the university blame the current economic crisis. But, in actuality, the shift towardprivatization began decades ago. In 1978, the passage of

Prop 13

lowered property taxes (which benefited largeland-holders like corporations) and thus decreased funding for public education. Since his election in 2003, Gov.Schwarzenegger has intensified the trend of cutting state support for UC and shifting costs to students and theirfamilies. In 2004, the state’s leaders in higher education agreed to Schwarzenegger’s privatization plan by signingthe

“Higher Education Compact

” (see reverse side for more info). Today, people blame the crisis at UC on the “badeconomy” without realizing that the state and UC have been working to cut funding and increase fees for years.

How Did This Happen to the UCs?

THE UC MASTER PLAN

“[The UC Master Plan] was thefirst time in the history of anystate in the United States, or anynation in the world, where sucha commitment was made -- thata state or a nation wouldpromise there would be a placeready for every highschool graduate or personotherwise qualified.”

– Clark KerrUC President 1958-‘67Author of the UC Master Plan– Clark Kerr 1999

In 1960, the Master Plan unified the UC,CSU and CC , guaranteeing public highereducation regardless of ability to pay.