Updates

Thank you to all who attended our first campaign organizing meeting! We are relatively small in numbers but through focused efforts we will grow our numbers and strengthen our ranks!

Remember to speak out! Here are a few simple suggestions to boost the strength of our campaign over the holiday break:

1. Attend the next Stop The Cuts meeting on December 22nd!
2. Actively engage and educate the people around you that will be affected, directly or indirectly, by the proposed cuts to Washington’s higher education system.
3. Call, write or email your local, state and national officials; tell them you oppose the cuts, demand a bailout for education!
4. Write to your local newspaper ask them to attend a campaign organizing meeting.
5. Update your Facebook, Myspace or Twitter status, or write a bulletin/blog with a message about our Stop the Cuts campaign (include the blog address if possible).


Updates from the our last meeting:

The campaign committed to organizing a cooperative demonstration on the Capitol. The demonstration will be taking place sometime in early March, with a specific date being decided at a future meeting once we have coordinated with other campaigns across the state.

Much of the organizing meeting was spent expressing concerns related to the proposed cuts. Many of us are extremely alarmed by the far-reaching negative effects under which Washington will suffer if higher education budget is slashed by 20%. We fear such drastic cuts will be a detriment to the "college-going culture" Washington State has worked so hard to promote. We also discussed that unlike some social movements massive cuts to our higher education system clearly affects all layers of society be they lower, middle and upper class. Everyone will feel the strain and anxiety associated with the loss of $600 million in funding for higher education.

Listed below is a sampling of projected outcomes associated with the proposed cuts:

· Increased tuition rates
· A severe decline in the number of seats allocated for Running Start
· Reduced student services
· An end to the “open-door” policies at many of the state’s community colleges
· More stringent admission standards to four-year institutions for Freshmen and transfer students.
· The elimination of the Continuing Education at Tacoma Community College after the Winter ’09 quarter.
· Reductions in the ratio of faculty to students
· A significant reduction in funding for Adult Basic Education, tutoring, workers’ retraining and other vital programs.


Upcoming Meetings:

Date: Monday, 22 December, 2008
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Muse Café on the corner of 6th Ave. & Prospect
Proposed agenda:
· Updates/Reports from the field
· Collect petitions
· Draft a mission statement
· Create a concrete strategy for increasing campaign growth and outreach potential
· Propose a plan for running a grassroots phone campaign
· Open discussion


Please keep your eyes and ears open for any news, information or people that could be helpful to the campaign!

Again, thank you to all who attended our very first organizing meeting!

Note: Updates will be posted more frequently in the coming weeks, I apologize for the delay!