Stop The Cuts!

Email Campaign

2009-02-26T14:12:00.000-08:00

TCC United Against the Budget Cuts is launching an email campaign aimed at encouraging students, faculty, staff, citizens and parents to send a clear message to their legislators in Olympia: Don't cut the means to Washington State's recovery! We are also encouraging everyone to offer their personal suggestions on ways to increase the revenue available for state spending. Remember to tell them your personal story and explain in detail how the budget cuts will affect you.

Please join us in our campaign by taking 5 minutes out of your day to write or call your representatives.

If you look to the right you will see the "Find Your Legislator" link, left click on it. The link will bring you to the Washington State Legislator's "Find your legislator" page. Enter the necessary information, collect your representatives' email addresses and start writing!

Send us an email if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks,

Joseph

It Has Been Too Long

2009-02-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

It has been a while since I last updated the blog and mailing list. I plan on updating it much more regularly now as we build momentum. As of late we have traveled to Olympia twice; once to testify before the house and a second time before the Senate. The public hearing before the Senate seemed much more positive overall. We have begun to make progress which is heartening, to say the least. Mike and Joseph have also become Student Senators at TCC and Jesse will soon follow; this is important as it offers us another avenue of support.

On Monday we'll be heading down to Olympia to join in a rally alongside the Evergreen Committee for Full Funding and the Washington Federation of State Employees. You are all encouraged to come. More information will be posted at the bottom of this post.

Yesterday I spoke with a lobbyist for a community college in the area. He informed me that legislators take note of as little as "8-10 emails." With this in mind I strongly suggest all of you to use our "Find You Legislator" link to determine your representatives and then send them a well worded message asking them to not cut higher education. I want to remind you though that while we are urging you to write your representatives please do not simply stop there. We must continue lobbying in Olympia, attend rallies and garner on-campus support from students, faculty and staff. It is imperative we recognize the need for shoring up mass, active support for full funding of higher education.

Thank you for all your time and input, we greatly appreciate your efforts and interest in the fight against budget cuts.

Rally Information:

Monday, February 16, 2009
10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Tivoli Fountain Fountain, Washington State Capitol Campus
Olympia, WA

For directions please email stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com

Next Meeting and Updates

2009-01-28T14:26:00.001-08:00

Our next meeting with be held in the TCC cafeteria at 12:30pm on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Yesterday we held a semi-informal meeting to make a few decisions. We decided to begin working on several fronts to raise awareness about this issue. Some of us will be trekking down to Yakima to speak at one of the schools o'er there on the eastern side of the state. We hope it will be a fruitful affair. Other members with be working on a poster campaign in which I hope everyone will get involved. Essentially we will be asking clubs and organizations at TCC to place their names on TCC United Against the Budget Cuts posters and hang them in the main hallway of the Building 11 on campus. If we can get 15-2o clubs/organizations involved it would be a major success! We're also working on getting our message out to local campuses. If anyone knows students or teachers at the local colleges please send us an email with their information.

Feel free to email us any suggestions!

We Need Our Help!

2009-01-26T14:46:00.000-08:00

Some of you are thinking, "we need our help, what are they thinking?" Remember this is a campaign focused on fighting for our interests, therefore we need to help ourselves. We've been receiving more interest in our campaign than ever before and it is crucial we keep it that way! Stop the Cuts needs you to get involved by building satellite groups at colleges around the state and preparing them for a protest in the relatively near future. We need volunteers to educate their fellow students by passing out leaflets/fliers, holding discussion groups, speaking out in classrooms, ect. Hold a puppet show if you think it will raise awareness about the budget cuts! Please email us at stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com if you're willing to offer up a bit of your time and energy for a worthy cause.

Also, just a side note: TCC should have Stop The Cuts buttons available on Wednesday! Hunt down Mike or Joe to find out how to get your grubby little hands on a must-have fashion accessory!

Small Business Campaign

2009-01-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

Tacoma's small businesses enrich our lives daily; we leave their tables, store fronts and tattoo chairs with satisfied grins and the knowledge we have just invested in our community. In return for our investment they color the cultural landscape of the city by adding uniqueness to a market increasingly dominated by big box stores. We share mutually beneficial relationship with our local small businesses, they invest in us and we in them.

In an effort to open the door to a wider layer of citizens TCC United Against the Budget Cuts has begun involving small businesses from the Tacoma area in the Stop The Cuts campaign. Businesses are being asked to show solidarity with the cause by displaying posters produced by TCC UABC.

To draw in more interest in our campaign TCC United Against the Budget Cuts will be getting together will some of our members and trying to come up with ways to sweeten the deal. This could mean offering to link their website to our blog or simply creating an ever-growing list which is sent out to encourage members to patronize supportive businesses. In the meantime, if you walk into a small business displaying our poster let them know you are thankful they support their community.

Stop The Cuts Speaks!

2009-01-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Tacoma Community Colleges students Mike L., Joseph C. and Macy P. made it to the Capitol yesterday to testify in front of the Washington State House Education Appropriations Committee. The committee, which met on Wednesday, heard testimony from a number of Washington State colleges, including: University of Washington, Evergreen State College and Western Washington University. Representatives from the state's various educational institutions each spent their time allotment of roughly ten minutes detailing their strategies for handling the budget cuts and reassuring the legislators of their continued promise to deliver quality education at affordable prices despite the Governor's proposals. They also entertained questions from the committee, including one about the University of Washington Finnish studies program!

Unfortunately the committee had no such questions for the few speaking on behalf-and from-the perspective of Washington State's student body. Regardless the students spoke out against the proposed cuts, imploring the representatives to vote in accordance with the will of the majority and to not pass any budget containing cuts to higher education or social services. Additionally, they called on the committee to pressure Gov. Christine Gregiore to go to President-Elect Obama and request for a bail-out for teachers, students and workers, not Wall Street.

Posted below, and under our video section, is a link to the video of the students' testimony. The students begin speaking at about 1 hr 36 min 20 sec or 1:36:20.

http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2009010077&TYPE=V&CFID=1798439&CFTOKEN=67586938&bhcp=1

ATTENTION: Call To Action!

2009-01-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

To all those united to fight the cuts on Washington state's higher education budget:

We have just learned the Washington State legislature is holding a public hearing, on January 15th, in regards to the Governor's proposed 2009-2011 operating budget for higher education. This is an opportunity to speak out against the budget cuts directly to Washington State legislators. We realize this comes with little notice; however, making a significant impact on politicians from both parties will require mass action from students, teachers, workers, union members and concerned citizens. Please take time out of your day to attend the public hearing and let your voice be heard!

When: January 15th, 2009
1:30 pm

Where: House Hearing Rm A
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
Directions: http://www.ga.wa.gov/visitor/direction.htm
http://www.ga.wa.gov/images/campus-map.pdf
*NOTE* For the second link look in the lower left-hand to locate the O'Brien Building.

Why: Your educational future depends upon it!

Last Night's Meeting

2008-12-30T08:55:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all who made the trip out to Origin 23 to share your ideas at our third meeting!

We began developing a plan for holding a teach-in at the TCC cafeteria sometime in January. Our plan includes inviting speakers representing all of the various groups who would be negatively effected by the proposed cuts. Examples of likely invitees would be: cafeteria workers, bookstore employees, union members, teachers, Running Start/Fresh Start/A.B.E. participants, students, ect. One of our members suggested sending an invite out to a member of the Washington State Legislature. It was agreed this would be an excellent idea so long as the legislator was unconditionally supportive of our platform and unwilling to vote for any budget plan containing cuts to higher education. All speakers invited to the teach-in will be encouraged to dedicate a portion of their time to discussing how the budget cuts will or have impacted their lives.

It was suggested that a visual element be added to the teach-in. This could be acheived by wearing the same color t-shirts as a sign of solidarity, posting signs, wearing buttons or creating an interesting Power Point display with budget cut highlights.

Our second topic of discussion was creating an outreach program with an end goal of establishing groups at schools in the surrounding area capable of holding their own meetings and shoring up support for our demonstration in Olympia. Our small "core" group simply cannot reach enough students for a demonstration unless we first develop relationships with a small number of dedicated individuals at various schools in the area. These individuals can then form groups such as ours, hand out leaflets, speak at Senate meetings, hold forums and appear at student functions to raise awareness and interest in the movement and ultimately in a demonstration. The crux of our problem is finding individuals willing to dedicate time to establishing groups such as our own; this requires some of us take trips to educate the student bodies at campuses in the area. Some suggested campus locations were: South Puget Sound Community College, UW Tacoma, Green River Community College, Pierce College and any of the local high schools.

If you would be willing to table, leaflet, hang up fliers, ect. please contact me so that we can begin further stages of planning.

Again, thank you for your time and effort!

Upcoming Meeting

2008-12-27T21:14:00.000-08:00

When: Monday
December 29
6:30 p.m.

Where: Origin 23
3518 6th Ave. & Union
Next to Farrelli's Pizza

The proposed agend will cover adopting an official name, drafting a mission statement, buttons and other paraphernalia and methods to enlarge our base as the new quarter begins.

A short recap of the last meeting

2008-12-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a recap of our last meeting:

1. We debated the all important name issue. Mike and I proposed "TCC United Against Budget Cuts" while Naomi suggested "TCC Against Budget Cuts". Naomi felt her name directly linked our group to the education issue as its acronym is "TCC ABC". Mike and I felt we needed our name to stress the unified effort necessary to defeat the cuts.

2.We also covered the Governor's recently released budget proposal and its implications for the movement.

3.The issue of a mission statement has been a topic of importance as well; Mike and I have taken your suggestions and turned out two mission statement rough drafts. At our next meeting we will create an official statement from those drafts.

4. Naomi informed us she had access to a button maker. We'll be discussing button ideas and funding at the next meeting as well.

I encourage everyone to attend our next meeting. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions please feel free to contact me.

Stop The Cuts,

Joseph Carter

Email: jcarter73124@yahoo.com
stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com
jc11241983@yahoo.com
Phone: 253-777-6117
AIM: bringthapaine

Weather Update

2008-12-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

Many of you have undoubtedly peeked out your window within the last 48 hours and witnessed in awe (maybe horror) the incomprehensible volume of flaky precipitation blanketing our city streets. With this in mind I would ask all of you to email me with your concerns or questions regarding transportation. As of today the buses are still running and I'm sure a car or two has passed along my street. Situations change so I'm willing to provide you with information regarding bus routes or road conditions. To further cajole you from beneath your electric blankets and out of your respective abodes I'll be providing attendees with free coffee-as in drip coffee-not lattes or extra-hot, no-whip, fat-free, sugar-free peppermint breve latte with two cups instead of a sleeve. Feel free to email or call me at anytime.

stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com
253-777-6117

Gregiore Proposes Reduced Cuts

2008-12-19T12:44:00.001-08:00

Heading into this campaign we've all assumed the cuts to higher education would be around 20% or $600 million. In her newly released Budget "Highlights" Christine Gregiore proposes a 13% reduction in cuts to four-year universities and 6% to community colleges or cuts totaling $300 million across the board. Upon hearing this many of you will take in a huge breath of relief and feel the sudden urge to relax. Unfortunately the battle has not yet been won and we must continue to fight until Washington State legislators refuse to pass any cuts to the budgets of higher education. If not we face a potential emaciation of our education system. In Christine Gregiore's own words, "Washington’s public colleges and universities are the economic engine that drives the state’s economy and will drive our recovery". Indeed Christine and as such we must fully protect and fund our economic engine, less we risk it stalling from a shortage of fuel.

Cuts to higher education are not the only areas in which students, teachers and workers are being attacked: Christine has proposed allowing higher education institutions to raise tuition rates yet again! The national consumer price index has risen just about 100% since 1982 in contrast tuition to colleges and universities has grown to well over 400%. With authorization to raises tuitions even higher colleges and universities will be asking more from ordinary citizens in a time of economic crisis.

This cannot stand. The state of Washington has a responsibility to fully fund its higher education system. Protecting K-12 while forgetting higher education will in no way improve our state's current position, it will only set a precedent for further attacks on our colleges and univerisities. We must fight together, as a united front, to preserve our education system.

Stop The Cuts!

News Alert!

2008-12-19T11:29:00.001-08:00

Stop The Cuts will now be meeting at the Starbucks located on the corner of S. Pine and 6th Ave, just down the road from The Muse. Our previous location has sadly been forced to close shop and as such we've picked the closest location appropriate for our needs. Please pass this information along to everyone you know so no one misses out!

Evergreen Committee for Full Funding in Cooper Point Journal!

2008-12-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

An article written by our friends the Evergreen Committee for Full Funding made it into the Cooper Point Journal. Check out the link under "News Articles of Interest"!

Updates

2008-12-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

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!

Gregiore appeals to President-Elect Obama for more money

2008-12-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports Christine Gregiore, along with governors from across the country, met with President-Elect Obama on Monday and Tuesday to discuss federal financial assistance for states, such as Washignton, facing state budget deficits. The P.I. reports Gov. Gregiore stated, "her priorities for federal aid are investments in infrastructure to create jobs and help fending off cuts in Medicaid" and that "she would seek at least $600 million in infrastructure spending". What is not mentioned however are any appeals made by Gregiore for the Washington state higher education system; nor has higher education been reported as a "top priority". Gregiore has failed to make a case in favor of higher education while tax payers have recently been forced to shoulder the burden of funding an enormous $700 billion bailout for Wall Street banks.

It is up to us: the students, the teachers, the staff and the workers of Washington state higher education to organize against attacks on higher education! We must demand the state's higher education budget be fully protected! We must stand together to Stop The Cuts!

Tacoma Community College Budget Meeting

2008-11-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

Tacoma Community College will hold an open meeting next week to discuss the looming budget cuts. Students, teachers, staff and administrators are strongly encouraged to attend. It is imperative we each make this issue a personal priority!

Information is as follows:

Tacoma Community College
Building 27, College Room
December 3rd (Wednesday)
2:30 p.m.

For more information or downloadable leaflets/fliers:

Email
tacomasocialists@gmail.com
stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com

Phone
253-777-6117

First Organizing Meeting

2008-11-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

The first organizing meeting for the Stop The Cuts campaign will be taking place on December 5th. We will be meeting to discuss launching a cooperative campaign against the proposed cuts, the situation as it currently stands and the possible far-reaching ramifications if the proposed cuts were to be approved.

All are welcome to attend and participate in the discussion!

Details are as follows:

Tacoma Community College
Building 11
Student Senate Room
December 5th, 2008
12:30 p.m.

Feel free to invite friends, family or the media!

Have questions or comments?
Requests for downloadable fliers or leaflets?
Send them to:

tacomasocialists@gmail.com
stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com

For those in Olympia, the first meeting of the Evergreen Committee for Full Funding will be Wednesday the 10th of December in SEM 2 A1105 from 4 to 6 PM. All are encouraged and welcome to come!

State Proposes Massive Cuts For Education!

2008-11-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

Build a campaign to stop the cuts!

With the strain of a recession bearing down upon students and workers alike, Washington state has recently declared that it will cut up to 20 percent of the budget for higher education. Over $600 million will be slashed from the budget, including $300 million from community colleges.
This means massive layoffs for teachers and college workers, higher tuition and book prices, reduced student services and choice of classes, and more restrictive entry requirements for both community and four-year colleges.

Not enough money?

While federal and local officials claim that these cutbacks are the result of a state budget shortfall, they have no trouble finding billions of dollars for the disastrous occupation of Iraq or the corporate bailout of Wall Street. The proposed cut of $600 million is equal to 20% of our state higher education budget, but equals only 0.09% of the recent bailout for Wall Street.

These cuts cannot stand. We need to organize a campaign with the following demands:

-Stop the budget cuts
-No layoffs
-No cuts to classes or services
-No increase in tuition
-No to more restrictions on admission requirements
-Hands off open enrollment for community colleges
-No attacks on wages, benefits or working conditions for employees
-Yes to a free, fully funded and democratically run higher education system for

all!

How can we fight back?

If students, teachers, and staff are firmly united, organized, and are mobilizing to win public support, these cuts can be defeated. That’s why it’s important we absolutely reject the argument “there isn’t enough money”. The second we accept this logic, the politicians will begin dividing students against faculty, faculty against administrators, and staff against teachers… for crumbs. United we win, divided we beg.

We demand that our federal government fully fund quality education. Any state budget shortfall should be made up through taxes on the wealthy and big corporations, not cuts in our education. We can’t afford cuts, but the rich can afford to pay more taxes.
Join us in building a campaign to mobilize enormous pressure on the politicians in Olympia. A successful campaign must rely on our power in numbers, not on the good will of politicians or administrators. Ultimately, defeating these cuts will require the massive united action of students, staff, and teachers, with demonstrations, rallies, walkouts and strikes.

Get Involved:
TCC Socialist Alternative Club
tacomasocialists@gmail.com
stopthecutswashington@yahoo.com