Opinion

Cap-itol punishment

The Wisconsin Assembly has once again proposed a budget that infuriates Democrats and University of Wisconsin System officials, in what has become a biennial tradition. This year, Assembly Republicans hope to impose a 4 percent cap on annual tuition increases while offering just one-third of the $180 million increase in state funding Democrats propose for the UW System.

Assembly Republicans say their proposed 3 percent increase for UW funding is reasonable, considering the state’s recent budget crunch, and insist UW should live within its means. We believe UW has had its fair share of time on the chopping block. Continuous cuts to the UW System as a percentage of the state budget will do serious harm to our ability to compete regionally and nationally.

The dispute stems from a philosophical disagreement over the role of the UW System. The Republican-controlled Assembly believes the paramount responsibility of the system is to be accessible to all Wisconsin residents, and institutional quality is secondary. State Republicans do not wish to take part in an educational arms race with competing universities through exponential increases in funding and tuition. State Democrats argue that investing in quality will provide a boon for the state’s economy, especially in high-tech sectors.

The state Legislature’s Democratic leadership has agreed in principle to the proposed 4 percent resident tuition cap, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But the two sides remain at odds over a number of budget items. Meanwhile, the fate of the Board of Regents’ proposed 5.5 percent tuition increase remains unclear at this stage of the negotiations.

If the state fails to adequately fund UW, we cannot accept a cap on tuition increases without an implicit endorsement of reduced quality systemwide. While state Republicans want to force UW to be more efficient with the money they have, years of underfunding will do serious harm to the institution. This may already be the case, considering a number of highly publicized faculty departures last year.

While efficiency is a laudable goal, legislators should re-consider their priorities. For example, the Republican version of the budget proposes a 12 percent increase to the Department of Corrections budget, compared to 3 percent for the UW System.

We’re pleased to see that this year’s tuition hike is the smallest it's been since 2000, but a cap on these increases is unacceptable if the state does not increase its commitment to UW. The Legislature already has total control over how much state funding UW receives. It should leave the other forms of revenue alone.