Well, we knew there was something that bothered us about Rick Perry. Maybe he was a little too slick, maybe his chest jutted out a bit too much, or maybe he brought back memories of the worse days of George W.
Yesterday’s debate seems to have solidified something in the minds of voters: Perry leans left. We know he switched parties, but his ideas may be mired in between.
Perry has supported providing discounted in-state tuition at Texas public colleges and universities to children of illegal immigrants. And although we are aware of the human side of issue, we got very disturbed as Perry tried to cement his position by saying, “If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart.”
Excuse me?
How about the thousands of LEGAL school children in Texas and around the country who can’t afford a decent education? Has Rick looked at the recent rise in state funded school tuitions? Does he have any clue as to what is happening to our public universities?
The University of California, Berkeley now has over 30% of its school population coming from outside the US and California Governor Jerry Brown has just signed a similar bill to Perry’s, providing for discounted in-state tuition to children of illegal immigrants. Not only that, of course all of the illegal immigrants children are all eligible for need based scholarships and grants.
Everyone in America has gotten the austerity message except these two left leaning politicians. With funds drying up and programs getting canceled, higher education in America is becoming a dream for the average family. This is the same average who pays for those universities through taxes.
Two year colleges in California are limiting enrollment due to finances and the Board of Regents has floated the idea of doubling tuition over the next few years as a way of paying for the universities.
A better idea
The Chief Executive of the University of California made $783,103 last year and was only 29th on the list of highest paid university executives.
Rick Perry’s U of Texas chief made $750,000 and the U of Texas, Austin chief made $746,738 last year.
Both of these pale in comparison to the top man at Ohio State University who pulled in a whopping $1,323,911 last year.
Of course these numbers are not the whole story as these execs have bonuses, deferred compensation, retirement contributions, car allowances, and even residences.
The full list of university’s President and Provost data can be seen here.
Is Rick Perry dead?
Well, he may not be dead, but he is politically wounded. Maybe he, and the other Presidential candidates, should focus on cutting costs at public institutions as a way of making a university education affordable for every American. That is something the public can rally around.
Take the top 30% of public university wage earners and cut their earnings (salary plus benefits) in half and see what it does for tuition costs and student enrollment.
