Editor:
I find the recent events of the Legislature and its 3 percent budget cut to be ludicrous. Tuition will increase, pushing college out of reach for some and causing others to work even more than they do. If college is too expensive for students, they will be forced to join the workforce prematurely, lacking skills and float from job to job instead of having a career. Those who choose to work more will have their studies compromised due to the lack of time and energy.
Then there will be graduates who know less because they focused more on doing well enough to pass and not on learning as much as possible. Teachers will suffer even more than they presently do. There is a substantial gap in pay between U professors and those who teach at other colleges and even in public schools. Poor salaries and a lack of raises will not keep our professors here. They can go elsewhere, and we will be left with bottom of the barrel teachers at a higher price.
Now here’s the catch: Our legislators seem dumbfounded regarding why Utah education pales when compared to the rest of the United States. They pick money over education and still expect education to thrive. This pattern of thinking makes me question their knowledge and only confirms the fact that we need better educations. We undoubtedly need better legislators, ones who can fathom cause and effect and then act appropriately. Sadly, we are in a terrible cycle. Utahns lacks the knowledge to elect effective legislators. The legislators continue to vote anti-education, keeping us dumb enough to re-elect them.
Marge Eddleman, Freshman, Pre-Medical Lab Science