Tuition is outrageously expensive at UW-Madison. State lawmakers have chosen to give tax breaks to corporations rather than directly address rising tuition. Earlier this month the Wisconsin Assembly passed a token financial aid bill. Its idea of helping students includes an estimated $11.9 million in corporate tax breaks. Assembly Bill 320 is touted as an incentive for corporations to pay for some of their employees' tuition, but the public's money should have been used to directly increase financial aid.
Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, had attempted to amend AB 320 in a way that would actually help struggling students. He tried to pass a resolution requiring an increase in financial aid when the state increases UW System tuition. The amendment was smashed by Republican members, who, according to Black, passed a 'massive corporate tax break that will do nothing for students.'
Gov. Scott McCallum and his Republican buddies proposed to reward corporations with nearly $200 million in tax breaks and credits included in the state budget. Special interests have the state's lawmakers in their pockets and students are paying the bill.
For the last 10 years, tuition at UW-Madison has been averaging a 5 percent hike per year. This means that tuition is nearly double what it was 10 years ago, while wages for workers and students have not increased in proportion to the cost of living. Basically, wages, especially at UW-Madison, have remained frozen while rent prices have skyrocketed.
Republicans, and some Democrats, continue to build prisons, yet there never seems to be money to lower tuition. Our former governor Tommy Thompson built a multi-million dollar Supermax prison when there weren't any prisoners to fill it. And McCallum's proposed budget included more than $200 million for building prisons, while leaving only a fourth of that amount set aside for all 26 UW institutions ($56 million).
Some members of the student newspapers have focused on segregated fees as a possible reason for rising tuition. However, state mismanagement of public funds is the real reason students are being expected to work more and live on less. Segregated fees give the necessary support to student groups that together benefit the entire university. Corporate tax breaks only ensure corporations will get richer.
Working employees at UW-Madison have faced similar economic depression as UW-Madison students. Due to high living costs and inflation, wages for UW state workers have decreased consistently for the last eight years. State employees now make $3.20 less in real wages than they did in 1993. After a decade of stagnant wages, Wisconsin state labor unions, representing clerical, custodial and food service workers, are asking for a $1 raise. No state employee should be denied a living wage.
In addition to paying its workers low wages, UW-Madison ranks among the lowest in the top 30 public universities concerning persons-of-color representation on campus, and rising tuition costs will not curb UW-Madison's poor record of recruitment and retention. In fact, rising tuition costs will price out students from low-income families.
Tuition does not have to increase every year. When the Mexican government said it was going to impose tuition at Mexico City's National Autonomous University of Mexico, more than a thousand students occupied the campus for over a year. Yet, students at UW-Madison treat rising tuition as unavoidable.
Tomorrow students have a chance to take a stand against rising tuition. There will be a rally to promote equal access to higher education at 3:30 p.m. on Library Mall. The event is sponsored by the Student and Labor Action Coalition, the Multicultural Student Coalition, Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group and others. At 4:15 p.m. the students will march up State Street to join state labor unions rallying at the Capitol for a fair wage.
