THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510250640
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Virginia's money-strapped state colleges and universities received a ray of hope last week. The Virginia Business Higher Education Council, comprising about three dozen of Virginia's leading businesspeople, reported that two-thirds of General Assembly candidates - challengers and incumbents - had signed pledges of support for substantial increases in state general-fund expenditures per student for higher education.
Of the 248 candidates who will be on the ballot Nov. 7, 182 returned the pledge forms. Of those, 165 - a whopping 91 percent - favored substantial increases for higher education.
Pledge signers agreed to actively encourage and support any governor's request for substantial budget increases in the 1996-98 biennium, and to sponsor or co-sponsor, and vote for, a budget amendment during the 1996 legislative session that ``significantly improves Virginia's national ranking for each year of the 1996-98 biennium.''
In short, they pledged to support Governor Allen if he seeks more higher-education money, or to provide the money even if he doesn't.
John T. Hazel Jr. of Fairfax, the lawyer-developer and generally Republican supporter who is chairman of the council, expressed enthusiasm over the response.
A breakdown showed 71 percent of incumbents and 61 percent of challengers took the pledge. Just under half of Republican candidates and about 90 percent of Democratic candidates pledged significant higher-education increases. Absent from the list of signers were Republican floor leaders in the House and Senate. Though the pledge did not specify a specific amount of increase, some Republicans shied from the council's past emphasis on about $200 million in additional funding in the next session.
As staff writer Margaret Edds reported Saturday, ``The figures suggest that a reversal of fortune may be near for Virginia's institutions of higher education after half a decade of severe budget cuts and higher tuitions.''
If so, the reversal is overdue and welcome.
A business-council brochure that accompanied the pledge sheets gave these figures:
To achieve the average level of support provided per in-state student by Southern states, the General Assembly would need to spend $195 million more in fiscal 1997 and $243 more in fiscal 1998 for state colleges and universities.
To reach the national average, $230 million more in fiscal 1997, $280 million more in fiscal 1998.
To be in the top 10 states, $480 million more in fiscal 1997, $543 million more in fiscal 1998.
To be the top state in the South (surpassing North Carolina), $536 million more in fiscal 1997, $601 million more in fiscal 1998.
By comparison, $777 million in general-fund money is going toward higher-education instruction this year.
The business council said Virginia has dropped in general-fund appropropriations per higher-education in-state student from 28th among the 50 states in 1989-90 to 42nd today.
The financial squeeze of universities began under Democratic Gov. Douglas Wilder during the most recent recession to gain revenue to cope with a growing prison-inmate population and state Medicaid bill without raising taxes. The squeeze has continued in a period of economic expansion. As the good years continue, it is time to properly support higher education. A dollar for education is a dollar invested in the future prosperity of the state and all its citizens.
South Hampton Roads senatorial candidates signing the pledge to support more funding for state-supported colleges and universities were Sen. Yvonne B. Miller (D) and Bruce A. Wilcox (R), 5th district; Sen. Stanley C. Walker (D) and Dimitrios N. Rerras (R), 6th district; Sen. C. A. Holland (D) and Edward L. Schrock (R), 7th district; Johnny S. Joannou (D), 13th district; Sen. Mark L. Earley (R), 14th district; Sen. Louise Lucas (D) and F. M. Slayton (I), 18th district.
South Hampton Roads House candidates signing the pledge were Del. W. S. Moore Jr. (D), 79th district; Del. Kenneth R. Melvin (D), 80th district; Del. Glenn R. Croshaw (D), 81st district; Del. Harry R. Purkey (R), 82nd district; Philip J. Geib (D), 83rd district; Del. George H. Heilig Jr. (D), 86th district; Del. Howard Copeland (D) and Thelma Drake (R), 87th district; Del. Thomas W. Moss Jr. (D) and Mark A. Yatrofsky (I), 88th district; and Del. W. P. Robinson Jr. (D), 90th district. by CNB