THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512230009
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Gov. George F. Allen's proposed two-year $34.6 billion budget includes a $1.05 billion increase in spending for construction and operation of public schools and colleges, with $475 million designated for the latter. But John T. Hazel Jr., the Republican businessman who rallied Virginia's business leaders to lobby for more state spending on higher education, says the governor is proposing to add too little money. He's right.
The General Assembly will surely listen respectfully to the Hazel complaint. It should. For the unhappy reality is that state spending for higher education was slashed deeply by Governor L. Douglas Wilder, Mr. Allen's immediate predecessor, in order to balance Virginia's budget during a recession without increasing taxes. Rather than restore spending when he came into office, Allen proposed further cuts.
But a well-funded, competitive system of higher education is essential to the future prosperity. Virginia had fallen behind its competitors. When Governor Allen proposed whacking higher-education again, Mr. Hazel, a heavyweight Allen backer, protested. He also enlisted a group of like-minded business leaders. They were joined by three respected former governors - two Republicans and one Democrat - who warned that further cuts in funds for state colleges and universities would severely damage Virginia's appeal to businesses considering relocation or expansion.
Their criticisms emboldened the General Assembly, controlled by Democrats, to reject the popular Republican governor's proposed cuts. Widespread concern about Allen's direction on education undermined his attempt to elect enough Republicans to win control of the General Assembly in the Nov. 7 elections.
Now, two-thirds of lawmakers who will take up the Allen budget have pledged to support additional funds for higher education. So the legislature almost surely will side with Mr. Hazel and vote more money for higher education than Mr. Allen seeks.
Mr. Hazel argues that there's less to Allen's proposal for more higher education funding than at first meets the eye. Of the $475 million that Mr. Allen proposes, Hazel believes that at best only $107.5 million can be counted as new operating money for the schools. That's far short of the amount needed to return to a pre-Wilder level of support for higher education or to return to competitive parity with other state systems.
Virginia stands 42nd among the states in support per in-state student ($4,056), which is markedly below the Southern states' average ($4,668). Hazel believes the Allen budget provides too little support for information technology, faculty salaries, long-term capital needs, student aid and assorted programs necessary to equip Virginians for the fast-changing job market.
Despite the inadequacy of the overall Allen higher education plan, we note with pleasure that the proposed budget would provide money for new quarters for Old Dominion University's Teletechnet Program, which reaches students around the state, and expand the network by six community-college sites. It also would enable ODU and Norfolk State University to start raising faculty salaries toward the 60 percentile level of salaries at peer institutions. But NSU, cut deeply during the recession, will need more money than Mr. Allen urges. Among other adjustments the General Assembly will make, it should try to accommodate NSU. by CNB