In conjunction with the large protest scheduled for March 15, various Georgia State student leaders have issued written statements:

The nearly $600 million dollars in budget cuts proposed for the University System of Georgia struck a chord with me when I learned how the budget cuts would affect my region. I am a senior at Dalton State College majoring in social work.  Last week, I learned that DSC administrators have identified the School of Social Work as an academic program that could be reduced or eliminated as a cost-cutting measure.  I plan to graduate with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree in May, so the proposed cuts are not likely to affect my plans to graduate.  However, the local community would clearly be negatively impacted by the loss of the DSC School of Social Work.

The Social Work program, which is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, is the only bilingual, bicultural program in the nation. All of the 2009 graduates are have jobs in the social work profession. Many graduates have participated in a program that is funded by the State and the federal government to provide specialized training for graduates who want to work in child welfare within the Department of Family and Children Services. There is a critical shortage of specially-trained, professional social workers in the public welfare system.

Social workers have the right education, experience, and dedication to help people help themselves whenever and wherever they need it.  Social workers help people in all stages of life, from children to the elderly, and from all situations from adoption to hospice care.  You can find social workers in hospitals, police departments, mental health clinics, military facilities, and even corporations.  Professional social workers are the nation's largest providers of mental health services. Eliminating or weakening the Dalton State's social work program at a time when the economy is strained, local unemployment rates are among the highest in the nation, and families are in desperate need of social services seems to me to be unwise and counterproductive.

Helping people help themselves is also a fundamental principle of social work, and when the news of the USG budget cuts became public, I was able to use the professional social work skills that I have acquired to facilitate collective problem-solving and networking with people from every region in the State of Georgia.  My fellow students and I have been working tirelessly to encourage others to contact legislators and make their opinions about the proposed USG budget cuts known.  We have visited the Capitol, spoken to legislators about our concerns, attended legislative committee meetings, and helped to organize a small, but effective, protest in front of the Georgia Capitol, we held press conferences, and coordinated planning among students at USG colleges and universities.

We appreciate the support for the USG that Governor Perdue has expressed, and USG students are eagerly looking forward to seeing him make good on his promise to protect higher education. Unfortunately, the public is painfully aware that, in politics, promises made are far more prevalent than promises fulfilled. We hope that Governor Perdue will write a new chapter in the political textbooks that will inspire a generation of Georgia's college students. We are under no illusions: the economy is strained. But generating additional revenue would eliminate the need for further cuts to the USG.

Supporters of the University System of Georgia (USG) from across the state have planned a non-violent, peaceful protest of approximately 4,000 supporters so that state to protest the proposed budget cuts and to call for creative, alternative solutions for the budget crisis.  Some Dalton State students will attend the rally at the Capitol; other DSC students are helping to organize and prepare for the rally. We are aware of the gravity of the State budget situation, but we are also committed to keeping quality higher education within the reach of students regardless of their income. 

Education should be available to every qualified person--not only to those who can afford to attend a private, expensive college or university. We are determined to see the battle for quality, affordable higher education through to its conclusion.  We will not back down.  The public is welcomed to join us at the rally in Atlanta, and I encourage readers to continue to write or call you legislators.  For additional information, please see www.futureofgeorgia.org.

Will Avery, University of West Georgia Graduate Student and Community Activist
"We, the students of the University System of Georgia, have sat quietly watching as the state of education in the state of Georgia steadily declines. Today, we stand together--not as 300,000 students from 37 different schools, but as one voice opposed to the proposed $300 million budget cut to the system of which we are part. We have seen educators at all levels furloughed. We have seen the workers that make our campuses laid off. We have seen teachers across the state having to do more with less and teach increased numbers of students with fewer resources available to them. We have already seen the fees that we pay increase just to meet previous budget cuts.

Under current university system of GA proposals, in response to the requested budget cuts from the state legislature, thousands of our role models, mentors, and professors will be told that there are no funds in the budget for their jobs. If these proposals are accepted, students will be forced to pay more for fewer opportunities and fewer classes. Hundreds of degree programs will be cut from universities across the state, programs in which thousands of students have invested their time, their money, and their futures. Among the many programs on the State chopping block are middle and secondary education at the University of West Georgia, nursing programs in several locations across the state, the music program at Augusta State, and the entire School of Social Work at Dalton State College--home of the only bilingual, bicultural BSW program in the nation. Important programs such as 4-H and the Georgia State Regents Center for Learning Disability will be dismantled to the detriment of thousands, and the Medical College of Georgia will cut $5 million dollars from cancer research.

If allowed to continue on this path, our state's most promising students will leave Georgia in search of other educational opportunities that will support them and reward them for their hard work. Many of these students will never return. We will see our most capable and dedicated professors leave to take jobs in other states in search of universities that will provide them with the resources necessary to teach. We will see businesses pass the state of Georgia simply because it appears that education is not valued. We will watch more citizens of our state fall into poverty, because they have been told that there are already too many students enrolled, that online classes have been cancelled, or that the satellite campus that allows them to take classes while they work and take care of their family is closing.

Why should the University System of Georgia, which accounts for approximately 12% of the state's budget have to bear the burden of over 30% of the most recent proposed budget cuts. We say, together, that it shouldn't.

Today, we ask that the citizens of Georgia STAND UP for the power of education and demand that our state legislature make necessary investments in the future of our state. We ask that all the citizens of Georgia who care about education join us on March 15th at the State Capitol to stand up for our rights to education. If the Georgia General Assembly will not find creative solutions to address these issues, we will find alternative citizens to fill their seats."

Ryan McGinley, Georgia State University Graduate Student, Community Organizer/Activist
"Georgia Students for Public Higher Education is a coalition of students across the state who stand for quality, accessible and truly public higher education in Georgia. It's unfortunate that a wave of cost increases, cuts, and layoffs has threatened the system we've come to know and, well, tolerate at least. We currently have affiliates at Dalton State College, University of West Georgia, Augusta State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech Savannah State, Medical College of Georgia, and Armstrong Atlanta University among others.

This group was created to gauge interest in a protest against the Supplemental Instructional Fee (SIF) effective the Spring 2010 semester in Georgia. All current instructional fees have been DOUBLED from $100/$75/$50 to $200/$150/$100. But this isn't the only issue. In colleges and universities around Georgia, there have been budget cuts to academic programs, campus workers have been laid off, the firings of union bus drivers, staff and faculty members forced to take furloughs, and steadily increasing fees and tuition for students. Originally, this group was called "Georgia Students AGAINST Fee Hikes," but we know that the fee increases is another of several assaults against public higher education. We have been silent long enough. In 2009, we decided to fight back and organized the first actions against this wave of attacks on public higher education (gathering over 2,000 signatures against the fee hikes at GSU.) But now, it's getting even worse. Recent proposals include hiking tuition 30%, adding another $1,000 fee, cutting departments, and even closing some campuses. Since then, we've become a truly state-wide coalition with chapters ranging from Dalton, to Augusta, to Carrolton, to Savannah, to Athens, united with a common purpose.

The coalition of "Georgia Students for Public Higher Education" includes all students in the state of Georgia who believe that education is a right and should be affordable for all of us. It includes student support for the workers within the colleges and universities, from the person who cleans to the person who grades. It acknowledges the dual role many students assume as both students and workers, inside and outside the college and/or university. As Georgia Students for Public Higher Education, we are organizing together to fight against these assaults on public higher education. Currently, there are approximately 35,000 signatures on an online petition against budget cuts of any kind."

See details about the protest scheduled for March 15 here:  http://www.vee2.net/world-news/70-education/4650-georgia-state.html

| More...