By Sam Dutton

Many college students will attest to the statement that college, while a lot of fun, is also very stressful. The two most prominent stressful events for students being: the weeks of finals, and the weeks in which tuition is due. Governor Tom Corbett is only increasing the stress upon students and families with his proposed decrease in funding to state universities by 50%. This proposed bill of course translates to a spike in tuition rates for all state colleges such as Millersville University, decrease in the programs offered to students, larger class sizes, potential for whole departments to be dissipated, and did I mention the decrease in funding will also impact the students ability to graduate in four years?
So if I am correct in my understanding Corbett expects students to pay more for their education with the likelihood of not graduating in four years? I am sorry but something is terribly wrong if this governor seems to believe that this is a viable course of action. If you get the opportunity, I highly suggest exploring Tom Corbett’s personal website: www.tomcorbettforgovernor.com.
The website portrays Corbett in a very different light, a portrayal we now know to be false. The website states that Tom Corbett believes that every child in Pennsylvania regardless of their zip code or economic status should have access to the best education possible. Subsequently, the bill does not only target college students, this effects all areas of education, k-12, suggesting that education is now no longer important.
Teachers and staff will likewise be feeling the effects, if the bill should be passed and there is already talk of future strikes that could potentially occur if the bill does pass. The bill also would entail a 7.3 billion dollar funding increase in the supervision of offenders. A man that professes his love for education would rather spend more money incarcerating criminals than educating them, there is something wrong with that. It is important to note that the VOTER (WE) elected this man!
As a student and future teacher this bill has proved nothing but worrisome. It is important that we contact our senators and protest this bill; our voices need to be heard before our pockets are emptied. Millersville students have already been taking action against the bill by protesting at the town meeting and most recently running a 40 mile relay from the University to the state’s capitol, to protest on the steps.
From the looks of things it does not appear that Corbett cares about the education of Pennsylvania students. We the students are Pennsylvania’s future, what does it that say about the future of Pennsylvania if the educational funding should be drastically cut?