Union Members, Students Protest Cuts to Higher Education

A fight for the right to higher public education is heating up as funding cuts threaten academics and student services at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system (CSCU).

As the Board of Regents held a special meeting to discuss “budget mitigation,” students and faculty gathered outside to oppose proposed cuts and tuition hikes and gear up to demand emergency funding during the 2024 legislative session.

“Larger class sizes, fewer faculty, canceled sections, and higher tuition. Each of these cuts on its own will make it harder for students to get to college and stay there until they graduate–students who work, who have family responsibilities, who are food and housing insecure, students from under-resourced high schools,” warned John O’Connor, secretary of CSU-AAUP which represents over 3,000 faculty at the four Connecticut State Universities.

During the state budget fight earlier this year, the Recovery for All coalition of 61 labor, community and faith organizations, now named Connecticut for All, organized countless rallies and public testimonies to support public higher education funding.

Education supporters showed that the money is there if the tax system were to require the richest few to pay the same rates as the majority in our state. But budget cuts followed the imposition of guardrails to enforce spending cap guidelines.

“These caps and guardrails never seem to apply to the wealthy few, but instead fall on those who are striving for better,” said Michael Hinton, an instructor of English and theater at Tunxis Community College.

“The state’s leadership claims to be champions of equity, but they refuse to put the necessary money behind it to make equity happen,” he concluded.

Xander Tyler, a senior at CCSU, implored the Governor to “look beyond the next election cycle, beyond the talking points about austerity, to the future of Connecticut.”

State Senator Gary Winfield, also a staff member of CSU-AAUP will receive the People's World Amistad Award along with Stacie Harris-Byrdsong president of AFSCME Council 4, and Luis Luna campaign manager of Husky 4 Immigrants.

Connecticut for All will receive “In Solidarity” recognition at the event on Saturday December 9 at 4 pm at the First and United Summerfield Methodist Church at the corner of College and Elm street in New Haven. Click here to reserve tickets: People’s World Amistad Awards 2023