Proposed Texas budget includes deep cuts in public education, health care

[Hannah Bell]

The Texas House of Representatives is due to vote this week on a package of measures that includes $8 billion in cuts to education and an additional $6 billion to Medicaid. In response to the anticipated cuts, the state’s schools and major public universities are considering large numbers of layoffs, increased class sizes, and reduced programs...

The number of students receiving the state’s main form of financial aid, the Texas Grant, would be reduced from 86,000 to 27,000. This week, Texas public universities sent out a letter to financial aid recipients in lieu of a financial disbursement, warning that no funds will be sent out until the budget negotiations are completed.

In response to the proposed budget, the University of Texas Board of Regents recently voted to increase tuition and fees for medical students. These students will pay at least $1,000 more for the 2011-2012 school year. Similar increases were approved for nursing, dental, and other health science students. Once cuts are implemented, tuition will likely be hiked across the board...four community colleges...would close completely, and surviving ones would have major budget reductions...

Opposition to the proposed education cuts has been enormous. Two rallies held at the state Capitol in Austin this month attracting thousands of demonstrators.
Several days before these rallies, Perry declared that he was not responsible for any layoffs at public schools—which could reach over 100,000...Those will all be local decisions, he said...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/texa-m31.shtml