The Associated Students Inc. Senate passed a resolution in opposition to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed cuts to the state’s child development programs during its third reading Wednesday.
According to the Preschool California website, Brown’s budget proposal would cut $517 million from programs and about 62,000 children would be affected by these cuts.
According to Associated Student Executive Director Richard Haller, the campaign in opposition has not yet started at Cal State Long Beach, but the Senate’s adoption of the resolution now authorizes ASI to start collecting letters as part of a letter-writing campaign created to express people’s concerns over the proposed cuts.
Senators Jason Neas and Manuel Nieto, the authors of the resolution, said it is important for students to stay updated and engaged in current political matters because resolutions like this apply directly to students.
“[ASI is] trying to create enough knowledge and awareness around the issue to hopefully get the funding that we need for those child development centers,” Neas said.
If the cuts to child development programs pass, the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center (IPCDC) on campus would be affected.
Many CSULB student-parents have spoken out through the letter-writing campaign, Nieto said.
“For the letter-writing campaign, we want to emphasize the priority of access to affordable child development and early education programs,” said Stephen Thomas, ASI Vice President.
Thomas also stressed the importance of students remaining politically engaged and contacting their statewide and federal representatives if they have concerns or issues.
Many students depend on the IPCDC for volunteer or credit hours, and cutting funds would affect countless students in different majors, but this would mostly affect student-parents, Neas said.
The IPCDC offers affordable childcare on campus and also offers financial assistance to student parents, according to the IPCDC’s website.
“People need to know what these cuts entail,” Neas said. “Essentially, what we’ve been seeing is it’s so easy to target education; it doesn’t represent most of the [voters].”
The campaign will last until a state budget is passed.