A Vote for Higher Education

State elections for the governor of California is fast approaching and while we may be aware of the ongoing political arms race campaigns in the media and what promises the candidates are offering the state of California; the real question is what promises benefit us college students?

Republican candidate Meg Whitman is promising to fix California’s current education budget by allotting a one billion dollar proposal for funding higher education. While this promise may seem like the necessary fund needed due to the 40% increase in tuition but are her attempts seem flawed considering that California is already facing a 60 billion dollar deficit? Steve Poizner, another Republican nominee, created an educational “master plan” to review and coordinate California’s UCs, CSUs and CCCs while promising better career and technical programs. However, Poizner’s agenda is also filled with incentives. Part of the high education funding will be based on the college’s performance; how many courses completed, how many students graduate, and how many students transfer. The democratic candidate Jerry Brown has interpreted his position on educational funding by dedicating 10% of the state budget towards higher education means yet he admits he doesn’t want to create a mandated minimum proposal.

As far as the poll statistics have revealed, the election for state governor is going somewhere, where we are not quite sure. For the last several months, Meg Whitman’s campaign was pronounced promising back in February where she held a 59% vote over Poizner’s 11%. However, recent polls have reported that Poizner climbed back up with a 28% and Whitman leading behind a 38%, a stark contrast from the polls at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, Brown seems to be leading in the polls with a 44% vote; however, if Whitman should lose the Republican position to Poizner, Brown will gain a 50% vote giving Poizner a 32%.

Ultimately, this election has no clear forefront runner as the polls have determined that now voters aren’t sure where their votes will end up. The important idea that none of the candidates have fully grasped is that voters aren’t looking for more open-ended promises and proposals from the individual campaigns. Frustration is rising rapidly as our state continues to sink into the unknown and our education and jobs have already begun following suit. Californians want more than just a governor with proposals and promises but proof that hope won’t elude us any further.