A Generation is Hobbled by Student Debt (New York Times, May 13, 2012)
Ninety-four percent of students who earn a bachelor’s degree borrow to pay for higher education – up from 45 percent in 1993, according to an analysis by The New York Times of the latest data from the Department of Education. ..”If one is not thinking about where this is headed over the next two or three years, you are just completely missing the warning signs,” said Rajeev V. Date, deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal watchdog created after the financial crisis.”
As many as 300,000 students have been on strike against tuition increases in Quebec over the past 3 months, with 180,000 still out on an unlimited strike. Demonstrations of more than 250,000 people have taken place in Montreal. A massive movement against austerity and for education as a right and not a privilege is unfolding just a few hundred miles from here -- unknown to most Americans since it has been ignored by the mainstream media. In a small effort to break through this wall of silence, PHENOM helped bring two of the strikers to Massachusetts April 25-27.
The House passed its version of the 2012-13 budget after adopting an amendment that added $1.1 million to the financial aid account. This means that financial aid will be funded the same next year as this year. The amount appropriated for campus operating budgets was not changed and remains the same as this year. The budget does include a collective bargaining reserve to fund the contracts negotiated by staff and faculty unions.
Over 500 students, staff and faculty from almost every one of the public campuses came to the State House on March 8 with a simple powerful message: Public Higher Education is critical to the residents of Massachusetts, to our economy, and to our future, and must be adequately funded. After inspirational speeches (list of speakers below), 40 people held up signs with the names of the 40 State Senators, and a huge mass of people snaked their way through the auditorium to form lobby groups. Armed with talking points, maps of the State House, lobbying tips, and — most important — personal stories, the groups went to visit their Senators, and then their Representatives. After lunch, participants regrouped by school and visited the legislators who represent their school. [See 
The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts recognizes the painful cuts in many areas of Governor Patrick’s budget proposal and thanks the Governor for mostly holding the line on higher education after several years of catastrophic cuts. At the same time, we urge the state to make the real long term investments in public higher education that the Governor stressed, and to have an adult conversation about adequate and fair revenues to pay for them. “In presenting his budget, the Governor said that we need a ‘growth strategy’ to get out of the recession,” says PHENOM organizer Alex Kulenovic. 
Mar
10
2012
Videos of Public Higher Ed Advocacy Day 3-8-12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=eG5ocFD1p_4 , produced by Bristol CCTV, includes the inspiring short speeches given by Charles Desmond, Chair of the Board of Higher Education, Angel Donohue-Rodriguez, student, Salem State University, Tom Sannicandro, House Co-Chair, Higher Education Committee, Michael Moore, Senate Co-Chair, Higher Education Committee, Richard Freeland, Commissioner of Higher Education, Nicole Collins, Student Government President, Bristol Community College, Melanie Mulvey, student, UMass Amherst, Paul Reville, Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Paul Toner, President of Massachusetts Teachers Association
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hman8xAdObw&feature=related , produced by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, has video interviews of faculty and staff participants.