Theory of Change
Strategy
To achieve our goal of more affordable, accessible public higher education in Massachusetts, PHENOM uses a variety of grassroots organizing tactics.
These include leadership development; mobilizing constituencies (e.g., letter campaigns, public testimonies); civic engagement (e.g., tabling on campuses, rallies, concerts, meeting with legislators); and coordinating events and strategy with allies such as student groups and teachers’ unions. We use these to bring together a coalition of students, faculty, staff and administrators to advocate for higher quality, more affordable, accessible and well-paying higher ed.
But how exactly do we intend to improve Massachusetts’ public colleges and trade schools? Through four campaigns, which all contribute to the others and promise to revolutionize Massachusetts public higher ed in their own ways.
The Debt-Free Future Act
The Debt-Free Future Act (H.1265/ S.823) would go a step further and require all Massachusetts public colleges to be tuition-free, in addition with a grant program designed to provide financial aid with necessities like housing, food, and transportation if necessary. We at PHENOM see DFF as so essential because it promises to make education truly financially accessible to all. We say education is the great equalizer, but that is only possible if it is affordable for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
The Endowment Tax Act
In turn, the Endowment Tax Act (H.2824/ S.1834) would provide the funding for the Debt-Free Future Act. The bill would do so by levying a 2.5 percent tax on Massachusetts’ private universities with endowments over $1 billion. According to State Representative Natalie Higgins, the sponsor of both bills in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the bill would generate over $2 billion in revenue per year, which would more than cover DFF’s estimated cost of $1.8 billion.
Auditing the State Legislature
Auditing the state legislature is a crucial step towards finally making our Commonwealth government transparent and accountable again. The Commonwealth has not had an audit in over a century. Meanwhile, it has been rated among the least transparent state governments in the country. Legislators’ votes on bills are not even available on the website; we have no idea how committees or studies are formed; bills’ statuses go without updates for years; and all branches of government are excluded from the public record.
The legislature consistently breaks their promises to voters and ignores their ballot measures; makes backroom deals with lobbyists; and leaders dole out committee posts and appropriations based on loyalty rather than merit. But what else could Beacon Hill be hiding? We’ll never know until we finally audit them and their finances. Then, we can get a read on just how unaccountable the legislature has become, and what more we must do to make it accountable to the people.
Adjunct Faculty Bill of Rights
We need to pass the adjunct faculty bill of rights so that long underpaid, overworked and disrespected adjunct faculty workers get the job security, benefits and wages they deserve. As universities have increasingly cut corners amid wavering state funding and growing campus debt, they have resorted to using lower-level faculty as substitutes for well-paid, fairly worked professors who do as much teaching work as professors with none of the benefits, pay or job security. But this model is not sustainable. This is why we must pass an Adjunct Faculty Bill of Rights. Because when our teachers are beaten down, everyone is hurt.