Yeah, this is going to turn out well.Why doesn't Louisiana just quit prolonging its misery and tell the Dutchtown Boy to pull his damn finger out of the levee?
Read this from The Advocate . . . or -- after everybody gets through destroying the state's universities and community colleges -- Thee Addvokit:
The Governor’s Office is asking Louisiana colleges to prepare for potentially huge budget cuts approaching 30 percent of the state’s funding for higher education.
This worst-case scenario could mean laying off thousands of employees, adopting four-day school weeks, eliminating academic programs, tuition increases and cutting into merit-based TOPS scholarship funds, higher education leaders said Wednesday.
“It’s a sobering time,” said Sally Clausen, state commissioner of higher education, of the second round of budget cuts following mid-fiscal year slashes just weeks ago.
Plans for how the campuses make those cuts are due Jan. 30 for the 2009-2010 fiscal year that begins July 1.
LSU’s main campus alone could be in line for as much as $71 million in cuts, Chancellor Michael Martin said.
“I think it shoots a huge hole in the side of the flagship,” Martin said. “And I’m not sure we have the pumps to handle it.”
At the very worst for LSU: “Total loss of employment— faculty and nonfaculty — well over 1,000 jobs for sure,” Martin said.
Southern University is considering a four-day school week in addition to layoffs and furloughs, said Provost Mwalimu Shujaa.
The state Office of Planning and Budget presented a range of $212 million to $382 million in possible cuts to colleges for the upcoming fiscal year.
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