$48 per median
household is what Reclaim California Higher Education (RCHE) estimates is
needed to restore postsecondary education in the state. They claim the $9.43
billion in new taxes would not only restore state
spending on HE to the 1.17% of AGI it enjoyed in 2001, but also provide
tuition-free HE to all qualified in-state students. Importantly, the only new
money in the Reclaim Master Plan (RMP) is $4.71 billion that RCHE calculates
would restore funding to comparable 2001 levels, since even without their plan,
by state or by student, $4.72 billion in tuition revenue will find its way to
institutional coffers in 2016-17.
I like the RCHE
approach to this problem, using straightforward, basic funding calculations,
rather than administrative or bureaucratic redesigns. Weissmann, from The Atlantic, has made similar
calculations in support of nationwide tuition-free HE. His estimate is an
additional $62.6 billion in public funding. And across the country there are
other initiatives that promise 2-years of tuition-free college, which also require
either additional funds or funds diverted from other social responsibilities.
I have responded to
one of these proposals in detail (F2CO, from Sara Goldrick-Rab) and all of them
in general. I will now do the same with the RCHE proposal, raising concerns and
drawing comparisons with PSA.
