Letters to the Editor: Federal funding cuts threaten California students’ educational opportunities

On April 23, 2025, The Sacramento Bee published this Op-Ed from Dick Ackerman and Mel Levine, co-chairs of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education:

Federal funding cuts are indeed concerning, especially with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s nearly 8% proposed decrease in the 2025-26 general fund appropriations for the California State University and University of California systems (totaling $772 million, 55% of the proposed $1.4 billion in 2025-26 general fund cuts Newsom has proposed). In comparison, Newsom proposed only a 1.88% reduction in the Department of Corrections.

These cutbacks are already having an impact: The UC recently announced a systemwide hiring freeze, and Sonoma State University is laying off tenured faculty and eliminating 20 degree programs, six departments and all NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports.

Lawmakers should say “no” to these disproportionate reductions. Public higher education is much too important to students and our state’s economy for the UC and CSU systems to bear such significant reductions.

Dick Ackerman, Fullerton

Mel Levine, Pacific Palisades

Ackerman is a former Republican leader of the California Senate; Levine is a former Democratic member of Congress. They co-chair the California Coalition for Public Higher Education.