#mapmatters

[freelyilive]

Pass a budget already IL! You're starving your universities, laying off thousands of people who work at those universities, gambling with students' futures, and most importantly YOU ARE NOT LISTENING! We rally, we protest, we send letters and postcards, we call our representatives, we create hashtags, we get on the news, we even lobby inside the capital! You can hear us, you just refuse to listen. You don't care. It's been 8 months without a budget, 8 months without certainty that my university will be open in the fall, 8 months of people getting laid off, and 8 months of having opportunities ripped away from students because our school has to scrounge up every last penny just to remain open. Stop punishing the people of Illinois for your incompetence. Do your fucking job.

[freelyilive]

Dear Bruce Rauner,

[freelyilive]

Rallying for higher education at the capital building in Springfield, IL.

[lanamay1980]

Fund My College

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been a college adjunct for over a year. I teach English Languages Acquisition (ELA) and General Education courses to students. For there to be any question as to whether or not colleges *NEED* funding to support educating our citizens is ridiculous. 

Funding issues seem to influence both my full-time and part-time jobs, and I’m tired of it. There are many Illinois residents in need of additional learning opportunities to achieve success in their life. The Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant program funds students. It provides them with the financial means to attend college. 

Bruce. Rauner. NEEDS. To. Sign. This. Bill. 

Not only does this lack of funding put Illinois colleges at an unprecedented risk of closing, but it is also causing students who would otherwise not have funds to attend college to postpone attending college due to funding reasons. It changes the American dream by holding Illinois citizens with a desire to better themselves hostage. Without a college education, these citizens may end up in a perpetual financial flux of poverty. Which ends up costing more for the state in the long-term. It puts jobs at risk. It puts colleges at risk of closing.

I get it that Rauner needs to cut the budget, but not when it comes to education. To cut state funds for any form of education is foolish. So, while this might not affect you because you may live in a different state. It *DOES* affect me and the students whose lives I try to influence each semester. It *DOES* effect my bank account and the bank accounts of my fellow adjuncts and professors who work their asses off to teach. It effects whether or not we can pay our bills. 

I have an idea. If we start by cutting the salaries and pensions of those working in Springfield before cutting the benefits from the poor citizens, perhaps that will prove a point.