Education cuts causing “brain drain” at Washington colleges
Feb 2, 2012, 7:14 AM | Updated: 8:57 am
State funding for Washington collegs has been slashed by 50 percent by the legislature in the last four years. They say that's left them without the money to attract great professors or keep the ones they have.
Washington’s four year colleges and universities say the budget cuts they’ve taken are not only hurting their overall education, they’re hurting their reputations around the world.
It’s being called the “brain drain” by the presidents of Washington’s five universities and the head of Evergreen State College.
State funding for the six has been slashed 50 percent by the Legislature in the last four years. They say the cuts have left them without the money to attract great professors or keep the ones they have.
“We are seeing offers we can’t begin to counter from other universities around the country. Washington is now known as a place to go headhunting,” Western Washington University president Bruce Shepard told a gathering of educators at Seattle Town Hall Wednesday night. “That’s the real threat, longer term, to sustaining the excellence of our university.”
He said students follow good professors and the state’s top schools are in danger of losing their edge because of all the cuts.
