Fun with Constitutional Amendments

As if California had no other problems, a bipartisan group in the state legislature wants to tighten its control on the University of California system by amending the California Constitution. The UC system is rare in the amount of constitutionally-granted freedom it has among public universities; freedom that I think is rather well-justified, given the state's ever-decreasing level of funding. Some legislators are in a snit about pay raises for academic leadership-- probably not an unfair criticism-- but given the state's woeful incompetence with every facet of governing lately, stripping the UC system of the freedom that has allowed it to consistently manage a large network of high quality universities seems like a bad idea.

There are so many other areas that need help and oversight; the UC system is one of the bright spots, even with its current economic troubles. Plus, tuition for the next academic year at UCLA is $8,264; all UC schools come in under $10,0000.

I'm sure there is all sorts of errant douchebaggery going on at the administrative level in the UC system; replacing it with the errant douchebaggery of Sacramento is a non-starter for me.