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In the late nineties, almost all universities in California had great teachers, small classes and an excited and passionately interested student body. Many with families and kids found it comfortable to return back to education with a strong will to learn.

A lot of students would work part time to pay off their tuitions. Most of them were able to pay off their tuition with ease with the help of state grants and sometimes even managing more than one part time job. They would graduate and find the job they always wanted to do and start earning money without having to carry the huge student loan burden.

Today the situation is far from this comfortable scenario. In the past year, many colleges have announced more than one tuition fee hike. In any state college, you will have to now pay around $6400 for a year which is just not within reach of many.

Destructive cuts continue to plague colleges and universities causing many a heartbreak. In California, poor families continue to struggle as their welfare benefits have been cut to levels in existence before 1987. In Sacramento schools, homeless kids have to now pay a 50 percent tuition hike. Are we tolerating suffering willing or is the situation actually hopeless?

In the California State University, not many kids from working families are able to get in due to budget cuts and those who have got in are forced to drop out as they are unable to afford the rising fees. Seems like we are living in a society where it is not possible for working family kids to find opportunities that their parents had. States will soon find a clear distinction between the haves and have nots as there will be a lack of accessible state school system to bridge the middle class.

It is indeed a shame that we are unable to provide for our children’s basic needs today. Kids who face a lot of hardship and do everything right are unable to beat odds and afford higher education.
In California as in other states, we can find opportunity killers everywhere.

Lifeline to families is being cut off by greedy politicians who even go to the extent of not allowing people to vote on tax extensions. For thousands and thousands of students, college opportunities are being cut off even as our erstwhile politicians fight for corporate tax break preservation.

At a recent press conference, Connie Conway, a Republican leader said that Republican lawmakers indeed care about all this. They just wish to ensure that all this does not turn into a hammock with drinks and umbrellas.

It is time for these politicians to remember that leave alone umbrellas and drinks, there are families who earn just about $450 a month and are unable to pay for a decent meal. We just cannot allow them to destroy our country. Families have been scrimping, saving and sacrificing for the sole purpose of providing the next generation a chance to live better. It is time we all put our heads together and transform their dreams into reality.