Advocates on Monday picketed and protested budget cuts at a Connecticut community college that they say are the result of the state government consolidating 12 community colleges.
“I'm here to say that we need support from the governor and our legislators,” Diba Khan-Bureau, a professor at Three Rivers Community College, said at at the protest. “It has been a long and difficult road to consolidation, and what was supposed to save the state of Connecticut millions of dollars only has seen costly increases.”
Khan-Bureau said the action from the governor and the state legislature, which was finalized last year, would ultimately harm students.“The governor has put all state community colleges and universities on notice. The budget is going to be cut and our students are going to bear the brunt of this mismanaged bureaucratic system.”
"I not only blame the governor, but the legislators who stood by knowing that the consolidation was a farce. How do I know this? Many legislators have told us that the consolidation was a miscalculation and oversight, but they were too indifferent, apathetic, or afraid to tell the governor, and now our students still ultimately and will suffer the consequences of this mismanaged bureaucratic system.”
