There are significant shortfalls for K-12 funding and state funding for the UW System.
These shortfalls involve hundreds of millions, and that alters the landscape at public institutions (at some more than others).
Still, It won’t be true, because it cannot be true, that every problem one might encounter will be the consequence of fiscal policy.
Many good events, and many bad ones, will happen apart from a reduction from one budget to another.
In the case of properly addressing sexual assaults on campus, for example, it’s simply not true that a UW System school’s revenue last year, or next year, will be material in determining whether fair procedures are adopted and consistently executed.
There is no fiscal reason whatever that any UW System school should find itself less able next year than it was last year to address properly campus assaults.
It’s very possible that some schools will fail to address these crimes, and fail to respond to the victims of these crimes properly.
If they should fail, they will not have their budgets to blame, but instead any mistakes will more likely be from their poor priorities, misguided values, or utter laziness. More troubling, truly: these would be poor priorities, misguided values, or utter laziness in the face of others’ serious injuries.
One may yet hear, though, that the budget was somehow to blame. No, and no again: leaders are responsible for proper priorities and allocations, and lack of money has not been our only problem these several years.
Budget problems must not become a mask for serious, unethical, internal problems.
On this point, there is no reason to give ground, anytime, to anyone.