The genius of HBO’s The Wire is that it shows that the system perpetuates itself. You cannot improve the system until you determine how to eradicate the system completely. I was listening in a meeting the other day and couldn’t help but be reminded of this fact.
To how many of you does this scenario sound familiar?
Problem A: We need more money to do X and X is important to our mission as a campus (need more staff, need new furniture, any problem)
Problem B: We have no way to get new money that doesn’t involve placing more burden on those we’re trying to serve or cutting from somewhere else (We could place another fee on students OR we could cut other programs that are either out of our jurisdiction or connect to our mission)
We can’t truly fix problem A until there’s a solution to problem B and there IS NO SOLUTION to Problem B.
Anyone who is familiar with such a scenario knows what you inevitably do. You make your best effort to solve problem A with minimal resources by going through the back door or skimping. OR you make the unfortunate choice to solve problem B by passing the cost on to another massive student fee, even though it probably doesn’t feel completely right to do so.
I couldn’t help but think of season 4 of the Wire. For those who aren’t familiar, the schools are a wreck because of the “corner kids” not being educated in a way they understand, but the government won’t allow the kids to be educated differently despite people who have proven that such innovation is effective. So, the current system doesn’t work to solve problems but rather squelches innovation and actually perpetuates the problems that exist.
This brings me to the State of New Jersey. It’s come down the line that the new governor plans to cut the state budget by a mind boggling 25 percent; those of us in higher ed know that we tend to take the lumps in such budget cuts. Everyone’s scared to death, but part of me is glad. Massive change and budget reductions REQUIRES a rethinking of how things are done. True change and true destruction of the old way of doing things will only happen when those changes are forced to happen.
At the risk of massive narcissism, I will quote myself…”Personally, I believe this to be the biggest benefit of any crisis situation, whether it be personal, local or even national. A crisis is an opportunity to reflect on our values and to think about what may be most important. While we are in crisis, we can reconnect with what our values should be and emerge leaner and meaner and more prepared to do great work in the world.”
25% budget cuts might break the system and cause much needed change to happen. I might be alone here, but I think that’s a good thing.
