Letter: NCC tuition hike harmful
Nassau Community College graduates march during the commencement ceremony at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (May 18, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Jessica Rotkiewicz
The vote by the Nassau County Legislature to raise the tuition at Nassau Community College, and the impact it will have on students, was revealed in the words of two legislators ["Tuition hikes for NCC students," News, June 29].
Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), who represents an affluent district, spoke of the $258 increase as a bargain. It is indeed a bargain for her constituents. Legis. Robert Troiano (D-Westbury), whose district is not as affluent, said he voted yes because the tuition increase would not affect his constituents on public assistance. They don't pay tuition.
Four Democratic legislators who voted against the increase spoke up for the middle class -- those struggling to survive and trying to make ends meet. But the most eloquent message came from the silence of the Republican majority, as its members voted to add to the burden of taxpayers, who find themselves in the middle.
The Republican majority may comfort itself by believing that the increase is not a tax; but that which we call a tax by any other name will cost as much.
Charles Loiacono, Hicksville
Editor's note: The writer is the president of the Adjunct Faculty Association at Nassau Community College.
