Rebuilding Our Economic Future has put together a couple of fact sheets on how last year’s budget cuts affected Washington’s community and technical colleges and public universities. You can probably guess: enrollments are through the roof as people try to retrain and retool for their next job – but at the same time, financial aid is down, cost are up, wait lists are longer…it’s not a pretty picture.

2009 is over and done. But we still have a chance to make a difference in 2010, by telling state leaders to protect one of Washington’s finest resources, our colleges and universities, from more cuts. How? By taking a balanced approach to closing the current budget shortfall — one that includes closing unfair tax loopholes and identifying new revenue sources — we can stabilize the funding for higher ed in the short and long term.

Go ahead. Tell them. It’s easy.