UMass Law School Idea Shot Down

In an 8-3 vote today, the State Board of Education rejected the University of Massachusetts'proposal to create the first state-funded law school. The proposal involved the acquisition of the unaccredited Southern New England School of Law in Dartmouth, as well as a hefty tuition of $19,000 for state residents. Another highly controversial tenet of the plan was the claim that UMass could operate the school at no cost to taxpayers, which many found unrealistic. Although it won the support of the UMass trustees back in December, UMass's proposal incurred vocal opposition from the state's private law schools and some legislators. The plan seems to be dead in the water at the moment.
Bostonist is torn on this one. A public law school would be a great addition to the state, especially for those who don't have the cash for Suffolk, BC,or BU (don't even get us started about Harvard). We have a public medical school which is consistently ranked as one of the top 20 medical schools in the country. But the University of Massachusetts system is in big financial trouble as it is, and a new school would be a lot to handle for an already strained institution. What are your thoughts?

Contributed by Alex Gantley