What does Prop 13 have to do with rising college tuition?

Twelve UCLA students sat in the middle of Wilshire and Westwood, the busiest intersection in LA and possibly west of the Mississippi, to raise hell about raising tuition in November 2011. Some were also seeking to raise awareness about the consequences of Proposition 13. Note: the student with the black jacket is my friend and former roommate Renee.
Source: LA Times.

It started this morning when this girl I know from elementary school expressed her anger (nicely put) on Facebook about the Cal State system's decision to temporarily cease admitting students for the spring semester due to fiscal constraints.

Yes, that is pretty upsetting. I get that.

But my ears perked up when the girl went off on cutting "bureaucrat salaries". Not one to rein in my opinions, I pointed out some damning facts:

1. Most of us bureaucrats (myself included) are not rolling in money, especially those amongst us who are early in our government careers. Most of us work really hard, with little to no prospects for merit raises or COLA adjustments. I work in a public university system because I believe in its academic, research and service mission. This is not sexy talk to say the least. But I'm still young enough (or stupid enough) to be optimistic. 
2. State support for UC and CSU has diminished substantially over the past 10 years. This year, for the first time, students are making a larger contribution to UCLA operating budget than the state is. While places like UCLA have held the line in the cost of educating each student, the state's subsidy has declined in real dollars, and while philanthropic dollars have filled the void here and there (as UCLA does not provide need-based aid the way private schools do), we've resorted to raising tuition to backfill the difference.
3. Forty years after its passage, we are now viscerally impacted by the the profoundly devastating effects of Proposition 13 and the way that it restructured public finance and tax revenue generation.