The Governor's Cuts to the Community Colleges will hurt our community.
FLASH!! Even though Governor Gray Davis has proposed a 10.3% cut to the community colleges, and an increase in tuition from $11 per unit to $24 per unit while at the same time, proposing an increase to the prison budget, and building a new "death house" at San Quentin, a new prison headquarters, and a new prison at Delano, our intense lobbying has stopped the $24 per unit increase (for now). More on this later.
Still, the governor's proposals are ridiculous and injurious to our communities. As trustee, I will:
1. Ensure student fees stay at $11 per credit hour. Based on Davis' attempt to raise of student fees to $24 per credit hour, our community colleges will lose as many as 185,000 of our 2.9 million students (1,094,006 are full term enrollment students)state-wide.
2. Restore the budget cuts. The governor's proposed 10.3 percent cut for community colleges will further devastate students and staff at the Los Angeles Community Colleges on top of an already chronic under funding factor. In addition, since the Community Colleges employ 70,000 people statewide adding $3 Billion to the California economy, a 10.3 percent cut means a loss of 844 jobs in LA County (7,210 jobs statewide) and $36,153,000 in our economy ($309,000,000 statewide). (The Los Angeles Community Colleges represent 11.7% of the total community college system # 128,013 full equivalent students (FES) in LA compared to 1,094,006 FES statewide.)
3. Ensure the community colleges receive their appropriate percentage of Proposition 98 funds. Voters intended for community colleges to receive 11 percent of the money spent on education, but the colleges have been routinely denied their fair share of Proposition 98 funds by a funding formula and the Legislature. Proposition 98, the "Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act" mandates that a minimum amount of funding be guaranteed for elementary and secondary schools and community colleges. Proposition 98 should have a favorable effect on education funding when the economy is strong, and in years of low revenue growth, Proposition 98 guarantees funds at a level no worse than cuts in state spending per capita for other budgeted services. However, in the last ten years except for the years 1990-1991, California Community Colleges have been under funded by $2.7 billion under Proposition 98. (Source: Governor's Budget Documents)
4. Implement job programs, training and placement for our communities.
5. Stop student drop-outs which exceed 50% at some colleges.
6. Increase funding per student. It is shameful that the State spends only $4,404 per community college students but $8,470 per Cal State student, and $15,922 per UC student. (Source: 1999-2000 data from the Community College League) Not only do our community colleges serve the most people and the most needy, the Community Colleges educate 75% of California's college students, provide affordable classes, employ more than 70,000 and pump about $3 billion into the state economy each year. They prepare people for jobs and retrain displaced workers for new jobs during economic downturns.
7. Protect part-time teachers. Teachers, full and part-time, must be treated as professionals. They must be paid a good wage and benefits, they should not be required to travel from college to college and from district to district. We can offer schedules to accommodate teachers. We can also offer incentives for transportation and housing, and we can give bonuses to teachers to teach in the community in which they live.
8. Implement programs in grades K-12 and at our community colleges to ensure everyone reads and does math at grade level.
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