WISE ALLOCATION OF DISTRICT FUNDS

By Dana Rose Crystal

Over-spending on expensive, new buildings leaches the district of money that could be spent on salaries, equipment, and new programs. 40% matching funds on such buildings is a waste!

Over-spending on expensive, new buildings leaches the district of money that could be spent on salaries, equipment, and new programs. 40% matching funds on such buildings is a waste!

On one questionaire, I was asked: "If the state's budget woes cut into community college funding, what strategies will you apply to ensure all applicants may attend?"

My answer: Recently, at FC, programs such as Office of Special Programs was rescued by a federal grant. Even in regular times, community colleges always got less money than K-12 or universities. One person alone can't convince the state to fork over more money; BUT we can figure something out. If private grants are needed, we can try that --although logic might dictate that since private grants are usually for special interest scholarships, thus it would be hard to find for every students' field of study.

At Coast Community College District, one candidate suggested using the top-notch facilities and the talents of the top-notch faculty to generate income. We might do well to conduct think-tanks on this subject, since it appears that this recession/depression will have an impact on our nation, not only in terms of money, but the choices students make in fields of study. It is alarming that some fields might go without students, just because they are considering their future --weighing how much they can earn, whether they can become employed to pay back their loans. The economy fears could affect our future work-force to such a degree that they might eschew careers that are important, but not lucrative. Might some careers become obsolete, due to attrition? It could happen. Where are the buggy-whip manufacturers? Yet SOME people still need "buggy-whips"! How to keep these vital careers alive? It must be an ongoing discussion.