Community colleges need more funds

Wednesday, November 12, 1997

Community colleges need more funds

EDITORIAL Students suffer as shortage of money forces schools to
cut the number of courses offered

Over 1,396,000 starving students warrant the state’s attention.
Students in the California Community College system are being
deprived of academic opportunities.

Funding has become limited because the state has fallen back on
its promise to provide quality public education. As a result,
Pierce College in Woodland Hills was forced to reduce the number of
its course sections by 137 – cutting into the state’s promise of
making education accessible.

Back in 1960, a committee of college chancellors envisioned
higher education as a priority of the state, and devised the Master
Plan for education. Their goal was to ensure California provided
excellent academic resources for all those who pursued higher
education. Access would be granted to all interested students.
Community colleges constituted the backbone of California’s
education system. Low cost and access to courses were the main
fabric of the state’s community college system. However, more than
35 years later, we’ve seen an erosion of those principles.

Over the years, several factors have contributed to the
crumbling status of community colleges. When Proposition 13, the
property tax limitation bill, passed in 1978, community colleges
across the state were dealt a serious blow. The measure cut into
the two main sources of the community college system’s funding:
local property taxes and the state’s general fund. And in 1981,
then Gov. George Deukmejian implemented a cap on funding for
enrollment growth. Funding was unable to keep up with the rising
number of students, resulting in a sharp increase in students but
no increase in funds to match. This led to sharp cuts in the number
of courses offered, and the colleges have since been unable to
accommodate all students who want to take certain classes.

The large discrepancy in funding indicates that the state views
community colleges as being less important than four-year
institutions. In 1994, an average of $3,000 was spent on each
full-time community college student, while CSU students received
$9,220 and UC students received over $12,000.

The lack of funding has taken a toll on community college
courses. An estimated 14,000 course sections – roughly 10 percent
of the California community college system’s courses – have been
cut in the past few years.

Pierce College’s administration was careful to cut classes with
lower enrollment, but the cuts will undoubtedly hurt students.
Community colleges cater to different students than the UCs and
CSUs do. Twenty one percent of students enrolled in the California
Community College System are over age 40; 33 percent are 25 to 39.
Community colleges serve an older demographic, and classes need to
be tailored to accommodate students who work full-time jobs and
need night classes.

Legislators must make community college education a priority
once again. But in order to do so, they must overcome the legal
impediments, such as the effects of Deukmejians’s cap and Prop.
13.

Thirty-five years ago, California was dedicated to providing
colleges with the best – at any price. The Master Plan was a
reality for students seeking education beyond high school. Offering
a plethora of courses for a broad array of students, community
colleges served as the academic bastion for students unable to
afford the high costs of attending a UC. The plan has degraded over
the years, causing community colleges to suffer with the lack of
money.

The least lawmakers can do is to provide those students with the
opportunity to attain a quality education by providing more money.
They owe it to the over 1,396,000 community college students in
California.