Schwarzenegger Threatens to Slice College Budget

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an attempt to correct the current budget deficit, has proposed budget cuts of $332.2 million from the state's community colleges, $66 million from the University of California and another $66 million from the California State Universities. If enacted, these cuts would come on top of the $290 million reduction to the community colleges included in the 2008-09 State Budget.

Should the mid-year budget proposal pass, California community colleges would be forced to turn away 262,845 students, according to Scott Lay, president and chief executive officer of the Community College League of California.

"These proposed budget cuts come at the worst possible time for the community colleges, as they struggle to serve a flood of displaced workers seeking to upgrade their job skills," said Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, Diane Woodruff, in a statement issued Nov. 7. "With California's unemployment rate rising to [8.2] percent, the colleges are experiencing a 10.2 percent increase in enrollments, roughly 100,000 full-time students beyond the level for which the colleges are funded. Our colleges always step up when the economy is in a down turn and this time is no different, however it will require additional resources to sustain this effort."

The California Community College system is comprised of 110 colleges, which service a combined 2.7 million students annually, making it the largest system of higher education in the nation. Seventy percent of California nurses and 80 percent of the state's firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical technicians are educated and trained in the California Community College's, according to the California Community College System Offices.

The Los Angeles Community College District, which serviced 144,293 students in the spring of 2008, will face the largest budget cut of all 72 districts in the state, $29.9 million, according to the CCLC.

Valley College has begun to prepare for such budget cuts by taking precautionary measures and reducing the number of classes being offered during the spring 2009 semester.

"We're cutting somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred classes of growth that we had added," said Vice President of Academic Affairs, Sandra Mayo. "L.A. Valley College's budget was already in a deficit mode and … We believe that the state will be taking money back … so we need to cut even further because in order to offer classes you have to pay faculty and you have to have the budget to pay for the faculty."

A significant reduction in the community college budget would not only force the number of classes to be slashed and students to be turned away, but staff and faculty would also face the possibility of job loss.

"We're going to continue to try to make sure we aren't losing too many faculty," said Mayo. "We're going to loose a few because of the adjunct classes that are being cancelled. Full-time people aren't going to lose their jobs right now but if you cancel a class for an adjunct, then that's a job they don't have or a class they're not teaching."

Valley is also concerned with retaining its student workers.

"That's my biggest concern, that eventually we will lose our student workers," Mayo said. "We're trying to hold onto student workers and of course tutors, because the tutors directly support the students, but at some point something has to give because money only goes so far. It would be nice if we had a little bit of elasticity there."

In an overview of the governor's budget proposal issued on Nov. 11, California's Legislative Analyst's Office recommended increasing enrollment fees to $26 per unit (up from $20) effective Jan. 1, 2009 and again to $30 per unit as of July 1, 2009.

"The last time fees went up significantly, enrollment went down significantly," said Mayo. "But in this particular case we have this problem where people might come anyway."

This budget proposal comes at the same time that the CSUs have proposed slashing enrollment by 10,000 students, as well as shortening application deadlines and raising the academic bar. While California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed said the slash in enrollment to the 23-campus system will mainly affect first-year freshman, Valley will most likely also feel the effects of the CSU's decision.

"It's going to affect community colleges," said Valley Career/Transfer Center Director Synthia Saltoun. "As students are turned away, they're going to look to the community colleges, and we've lost a lot of money so we're going to have to cut classes [and] services."

According to Saltoun, out of the 1,000 to 1,200 Valley students who transfer each year, 650 attend colleges in the CSU system.

Dr. Yasmin Delahoussaye, Vice President of Student Services, fears that as students are turned away from four year colleges, Valley will struggle to accommodate them.

"My huge concern for students at community colleges and particularly at Valley College is that we have what's called a California Master Plan for Education [passed in 2002], which states that there will be a place for all graduates of high school or anyone who wishes to go into post secondary education," said Delahoussaye. "… So, as more students flood into the community colleges, traditionally we would open more classes. We will not have the ability to open more classes."

As the California Legislature remains in a deadlock over the issue, Delahoussaye advises students to become active in order to prevent the legislature from passing the new budget proposal.

"We have to get out there, we have to tell our story, we have to talk to legislatures and we have to let them know how vitally important community colleges are."