 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
ALSO
IN THIS ISSUE Left Brain, Right Brain To Protect and To Serve Online Biology Taking to the Streets Chancellor’s Page Development News Factoids NewsMakers |
CHANCELLOR'S COLUMN Waging the Battle for Fair Funding State
proposals to make disproportionate, unfair reductions in community college
budgets are facing fierce opposition by college districts statewide, and
our district has been at the forefront of the battle. Board of Trustees members Marty Block, Rich Grosch, Bill Schwandt, Maria Senour and Peter Zschiesche have called, faxed and met with state legislators and members of the governor’s staff to insist on fair funding for our colleges and adult education programs. Board President Marty Block has been a leader in an alliance of San Diego and Imperial county community college trustees to develop strategies and action plans for equitable funding among community colleges. Although Rich Grosch and Peter Zschiesche are newly elected board members, they bring politically active backgrounds that have made it possible for them to hit the ground running, meeting with legislators in Sacramento and in San Diego to demand fairness for community colleges. Bill Schwandt may be the most persistent caller to legislators and the governor’s office, urging them to support legislation that would help community colleges. Trustee Maria Senour has used her statewide leadership position on the California Community College Trustees Board of Directors to speak on behalf of all community colleges in the state. Our district and community college districts throughout the state are united as never before to not sit still for unfair budget cuts. We have also been actively supporting legislation to improve community college funding. One such bill is Assembly Bill 554, which would allow us to keep the fees we collect, rather than the current practice of the state taking the fees for the state general fund. The fee revenue would be distributed to districts based upon full-time equivalent students (FTES) –– particularly helpful to districts like ours that have a high proportion of low-income students who have their fees waived. This could mean as much as $5 million for our district. Last week, the bill passed the Assembly Higher Education Committee on an 11-0 vote. It now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where we will continue to advocate strongly for its passage. Funding community college districts equally on an FTES basis for our state general fund apportionment revenue is a position our district has long held as a fair and equitable approach, and there is a bill in the Legislature that would come close to doing that. Currently, our district receives $3,700 per full time equivalent student in the colleges, while some districts receive as much as twice that amount because of an outdated, unfair funding formula. Assembly Bill 40 would help end the unfairness by bringing lower revenue districts like ours up to a statewide average funding per FTES. The bill would not provide any additional funding in 2003-04 because of the state’s fiscal crisis, but it would add $6.2 million to our apportionment in future years. Because of the future costs and budget uncertainties, AB 40 is being held in the Assembly Higher Education Committee in the suspense file. However, we continue to work with lower revenue community college districts throughout the state and the Legislature to move this bill, or a similar bill, toward passage. Thanks to all of you who continue to advocate for fair funding for community colleges. While we’ve made some progress, there is a long way to go before we achieve our goals. I look forward to your continued support and active participation in our efforts to provide the accessible and high quality programs our students and our community deserve. |
Chancellor Augie Gallego |
