Facing a state funding cut of up to 10%, California's community colleges will enroll 400,000 fewer students next fall and slash thousands of classes to contend with budget shortfalls that threaten to reshape their mission, officials said Wednesday.Keep reading at the link above. LBCC President Eloy Oakley is interviewed. And below is Ann-Marie Gabel, Vice President of Administrative Services:The dire prognosis was in response to the breakdown in budget talks in Sacramento and the likelihood that the state's 112 community colleges will be asked to absorb an $800-million funding reduction for the coming school year — double the amount suggested in Gov. Jerry Brown's current budget proposal.
As it now stands, the budget plan would raise community college student fees from $26 to $36 per unit. The fees may go even higher if a budget compromise is not reached.
We are going in the wrong direction. What made NYC once the greatest city in the world was the absolutely free college education offered every high school graduate. For years, even the books were free. That policy allowed untold tens of thousands of extremely poor children the chance to become a professionals. In the long run, NYC made huge sums of money on that investment because those professionals made the city better and paid tons more taxes than they would have as poor workers. Now we are going backwards. Very sad.
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