Fee Hikes, State Cuts Protested

Calling for a renewal of the student activism of the 1960s, community college students and faculty from the San Fernando Valley protested Monday against a state budget plan that would double student fees but provide no money for growth.

At a midmorning rally at Valley College and later during a noisy protest at the offices of Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), students and faculty from Valley, Mission and Pierce colleges decried the increases, saying many students would be unable to afford the higher fees.

“I think it’s ridiculous. I can’t afford it,” said Rita Recinos, a second-year psychology student at Valley College who is trying to make ends meet by working part-time at a movie theater.

Student leaders and faculty urged students to protest or telephone state lawmakers to bring attention to the budget impact on community colleges.

“In order to create a change we need to get involved, just like in the ‘60s,” Valley College student Bonnie Anderson told about 80 students gathered for a rally Monday at the campus quadrangle.

College President Mary Lee echoed that sentiment. “You need to let them know in Sacramento that you are here in Valley College,” she said. “We are fighting for our lives and our piece of the pie.”

A state spending plan approved by the Senate would provide a 2% increase for the state’s 107 two-year colleges, allowing the schools no funds to grow. The plan would also double student fees, from $6 to $12 a unit and, for the first time, impose fees of $50 a unit on students with bachelor’s degrees or more.

The fees, which must be approved by the Assembly, would be less onerous on community college students than those offered by Gov. Pete Wilson in mid-August. He had proposed increased fees for most students from $6 to $20 per unit; charging students who have 90 units up to $112 for each additional unit, and shifting about $335 million from community colleges to elementary and secondary schools.

At the rally and later at Roberti’s office, students and faculty blasted Wilson, saying he cares more about protecting big business and the rich than he does about students in the community colleges.

“Pete Wilson doesn’t care about you because you are the wrong color, you have an accent or you are from a working-class family,” said Farrel Broslawsky, a Valley College political science professor and longtime campus activist. “This will continue until you stand up and say ‘My life is important.’ ”

A group of about 75 students from the three community colleges converged outside Roberti’s office in Van Nuys later in the afternoon, chanting and some waving placards “Education is a Right; Save Our Schools.”

The 20 or so students who entered the offices were met by Sandy Miller, Roberti’s chief of staff, who told them that Roberti had fought to reduce the student fees from the proposed $20 to $12.

“Listen, I’m just so thankful that we got it down to $12,” she told the group. “I know it’s not what you wanted but we can’t please everyone 100%.”

But the students were not appeased, saying Roberti should have fought to increase taxes on the rich to avoid increasing student fees.

“Basically, I don’t see how we can be satisfied with a doubling of our fees,” said Jesse Hernandez, Valley College student body president.

The students told Miller they would not leave until she called Roberti’s office in Sacramento to pass on their concerns about the budget.

“You have to understand, people have been trusting government for a long time and they have been let down,” Mike McKinney, a Valley College computer science student, told Miller.

After Miller made the call, the students moved to the street outside the state office building on Van Nuys Boulevard, where they chanted and waved placards at passing cars.