Colleges feel the budget strain
California’s community colleges are an excellent example of a locally
controlled government institution. Local boards of trustees preside
over policymaking to ensure that local community colleges are
providing the training and education appropriate to the needs of the
local workforce and students.
How ironic, then, that it is state partisan politics -- not local
boards or local politics -- that is causing the biggest crisis
community colleges have faced in decades.
That crisis is, of course, the state budget. And as we get closer
and closer to the constitutional deadline to pass a state budget, the
crisis for community colleges looms larger and larger. If the
Legislature and our governor cannot come to an agreement on a budget
by July 1, per-student apportionment funds owed to community colleges
to serve students will cease until a budget is signed. At the same
time, planning for the next academic year will halt, as we all wait
breathlessly to find out what we will be left with after yet another
round of budget cuts.
Even in the face of two years’ worth of unprecedented budget cuts,
community college boards at the local level have found ways to
continue to serve their students and their communities with less. As
a member of a local community college board for the last seven years,
I know firsthand that it is these local board members who know what
kind of educational programs are needed within their local
communities. At the Coast Community College District, our board is
squeezing every dollar we can into student education, but we need a
state budget that compensates us for this valuable service. We know
how to educate our students -- whether it is to prepare them for
transfer to a four-year university, retrain them for new technology
jobs or bring remedial education into our households.
The voters of this state recognized the job community colleges are
doing at the local level when they approved 13 of 14 community
college bond measures statewide. Our voters supported the development
of our physical facilities and chose to invest in new construction
that will provide greater capacity and efficiency and allow us to
incorporate new technologies into our classrooms. Our voters also
recognize that every dollar they pay in taxes as a result of a local
bond measure will be used to enhance the facilities within their own
local community. They are choosing to invest directly in their
community.
Community colleges in California have worked together to solve
common goals. We do not need more laws restricting our abilities or
transferring more power to the state. What we do need is the funding
to do the job the state has charged us with doing.
The voters recognized this need in voting for our bonds for
capital projects. Now we need the state politicians to pass a budget
giving us the operating funds to carry out our great mission to
educate students -- for advanced studies, for the jobs of tomorrow,
for new technology and for remedial studies to give new citizens an
even chance to become productive citizens and ensure our country can
compete in the world market.
What we need today is a state budget that also recognizes the
value of community colleges in education -- for economic survival,
quality of life and even national security. After all, most of our
firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel receive
their training from us.
Enough is enough. Partisan politics is embarrassing and now is
becoming dangerous to our survival as an educated and free society.
As a representative of my community on a college board, I say give us
the money, and we will educate and train the people who will be able
to do the jobs to get California -- and America -- moving again.
* Former Congressman JERRY PATTERSON was first elected to the
Coast Community College District Board of Trustees in 1996. He
resides in Trustee Area 2, which includes portions of Westminster,
Garden Grove, and Fountain Valley. Patterson served in the U.S. House
of Representatives, representing the 38th District of California from
1975 to 1985. Patterson is currently the principal of his own
government relations consulting firm along with his wife, Linda
Moulton Patterson, and is an associate professor/adjunct lecturer at
Cal State Long Beach and UC Irvine.
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