CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FACE FURTHER BUDGET CUTS IN MID-YEAR REDUCTION PLAN
SACRAMENTO - The California Community Colleges are facing a serious financial crisis after today's release of the proposed mid-year budget cuts by Governor Gray Davis. The Administration is proposing a $215 million reduction for the 108 community colleges. The total amount is comprised of three segments:
·-- A $97.5 million cut for the community colleges' total budget in the current year, a 3.66% across-the-board cut for all programs.
·-- A predicted $38 million shortfall in local property taxes, which would not be offset by state funds and therefore result in a $38 million reduction in current-year funding.
·-- An $80 million reduction in apportionments related to concurrent enrollments of K-12 students who are also taking courses at community colleges...read full article here
At SMC, our administration and board have decided to offer higher priced "contract ed" courses to help with the budget shortfalls. They are also pursuing a relationship with Cal Arts, a private art school in the LA area, to have joint classes at our campus. We are waiting to see what that relationship might look like. These are new directions and the state chancellor's office have not approved them yet. Here is a link to an LA Times article discussing the contract ed:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-college-classes-20120314,0,5085401.story