Why Business Groups Support Proposition 92

California community colleges prepare students for four-year college, provide workplace skills and life-long learning skills, increase community economic development and provide instruction in basic skills for those who lack them.

Proposition 92 - the California Community College Initiative - will enhance this mission by lowering fees to $15 per unit - ensuring that community colleges are affordable. It also limits the rise in future fees to the cost of living. It provides stable funding for California community colleges. In addition, it guarantees that the community college system is independent from state politics.

Lower Student Fees

Proposition 92 provides stable, affordable and predictable student fees by lowering fees to $15 per unit and limiting future fee increases to no more than the cost of living. When the Legislature doubled student fees in 2003-04, they also cut the state’s contribution to community colleges by an equal amount. This meant that the community colleges were no better off and that the students paid more. It also meant that once again the students were pawns in the budget battle. In 2004, when fees were hiked, 305,000 fewer students in California enrolled. Now that fees are starting to stabilize, we are starting to see community college enrollment increase across the state. Recent projections from the California Postsecondary Education Commission suggest that by the year 2010, 500,000 - 700,000 additional applicants will be heading to higher education – likely three-fourths of them to community colleges. We need to ensure the community colleges are ready for this surge.

Stable Funding

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the California community college system ranked 45th in support per full-time student revenue out of the 49 states surveyed in 1999-2000 (PPIC 2004). Under current education funding (set by Proposition 98) the community college system is supposed to receive about 11% of education funding while 89% goes to K-12. The legislature routinely suspends this agreement and when the money is repaid – community colleges are routinely shortchanged. Over the past 10 years the amount owed to the community colleges totals more than $4 billion.

Proposition 92 would not change how K-12 is funded and would not negatively impact the funding of K-12. However, it would require minimum levels of state funding for community colleges and take budget politics out of the equation. It would calculate the minimum community college funding guarantees based on community college growth, instead of being tied to the K-12 population. Unlike the K-12 system which provides that every student enrolled is automatically funded – Proposition 92 uses a new formula based on eligible population.

Independence

Proposition 92 protects local control of community colleges and guarantees that the community college system is independent from state politics. It guarantees a stable system of independent public community college districts and a Board of Governors by placing the current bilateral governance system in the state constitution. It allows the Board of Governors and Chancellor to hire staff professionals,who are currently appointed by the Governor. This is the same authority provided to the UC President and to the CSU Chancellor.

Training California’s Workforce

California needs 3.2 million new college-educated workers––nurses, teachers, engineers and others––to keep our competitive edge and community colleges can help meet that need. The system’s contribution in 2005-06 to the state’s workforce included more than 63,000 associate degrees and certificates in vocational/occupational areas. Community colleges provide education for more than 2.5 million students per year--compared to 180,000 at UC and 380,000 at CSU. Two-thirds of all CSU graduates and one-third of all UC graduates begin at community colleges.

Community college pays off. Graduates with associate degrees earn, on average, $500,000 more in their lifetimes than those with only a high school diploma. For every one dollar California invests in students to get a degree, the state ends up getting three dollars back (U.C. Berkeley Study 2005). Community colleges are the best investment California makes in education. The state’s investment of $5,400 for a full-time community college student is less than half of the cost of a full-time CSU student and only one-third of the cost for a UC student.

How You Can Help…

Join with the California Federation of Teachers, the Sacramento Metro Chamber, the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, the California School Employees Association, and the Community College Association and endorse Proposition 92 today!

For more information about the campaign, please contact Andrew Acosta at (916) 444-8897 or at Andrew@acostasalazar.com.