Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

David Sanchez, front left, president of = the=20 California Teachers Association, sits down to a scholarship awards = dinner=20 at the American Legion Hall in Martell Wednesday. He criticized a=20 community colleges ballot initiative for its lack of oversight and = poor=20 timing.

Photo by: Raheem = Hosseini

Becky Maciolek works behind the counter = at=20 Motherlode Deli in Jackson Wednesday. The community college = freshman likes=20 the prospect of lower tuition fees offered by Proposition = 92.

Photo by: Raheem=20 Hosseini
Dennis Friis has found himself at = the=20 center of an unexpected battle.

It's not the squirrely Amador = High School=20 classroom that has the affable math teacher concerned Wednesday = afternoon, but=20 the intensifying battle over Proposition 92, the statewide ballot = initiative=20 that could lock in stable funding for the California community college = system=20 and knock tuition fees from $20 per unit to $15. On paper, it sounds = like a bold=20 initiative. Enrollment in community colleges has increased in recent = years as=20 the economy has declined and the system is struggling to keep up with=20 demand.

Dropping tuition fees, securing a reliable funding stream = and=20 formally establishing community colleges in the state Constitution would = ensure=20 the system could meet the needs of its 2.5 million student body, = proponents=20 say.

But amid a $14 billion state budget crisis and claims from = opponents=20 that K-12 education could see its revenues impacted, the math isn't that = simple,=20 according to David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers = Association.=20 "It has no guarantees that the money it would mandate would be used in = the=20 classrooms," he told the Ledger Dispatch during a scholarship awards = dinner=20 Wednesday night at the American Legion Hall in Martell.

Sanchez = had spent=20 the day touring district schools and discussing the severity of the = state's=20 budget crisis with teachers and administrators. The governor is = proposing=20 across-the-board cuts of 10 percent to all state departments, including=20 education. According to Sanchez, that could mean 110,000 fewer teachers, = 147,000=20 fewer support professionals, a 35 percent hike in average class size and = the=20 closure of schools weeks early. "This is not the time (for Prop. 92)," = he=20 said.

For Francisco Rodriguez, president of Cosumnes River = College, this=20 is precisely the time. The campus hosted a noon rally organized by the = faculty=20 union and other college organizations in support of the initiative = Wednesday.=20 While Rodriguez acknowledged the state's fiscal situation is a = legitimate=20 concern, he added, "I would say, What is the cost of having an = undereducated=20 citizenry?"

He called the ballot initiative the "single most = important=20 piece of community college legislation ever," saying it would reverse = the=20 "year-to-year budget struggle to provide resources."

That wasn't = always=20 supposed to be the case. When state voters passed Proposition 98 in = 1988, they=20 approved a measure that set a minimum annual funding level for K-12 = schools and=20 community colleges. Roughly 45 percent of the state's general fund has = gone=20 toward education since. While nothing in Prop. 98 determined how much = would go=20 to community colleges, the state Legislature set a nearly 11 percent = target, a=20 target that has rarely been reached.

"Last year was the first = time in a=20 long time (community colleges received total funding)," Sanchez said. = "If they'd=20 been getting 11 percent the whole time, they wouldn't be in the mess = they're in=20 now."

Rodriguez agrees, saying the community college system, a = network of=20 109 schools, has lost out on approximately $4 billion in the last 10 = years=20 alone. In the past, the state Legislature has diverted Prop. 98 money = intended=20 for community colleges elsewhere to plug holes in the state budget, = including=20 the K-12 system. "We haven't received our share," Rodriguez = said.

And=20 with K-12 enrollment dipping as the number of students flocking to = junior=20 colleges rises, Rodriguez believes it's time to change = that.

"They're=20 entitled to 11 percent and they should get it," Sanchez acknowledged, = "but this=20 piece of legislation is not the way to do it."

Paul Steenhausen = is a=20 legislative analyst who focuses on community colleges, among other = areas. His=20 office put out its non-partisan analysis of Prop. 92 last October, = showing the=20 funding formula would be defunct in three years due to the state's = fiscal=20 crisis. If overall education funding falls below the 40 percent mark of = general=20 fund revenues, Prop. 92 becomes inactive and reverts back to one pot of = money=20 for education. "It's a very arcane formula," Steenhausen = said.

And=20 complex. While Sanchez argues that 65 to 70 percent of low income = community=20 college students already see their tuition fees waived, Becky Maciolek = is not=20 one of those. The 19-year-old part-time freshman at American River = College in=20 Sacramento is in the middle of an afternoon shift at Mother Lode Deli = when she=20 ponders the possibilities of paying $5 less per unit. The = self-sufficient=20 Maciolek said the cost of classes and books have kept her from taking a = fuller=20 course load. The extra $45 she would save from her nine units is money = she said=20 could go toward rent, car payments or another couple of = classes.

As=20 education groups battle over a dwindling pot of resources, it's an extra = $45=20 that can mean the difference for students who "live on the financial = margins,"=20 Rodriguez said. "Access to higher education is an expensive=20 proposition."

Friis finds his allegiances torn. "It's an = interesting=20 dichotomy for me because I'm also a community college teacher," he said. = A high=20 school teacher in Sutter Creek, he also teaches evening algebra classes = at=20 Folsom Lake College's El Dorado Center.

But for him, the debate = is both=20 indicative of a greater problem in the educational system and beside the = point.=20 California is ranked 48th in the country in terms of money spent per = pupil, with=20 an average difference of about $3,000. As both he and Sanchez noted, = Louisiana,=20 still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, spends more per = pupil. The=20 promises of state lottery money and increased revenues from expanded = Indian=20 gaming don't impress Friis either, which he said offer pennies where = dollars are=20 needed.

Instead, he said, wholesale reform is needed, including = the=20 possible redistribution of sales and property taxes, making sure = corporations=20 pay their fair share of both or, "God forbid," tax hikes.

"The = truth is=20 we're not providing ourselves with the revenues to support our = children," he=20 said. "We should not have to fight each other to provide for something = that=20 should be taken care of. We should not be quibbling over = crumbs."

That=20 may be, Sanchez agrees, but those are crumbs he said can't be presently = spared=20 and ones that would make a big difference for both Rodriguez and = Maciolek, even=20 is she's not sure she'll vote Tuesday.

Raheem = Hosseini