To supporters of Proposition 92, the state's $14.5-billion budget gap proves their point: Voters should approve the measure Feb. 5 to guarantee funding for community colleges.
To opponents of Proposition 92, the shortfall proves that California can't afford it.
"We're very concerned about this legislation being voted on when our state is going through such a budget crisis," said David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Assn., a union that has urged its members to vote against the statewide initiative. "If something like this were to pass, there would be other programs that would suffer from it."
But on a recent day, Glendale Community College students gathered for a hillside rally on campus, registering voters and holding signs that read, "Yes! Prop. 92," as their peers, administrators and professors touted the benefits of passing the measure.
Audre Levy, the school's superintendent and president, warned that cutting funding to community colleges would not only harm 2.6 million students but the state economy as well.
"Community colleges are the largest providers of workforce," Levy said, to cheers. "The state needs 3.2 million new workers -- where will they be trained?"
Proposition 92 would decrease fees from $20 to $15 per unit and limit legislators' ability to increase fees, which would be linked to growth in per capita personal income.
Opponents say the measure would leave less money for discretionary purposes -- particularly in a bad budget year -- including the University of California and Cal State University systems. Those statewide systems are not guaranteed levels of state funding, and their students face fee hikes again this year, 7.4% at UC schools and 10% at Cal State.
The governor's proposed budget does not call for a fee increase for community college students, who already pay what California officials say are the lowest per-unit fees of any community college system in the nation.
Some students say that decreasing that fee by just $5 would remove some barriers keeping low-income students from getting an education.
"It would be beneficial to these kinds of people to pay $5 less. If there is no reduction in college fees, less people can afford to study," said Raul Quintero, 27, a psychology student at Los Angeles City College.
