California Community Colleges

California community colleges have shed more than 300,000 students since 2009 because the students cannot get into classes, and the toll is likely to grow unless the state reverses course and pumps more money into higher education. That bleak assessment was delivered last week by California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott in a State of Community Colleges address at Pasadena City College. Scott served as president of the college from 1987 to 1995, before being elected to the state Legislature.

California community colleges have shed more than 300,000 students since 2009 because the students cannot get into classes, and the toll is likely to grow unless the state reverses course and pumps more money into higher education. That bleak assessment was delivered last week by California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott in a State of Community Colleges address at Pasadena City College. Scott served as president of the college from 1987 to 1995, before being elected to the state Legislature.

Reversing a five-year growth trend, enrollment at California's community colleges dipped 1%, or about 21,000 students, this school year as campuses pared courses because of state budget cuts, Chancellor Jack Scott said Wednesday. The downward trend is likely to continue next year unless state funding increases, Scott said in a telephone news briefing that projected a challenging future for the nation's largest system of public higher education. California's 112 community colleges educate about 2.9 million students annually.

Jack Scott, a veteran and popular educator who has headed the state's community college system during a period of brutal budget cuts and was often a voice decrying the impact on students, announced Tuesday that he will retire as chancellor overseeing the 112 campuses. Scott, 78, became chancellor of the nation's largest community college system in January 2009 after a long career as a state legislator and college campus leader, giving him rare insights into both politics and academia.

Jack Scott, a veteran and popular educator who has headed the state's community college system during a period of brutal budget cuts and was often a voice decrying the impact on students, announced Tuesday that he will retire as chancellor overseeing the 112 campuses. Scott, 78, became chancellor of the nation's largest community college system in January 2009 after a long career as a state legislator and college campus leader, giving him rare insights into both politics and academia.

Students enrolled in Ventura County's three community colleges have been encouraged to vote by an unusual source over the last few days: their teachers. The Faculty Assn. of California Community Colleges, a Sacramento-based legislative advocacy group for community college instructors, is asking its members to bring voter registration cards to their classes and encourage students to fill them out before the registration closes today.

It's not unusual for government agencies with budget problems to start outsourcing services to private industry. Computer maintenance, prison management, landscaping — all are among the services that state or local bureaucrats have handed off to private firms over the years. What about college education? It turns out that California is trying to outsource our public higher education system to the for-profit college industry. What is surprising is that this is happening without any evidence that the affected students would be well served.

A Pierce College English instructor is the recipient of the 1998 Hayward Award for Excellence in Education, one of the most prestigious awards given to faculty members of the California community colleges system. Richard Follett, 50, is one of four educators receiving the award from the California Community Colleges Board of Governors at a recent meeting. "It means a great deal to me," said Follett, who has been at the school since 1984. "It's validation by my peers."

John D. Randall, president of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, has been named interim chancellor of the California Community Colleges until a successor is found for Joshua Smith, who resigned Aug. 12. Randall, 56, who said he will not be a candidate for the permanent position, was chosen Wednesday by the colleges' Board of Governors. He will begin Oct. 1 and will continue for six months or until the new chancellor is chosen, a spokesman for the community colleges said.

Southern California Edison President Michael R. Peevey will chair a newly formed commission that will develop recommendations to meet the needs of the state's community colleges, it was announced Friday. "With more than 80% of the state's minority students enrolled in community colleges, it has become clear that we need to employ new approaches to accommodate increasing enrollment demand, changing demographics and funding limitations," said Peevey, who lives in La Canada Flintridge.

The governing board of California's community colleges approved reforms intended to streamline the path to graduation and transfer for thousands of students. The California Community Colleges Board of Governors endorsed the policies at a meeting Monday in Sacramento that featured more than three hours of public comment, including vigorous opposition from many students who argued that the plan would penalize low-income and other disadvantaged students. The reforms were suggested by a statewide task force that met for a year to consider how to improve outcomes for more than 2.6 million community college students at a time of dwindling state support.

Facing a state funding cut of up to 10%, California's community colleges will enroll 400,000 fewer students next fall and slash thousands of classes to contend with budget shortfalls that threaten to reshape their mission, officials said Wednesday. The dire prognosis was in response to the breakdown in budget talks in Sacramento and the likelihood that the state's 112 community colleges will be asked to absorb an $800-million funding reduction for the coming school year — double the amount suggested in Gov. Jerry Brown's current budget proposal.

California's community colleges always have been among the best bargains in America. But too often these days that's like saying land's cheap on Mars. Price doesn't matter much if the product isn't available. Like a lot of institutions that rely on tax dollars, California's community college system has been hit hard. And that means students suffer. They're getting less for more. Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to increase student fees by $10 per unit, from $26 to $36. That would raise $110 million to partly offset a $400-million state funding cut Brown advocates for community colleges, leaving them with $3.6 billion in state money, a 10% trim.

A college football powerhouse has been established in Southern California, but it's not located off Sunset Boulevard or Figueroa Street. It's in Walnut, where Mt. San Antonio College (13-0) captured its second consecutive state title with a dominating 34-7 victory over visiting City College of San Francisco (11-1) in the California Community College Athletic Assn. championship game Saturday. The Mounties, the four-time defending Southern California champions, also captured their second straight unofficial national title after entering the game as the top-ranked team in the JCGridwire.

Don't laugh now Re "When politics is no joke," Oct. 28 The irony is spilling out of my spleen. You can't make this stuff up. The Mad Hatter "tea party" is taking us down the fascist rabbit hole. And our leading satirists (cynics) save us from our worst nightmare by holding a counter (culture?) rally at the Washington Mall. This would be a cosmic joke if not for the truth(iness) we are actually facing. Wasn't there a movie or play or something like this? "Cabaret"?

The pot smoker behind the wheel Re "He tokes, giggles ? then drives like a Train Wreck," Column, Oct. 20, and "Taking a hit for a good cause," Column, Oct. 17 I hate to break it to Steve Lopez, but if he thought he was making a point about the future risks of driving while high on marijuana should Proposition 19 pass, then he's already living in the past, man. As a bicyclist in this city, I have a somewhat unique vantage point from...

Suggesting that the California State University or the University of California systems of governance are models for the California Community Colleges is a simplistic solution to a complex problem. I have no criticism of the universities' administrative systems. They were well-suited to their particular needs. However, 106 colleges spread throughout California must be held accountable to the communities they serve. Maintaining accountability would be difficult were college leaders isolated in Sacramento.

Sidney W. Brossman, the first chancellor of California's community college system, has died of cancer in San Diego. He was 76. In 1968, Brossman became head of the new California Community Colleges. He served until 1977, helping guide the system as it split off from the state Department of Education and came under the control of a new Board of Governors. During his tenure, the number of colleges expanded from 82 to 104 and enrollment climbed from 500,000 to 1.3 million.

Amid ongoing uncertainty over state support for higher education, California's public colleges and universities heralded a rare bit of good news Thursday, announcing they will receive more than $200 million in federal stimulus funds that will allow many campuses to admit new students, restore courses and retain faculty and staff. The University of California and California State University each will receive $106 million, and the California Community Colleges $5 million. The money is one-time funding, the final round of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The universities are still awaiting passage of a stalemated state budget that may or may not include restoration of some of the millions in funding cuts sustained in the last three years.