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news
Davis signs budget
amid controversy
By Melissa Anderson
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
Creating much controversy,
Gov. Gray Davis finally signed the state budget, which cut
$300 million in education programs.
Included in the
education cut is $120 million in cuts to community colleges.
The budget was signed last Thursday and immediately caused
uproar with those who are in favor of keeping education funding
a top priority.
"It's a shame
that pork projects and the expansion of welfare funding are
more important to Gray Davis than education," said state
assemblyman Dave Cox in a statement made Friday. "$300
million was slashed from education to pay for jobs that aren't
even filled. If Governor Davis simply eliminated funding for
these nonexistent employees, not a dime would have been taken
from education."
Assemblyman Robert
Pacheco and Sen. Dick Ackerman also spoke out against the
budget and the education cuts.
Community colleges
throughout California will feel the loss in funding. According
to Erin Cohn, district director of public affairs for Coast
Community College District is facing a loss of about $3 million
for its three colleges - Goldenwest, Orange Coast, and Coastline.
"Overall the
community colleges were stunned, we weren't expecting it,
especially the cuts to the ongoing funding we've had for 10
years, and are not longer going to be here," said Cohn.
"This will also affect uprades to lab equipment for workforce
training for local businesses. If we can't train on the latest
equipment, the students will not be cutting edge when they
enter the workforce."
According to Cohn,
the schools have had to do more with less money throughout
the last 10 years, since they are chronically under funded.
"We haven't
given up the fight yet," said Cohn. "Statewide they
are trying to come up with some sort of fix for funding they
wont have. They are assessing all available options to get
the funds back. We're looking into legislation to get the
funds back for next year."
This could include
a legislative override of the Governor's budget, which according
to Cohn, hasn't been done in 20 years.
"It's possible
it could affect (Cal State Long Beach)," said Ken Swisher,
spokesman for the Cal State University Chancellor's Office."
Because 60 percent of our students are transfers from the
community colleges."
This cut is not
the first in recent setbacks in funding for education. In
January, $1 million was denied for a diagnostic writing service.
On top of the education cuts, the budget raised sales tax
a quarter of a cent.
U.S. Rep. Stephen
Horn, former CSULB president, was unavailable for comment,
but expressed the importance of community colleges in his
weekly commentary. To combat this problem, Horn introduced
the Community College Fairness Act of 2001. This act would
provide low-income students who attend community colleges
eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant Award
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