Defend California's Community Colleges
California’s once-great community college system, which has played a key role in providing higher education to working class communities, is being dismantled by a national corporate-funded agenda to reduce public education to mere work-force training for the sons and daughters of the 99%. The fight to preserve California Community Colleges is in solidarity with students, parents, teachers, and communities throughout the nation who are likewise fighting corporate-driven attempts to dismantle public education, including massive public school closings in Chicago, Philadelphia, and other cities.
Dear California Governor Jerry Brown and California Community Colleges Board of Governors,
The undersigned are dismayed that California’s once-great community college system is being dismantled by a corporate-funded agenda that would limit access to a broad educational experience and job training programs. Additionally, the goals of cultural enrichment and lifelong learning are being dropped. California Community Colleges have played a key role in providing higher education to diverse communities including working class, immigrant and poor communities and communities of color. The most vulnerable will be further excluded as greater emphasis is placed on having "better prepared" students take courses needed to transfer in two years.
We call on you to oppose the excessive sanctions placed on California Community Colleges by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).
We further call on you to urge the Board of Trustees of City College of San Francisco (CCSF) to restore cut classes, programs and services, defend collective bargaining, and reverse lay-offs, salary cuts and other take-aways that have resulted from the ACCJC’s “show cause” sanction to the college. CCSF serves 90,000 students and has been an innovator and model among two-year colleges nationally. It must be preserved.
With a decrease of over 500,000 students in the last three years, we finally call on you to fully fund California Community Colleges and all public education by increasing taxes on the rich and corporations and by curbing prison spending.
