Section 3 of Senate Bill 1456, also known as the Student Success Act of 2012, states: “It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure equal education opportunity for all Californians.†The problem with the statement is the Student Success Act does anything but provide that.
The new law has essentially changed the mission of a community college from educating the community to focusing on only students who are working towards an occpuational certificate or transferring.
With changes to repeatability, priority registration, and most importantly funding requirements, lifelong learners have been taken out of the picture.
The Student Success Act seems to show that the lawmakers up in Sacramento no longer see lifelong learning as something worthwhile, but as a financial liability.
According the SSA, college funding will be based on the number of Full Time Equivalent Students’ (FTES) graduation and transfer rates.
Senator Alan Lowenthal, co-author of SB 1456 said: “It is unacceptable that more than 50 percent of community college students are not graduating or transferring within six years.â€
According to the PCC Extension website, about 12,000 community members enroll in non-credit, no-grade courses each fiscal year.
With the college currently having over 24,000 students enrolled, a fewer than half take lifelong learning courses.
It makes sense then, that nearly half of community college students do not transfer or receive a degree, because they are not looking for either.
Funding for a community college should not be based on transfer and graduation rates, alone. Lifelong learning is being financially extinguished by the state Legislature.
The SSA has not only cut lifelong learning, but it has also made it more difficult for lifelong learners to stay in those non-credit, no-grade courses.
Course repeatability has been virtually eliminated, meaning lifelong learners will no longer be able to retake a class.
Registration priority will be based on grade point average. What does this mean for life long learners who do not receive a grade for their classes?
President Mark Rocha felt the consequences towards lifelong learning at community colleges were reproaching.
“It absolutely breaks my heart … the funding is being diminished … the budget forces us to make choices … we have to allocate our funds to higher priorities [like transferring],†he said at an Oct. 11 news conference. Rocha explained the college is trying to get more revenue through fundraising by the college’s foundation.
The next question is, will fundraising alone be enough to keep lifelong learning for our community? The state is forcing community college students to move forward with a transfer degree or a certificate in order for colleges to receive more funding.
What can students working towards certificates or transfer do to help lifelong learners continue their studies? Hit the books, do your homework, and get out of here, before the other 12,000 students are kicked out.
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Its just too bad that those fools in Sacramento are so short-sighted they cannot see to return on their social investment in “community” colleges.
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
Sometimes ignorance is cheaper than education–people now owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards or auto loans. That’s $1 trillion of extremely predatory debt.