Sen. Mark Leno announces his bill with Trustees Anita Grier and Rafael Mandelman, Mayor Ed Lee and Chancellor Arthur Tyler looking on. Photo by Sara Bloomberg
By Sara Bloomberg
FEB. 10, 2014 — Senator Mark Leno announced today legislation that would provide City College of San Francisco stabilization funding for four years to offset the effects of declining enrollment while it works toward securing its accreditation.
The bill is, in some ways, a direct challenge to the state commission that wants to shut the college down: Stable funding would eliminate the roots of the fiscal problems that the college was dinged for.
City College Trustees Anita Grier, Steve Ngo and Rafael Mandleman joined Leno and Mayor Ed Lee at City Hall to announce the proposed legislation.
Ever since the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges announced its intention to revoke the school’s accreditation in July 2014, enrollment at City College has steadily declined due to fear and confusion about the school’s future.
At one point, the current spring semester was about 26 percent below enrollment targets, but that number has improved to 16 percent. That’s still a larger drop from fall semester, which experienced a 12 percent decrease.
The state reimburses colleges based on enrollment numbers. City College received one-time emergency state funding for the current school year, which would be used to establish a base level of funding through the 2017-2018 school year, according to the proposed legislation. (more after the jump)
