California voters have resoundingly approved tens of billions of dollars in state school construction bonds over the last two decades. But a new survey suggests that voters have yet to similarly warm up to the latest and heftiest proposal to come before them: a $15 billion state bond for public schools, community colleges...
Walters: 2020 Property Tax Measure Altered
Sponsors of a 2020 ballot measure to increase property taxes on factories, stores, warehouses, office buildings and other commercial real estate withdrew it this week and launched a revised version. It would be, the union-led sponsoring coalition said, an improvement that eases the potential impact on small business. More likely,...
Walters: 2020 Property Tax Measure Altered
Sponsors of a 2020 ballot measure to increase property taxes on factories, stores, warehouses, office buildings and other commercial real estate withdrew it this week and launched a revised version. It would be, the union-led sponsoring coalition said, an improvement that eases the potential impact on small business. More likely,...
State Center Bails Out Health Fund by Millions. Premiums to Rise.
Health care costs could soar by nearly $200 a month for more than 1,300 local community college employees. That's because their health care plan is experiencing cash-flow problems. The State Center Community College District participates in a self-funded insurance plan known as the EdCare Group. In essence, it means the...
Should Community Colleges Build Dorms for Students?
Matthew Polamalu was spending 1.5 hours each day commuting back and forth to community college along Southern California’s congested freeways when he decided he’d had enough. He sat down at his computer and Googled “community colleges with dorms.” “I was just looking for the full college experience,” said the psychology...
With $66,000 in Fines Looming, Can Payne Fix Campaign Finance Mess?
A community college trustee has one more chance to settle his problems with the Fair Political Practices Commission. Otherwise, he could face $66,000 in fines. The state agency in charge of campaign finance compliance says Eric Payne, a two-term trustee with the State Center Community College District, violated 21 state laws...
Walters: Community Colleges Wracked by Data Dispute
Two years ago, the state board that oversees California’s 114 community colleges and its new chancellor, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, launched an ambitious effort to improve student outcomes, especially by increasing the numbers of associate degrees and transfers to four-year colleges. Dubbed “Vision for Success,” the statewide effort was something of...
Two Years of Free Community College? It’s in the Hopper.
Two years of free community college may soon become a reality for 2.1 million students in California through Assembly Bill 2. The measure is a more aggressive version of 2017's Assembly Bill 19, or the California College Promise. That program dispersed $46 million to the state's 114 community colleges with the...
What Is California Doing Right? Community Colleges.
Dan Walters might be the most high-profile media advocate for community colleges in California. For example, he long has championed allowing community colleges to grant baccalaureate degrees in technical fields — especially in rural regions where students must travel long distances to attend a four-year institution. New Community College Programs In...