[Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/free-city-college-decision-comes-wire/ Click  tab at top for City College for more posts.]

SF Examiner: Free City College decision comes ‘down to the wire’

By Michael Barba on January 31, 2017 1:00 am

There is still time for City College of San Francisco to become tuition-free for all next semester, but Mayor Ed Lee would have to double back on his decision to not fund the effort within the next couple days.

Interim Chancellor Susan Lamb has been waiting for an agreement between the mayor and Supervisor Jane Kim, who led the tuition-free effort and does not want to back down.

“At this late a date, it’s putting us up against pretty impossible odds,” Lamb said in an interview Monday, noting that she previously told city officials she needed to know the plan by Jan. 15.       

The mayor could either change the position he has held since December and spend $9 million on free tuition, appeasing supporters of the effort, or continue with his plan to only spend a portion of that money to make tuition free for some students.

“We are down to the wire,” said CCSF Trustee Tom Temprano. “Any more negotiating and any more delays could and would likely kill free City College.”

Lamb said that the college needs eight to ten weeks to prepare to offer free tuition and student registration for next semester begins at the end of March.

“If something is going to happen for Fall 2017, it really needs to happen yesterday,” said Trustee Rafael Mandelman, the former board president.

Ellen Canale, a spokesperson for the mayor, would not comment Monday on details of the talks but they would have a plan “in time for implementation for the upcoming school year.”

The funding dispute stems from the outcome of the November election.

Voters passed a tax hike on the sale of properties placed on the ballot to fund free tuition, but also rejected a sales-tax hike the mayor was counting on. The mayor decided to use a portion of the transfer tax hike revenues to fund those priorities like homeless services.

Overall, Lee decided he would spend $4.25 million in each of the next two fiscal years, as well as $500,000 before July, instead of the $9 million that Kim proposed spending on the college next fiscal year.

The mayor’s position, however, defies the will of the Board of Supervisors who voted 10-1 to fully fund free City College.

The free tuition effort is meant to regrow student enrollment at CCSF, which dropped by a third during the accreditation crisis. It is also meant to address income inequality in San Francisco.

“Resistance is more than a slogan. Part of resistance is addressing income inequality no matter where it’s found,” Kim said in a statement. “Free City College is a strong tool to narrow income inequality with $11,000 more annually in wages with a degree from City College.”

The CCSF Board of Trustees have rallied behind the effort since before voters approved the ballot measure meant to fund the program.

Last week, the local Democratic Party unanimously approved a resolution introduced by Mandelman and Kim calling on the mayor to fully fund the effort.

[Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/free-city-college-decision-comes-wire/ Click  tab at top for City College for more posts.]

 

---

         Please join Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. 

Annual dues: Residences $20 (includes all members of household). Businesses $25

Your donation to Sunnyside Neighborhood Association is tax deductible.

Please include name, address, phone number and email address. Members receive the Sunnyside News, our quarterly newsletter, as well as advance notice of membership meetings and special events, and periodic email updates. Membership fees help support this website, and pay for meeting hall fees and supplies, insurance, and other expenses.

Thank you for your support!

You may also mail in your dues: P.O. Box 27615, San Francisco, CA  94127.