the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 5, 2012
Officials of the California community college system said last week that they will have to cut more classes and jobs–for the third time during the current school year!
Since 2008, community college system officials have cut classes, eliminated entire summer sessions, laid off teachers and other workers, and raised fees–by nearly 40% this year alone.
Officials justify these latest cuts by referring to a budget gap, amounting to 149 million dollars. Officials say the deficit exists because too many students are receiving financial aid–in the form of fee waivers–to attend classes.
Yes there were fee waivers. California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. And bosses continue to take advantage of the high unemployment by cutting workers’ pay. The fee waivers were the politicians’ promise to students that help was available in the midst of the crisis.
But these waivers are not the basic cause of the budget gap. That was the result of cuts the state of California made in the budget of its community colleges since 2008–809 million dollars, five times the budget gap.
Every cut in community college funding was money poured into the greedy hands of big business through tax cuts and subsidies. So get it back from big business!