Governor Schwarzenegger

To view a video of the Governor's remarks at the press conference at City College yesterday and scenes from the Governor's tour of Professor Jack Bollinger's Machine Technology class, click here: http://www.sdccd.edu/governor

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Governor Highlights Importance of Equal Funding for California's Community Colleges and Benefits of Strategic Growth Plan to Schools

Governor Schwarzenegger toured San Diego City College today, reviewing an engineering classroom, talking with pupils and faculty, and addressing a group of students and teachers.

"My budget will pump $130 million of equalization funds into the community college system to even out the amount of spending for each student and wipe out inequities between rich and poor districts," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "And my Strategic Growth Plan invests more than $3.7 billion in community colleges over the next 10 years. We're putting more money into more facilities, upgraded classrooms, and more vocational programs like the great nursing, engineering and machine tech programs here."

To help prepare pupils for a successful start in life, the Governor's Strategic Growth Plan proposes a total of $3.767 billion for California Community Colleges over a 10-year period. So that students learn in modern facilities with adequate room, Governor Schwarzenegger's budget contains $491.7 million from proposed bonds for the construction and renovation of school facilities. The funds will be used to correct seismic deficiencies, upgrade instructional and library facilities, and construct new classrooms and laboratories so that California's students have the tools they need to learn and thrive in a safe environment.

To ensure that all community colleges have the same resources to teach students and achieve their educational goals, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed $130 million in his budget for facilities such as San Diego City College which receive less funding than others. Funding disparities arise from factors including differences in property tax levels across community college districts. The additional funding proposed in the Governor's budget builds upon $80 million provided for the same purpose in 2004 and $30 million provided in 2005. San Diego City College will receive $3,673,886 in equalization funding according to the Governor's budget.

San Diego City College is one of four campuses of the San Diego Community College District. It offers more than 80 academic majors and 90 certificate programs to students who can take advantage of programs such as engineering, graphic arts, radio and television, nursing, child development, languages and construction trades.

Governor Schwarzenegger has been a strong supporter of such Career Technical Education programs and his budget this year adds $30 million for their expansion, building upon the $20 million Community College Economic Development initiative created last year. He has been lauded by higher education leaders for providing more funds for community colleges, allowing them to maintain low tuition rates and avoid raising student fees.