Endorsement: Vote yes on Measure LA to invest in community colleges
This is an official endorsement of Measure LA for Los Angeles County, a joint school levy to fund up to $5.5 billion in public colleges and universities that would use the money to support and expand educational opportunities in the Los Angeles area.
The measure would raise up to $350 million to be used on campus spending by the state’s public higher education system, which currently invests $300 million a year on its campuses, but at the same time will see its public student aid cut by a third over the next two years. The measure proposes raising funds for the LA area public colleges at the same time the University of California is cutting its campuses. The measure would also raise school funding levels from one billion dollars a year to $2.75 billion.
Measure LA would fund this money by eliminating the Board of Governors’ obligation to increase general fund support from the state budget. The state is currently investing $200 million a year on its campuses, but LA County can do the same with $350 million. The measure would also increase funding levels for community colleges from $300 million a year to $500 million a year, and increase from $1 billion to $2.75 billion the amount spent on California State Universities and the University of California at Berkeley and UCLA.
Measure LA would replace this obligation for public colleges with a new measure for education-related expenses. The measure would give the Governor’s Office of Education the option of using the state’s available revenues on education-related expenses in addition to the obligation for general state funds for public colleges. This measure would also allow the Board of Governors to provide support to community colleges through an ad valorem tax instead of the general fund.
“We cannot afford to keep our universities, public higher education and community colleges underfunded. This measure would change the way that we fund higher education,” said Senator Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys. “This measure will ensure that California continues its commitment to public higher education and to provide a much-needed boost to community colleges in the Los Angeles region.”
“To increase funding for public higher education and community colleges, it is necessary to eliminate the current Board of Governors’ obligation to provide increasing
