Coalition Rallies to Fight Cuts at San Francisco City College

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A group of faculty, staff and students from City College of San Francisco are rallying opposition to budget cuts.

At a a meeting Wednesday evening they will encourage community members to join their fight in the school's struggle to stay accredited, an organizer said.

The meeting of the Save CCSF Coalition is scheduled for 6 p.m. on City College's Mission Campus, according to Bob Price, a chemistry professor at the school and an organizer with the coalition.

City College faces a March 15 deadline set by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, which last July placed the school on "show cause" status, citing problems with 14 aspects of the school.

School officials are being asked to file a report by the March deadline showing that they are taking significant steps to address the problems identified by the commission, which included having too many campuses and excessive non-instructional faculty costs.

If City College fails to show improvement, it could have its accreditation revoked and be closed when the commission issues its ruling June 10.

The coalition is fighting against moves made by the school's administration to dismantle City College's department chair structure and replace them with deans, while consolidating certain departments and assigning department chairs back to full-time instructional roles.

"Everything's going toward a top-down model," Price said. "I think that's a recipe for lowering the quality of the programs."

He said "austerity measures" proposed by the administration don't make sense given the approval by San Francisco voters of Proposition A last November to help fund City College.

"Education is needed now more than ever," Price said. "We shouldn't be cutting things."

He said he hopes community members come out to today's meeting to provide input on the various issues facing the school.

"So many San Franciscans have been affected by City College," Price said, noting that 72 percent of voters approved Proposition A "so we know we have a lot of allies out there."

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in Room 109 at the Mission Campus at 1125 Valencia St.