Some College Projects Not Worth Tax Money

The front page of the Valley section of The Times reports the college district is about to propose a tax hike on property owners (“College District Revives Property Tax Hike Plan,” Oct. 24). Great! Anything to help improve the education of college students. But the projects the money will be used for on the Valley campuses are listed on the inside pages. And if this list did not show a shameful lack of insight into what taxpayers want for their money in education, it would be funny.

No! I will not have my money spent to increase the size of the football stadium at Pierce College when nobody goes to the games anyway. Or $6 million for an “equine center” (fancy words for a horse stable) to please a few rich horse owners in the area and the Woodland Hills property owners. Neither do I want my money spent for a gym at Mission College ($10 million). Valley College, by far the most interesting and largest of the three, asks for less than a quarter of the Pierce request and less than half that of Mission College, but even their projects seem tangential to improving the education of the students.

Our three public community colleges serve an important and unique function in the educational lives of Valleyites. But we, and they, must get our priorities established. Gyms, horse rings and landscaping do not even make the bottom of the list.

M. STEPHEN SHELDON, Studio City