Prop. A for Better Colleges

The nine Los Angeles community colleges, from Woodland Hills to Wilmington, are the workhorses of public higher education, but they have not seen a major increase in construction and renovation funding for 40 years.

Proposition A--a $1.2-billion capital bond measure on the April 10 ballot--would give the colleges the resources they need in order to live up to the awesome responsibilities the region increasingly demands: retraining downsized workers, providing Advanced Placement classes not offered in some urban high schools and easing overcrowding in four-year universities by offering general education to future Cal State and UC students.

Through a property tax levy, Proposition A would fund basic repairs--removing hazardous asbestos, fixing leaky plumbing and installing air conditioning. It would also allow specific improvements like erecting a cafeteria at Southwest College, a new auto technology building at Trade Tech, where the present tools are archaic, and a new science and technology complex that would allow City College to restart its nursing program, eliminated years ago because of budget cuts but desperately needed to fill a nurse shortage.

The tax would cost property owners about $14.50 per $100,000 of valuation during the first year, rising to a maximum of $25 per $100,000 of valuation after being fully phased in over 10 years. Taxes would be assessed not only in Los Angeles but in all cities served by the district, including Burbank, Culver City, South Gate and San Fernando.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. predictably opposes the measure, arguing, “While some of the work that Proposition A would fund is worthwhile, it is unfair to make just local property owners pay . . . [especially when] the state is enjoying another multibillion-dollar surplus.” The Jarvis group may have had a point, but only before the power crisis put that surplus off-limits and reduced to nil the district’s chance of getting capital funding from Sacramento.

Under Chancellor Marshall Drummond, the college district has mostly fixed the management problems that led to wasteful and ineffective deficit spending in the mid-1990s. Its success is symbolized by a 15% increase in enrollment last year. To ensure that the district does not fall into another financial morass, Proposition A includes sharp accountability measures and calls for citizen oversight committees at each college and annual, independent financial audits to assess performance.

Drummond’s description of the district as an “artery at the heart of the L.A. economy” is not overstated. Proposition A is needed medicine to protect the district’s health.