Politics aside, if voters fail to approve Proposition 30 on the Nov. 6 ballot, students at Moorpark College will face fewer classes, reduced student services and the likelihood that their two-year degree may take three years to complete.
That was the message from Moorpark College President Dr. Pam Eddinger at a community meeting held at the EATM building Oct. 24. Few were in attendance at the community meeting that also featured presentations from Vice President of Business Services Iris Ingram, Interim Executive Vice President Dr. Jane Harmon and Academic Senate President Riley Dwyer. The three stressed the dire fiscal consequences of Prop 30 not passing.
“It is the most devastating thing I have ever seen,” said Eddinger.
The meeting gave a detailed account of the current and projected budgets and the cuts the school will face to student services, part-time teaching positions, amount of state funding, and operations. Moorpark College has already lost more than 412 class sections since 2010. If Prop 30 fails, that number is projected to increase by another 469, said Ingram. The cuts will total $6 billion statewide, which translates to more than $4 million in cuts to Moorpark College. That figure represents close to 10 percent of Moorpark’s FY13 budget, Moorpark College officials said.
“We are at a point where cuts are strategic and cuts are at all levels,” said Dwyer.
The reason Prop 30 is on the ballot is because in June of this past year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a budget plan that assumes the passage of Prop 30 and therefore triggers automatic cuts of $6 billion if the tax hike initiative fails to pass.
The proposition is a state constitutional amendment that temporarily raises state sales tax by a quarter of a penny from 2013 to 2016. The measure also includes a one-to-three percent income tax increase for people with annual incomes of $250,000 or more and couples with a joint annual income of $500,000 for the next seven years.
The estimated revenue will be about $6 billion a year according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office and while funding from Prop 30 primarily goes to K-14 education; other public sectors such as Parks and Recreation, DOJ, City Police and Cal Fire will also avoid cuts. In fact, CSU’s will avoid $250 million in cuts.
Opponents of Prop 30 argue that there is no guarantee that the revenue brought in by the tax increases will be put to education and that it does nothing for actual education reform. According to the formal argument against prop 30 released by the Secretary of State, Prop 30 does nothing to “cut waste, eliminate bureaucracy or cut administrative overhead.”
Stopprop30.org states that it will be bad for small businesses and cause jobs to suffer, but the long term economic benefits outweigh the short-term pit falls according to Ray Zhang, a professor of economics at Moorpark College.
“[Prop 30] may have some negative externalities to our economy, to our consumption, and to our business spending, but the long- term benefits are enormous,” said Zhang. “Human capital has been the backbone of U.S economic development since the beginning of the country.”
Complicating the issue even further, Prop 38 is another education measure on the ballot. Prop 38 raises income taxes on all levels but the lowest earners in the state and it does not allocate any money to community colleges. If Prop 30 fails and Prop 38 passes, the $6 billion in cuts would still be triggered. If 30 and 38 both pass, the proposition that receives more votes will become law.
Teachers’ union representative Kidd Arleigh said that students at Moorpark and other Community Colleges throughout the state will find it noticeably more difficult to get classes if Prop 30 doesn’t pass with more votes than 38.
“What good is an affordable education if you can’t get the classes you need,” asked Arleigh, a regional organizer for the California Teachers Association.
The failure of Proposition 30 will be a massive blow to the community college institution, presenters said.
“We lose here and we lose a source the community will never get back,” Eddinger said.
