Funding? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Funding!

Here’s how we fund college classes in California:

Weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 19, which waives fees for first-time freshmen at California community colleges, officials in the Los Rios Community College District are wondering where the money will come to pay for the tuition breaks…

Implementation of the program is still contingent, however, on securing funds – one of the reasons that Gov. Brown’s own Department of Finance opposed AB 19.

In its August analysis of AB 19, the finance department said the bill “creates significant new and ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund costs that are not included in the Governor's Budget plan.” The Department estimated that this strain, coupled with the loss of student fee revenues, could reduce funding for community college districts by anywhere from $30 to $50 million.

Proponents are hopeful that the governor’s 2018-19 budget will include funding to cover the cost.

Los Rios supported the bill, but spokesman Gabe Ross recently expressed concern that money could wind up being diverted from the district’s general operating funds. (italics mine—Darren)

Unicorn farts. That's how we'll pay for it.  Unicorn farts and fairy dust.