By Maria Cortes
Staff Writer
I think we can all agree that college life is not what it is portrayed in the media. Everyone expects parties that never end, half hour classes and an endless supply of greasy food that you regret eating the next morning. Truth is, college life is fun but it’s hard, crippling work. If the studying and late night classes don’t send you over the edge, the money problems will.
Thankfully AVC has this wonderful thing called the BOG Fee Waiver that helps low-income students play for classes. A large majority of the students on campus have the BOG waiver and if it weren’t for it, they would not be able to further their education.
Our dear friends from the California Community College Student Success Task Force (CCCSSTF) are trying to make our lives much more difficult than they already are. You see, their nifty little plan is called Recommendation 3.2, which would convert the BOG fee waiver program from a needs-based program to a merit-and-needs-based program.
The CCCSSTF is recommending that low-income students should not only be subject to additional criteria from educational goals but also have unit limits. These unit limits would only be applied to these students, not to those who can actually pay.
This recommendation would supposedly save the community college system $89 million dollars, but it is doing this as a result of turning away low-income students from opportunities that would not be taken away from fortunate students.
Recommendation 3.2 completely cancels out the decade-long mission that the community college system has been on to provide equal educational opportunities for all. This is a clear case of favoring the rich over the needy. This seems like they’re just trying to make sure that low-income students don’t get anywhere in their educational journeys.
We all need to make our voices heard and demand that Recommendation 3.2 goes nowhere. If it passes, all it will do is shift the system to favor the rich and create animosity and fewer educational opportunities for those who are already down-trodden because of economic or academic disadvantages.
The world is already riddled with the wealthy few ruling over the billions of poor. Let’s not let it spread to AVC, too. Do what you can to spread awareness on Recommendation 3.2.
