Dear Supervisors,
CCSF needs your help--again. As you no doubt know by now, the chancellor cancelled 280 classes before enrollment even began for the spring semester in order to save 2.5 million dollars. He said that these were historically under-enrolled classes.
You may know that the Union contract stipulates that noncredit classes from the spring schedule, supposedly because of a looming budget crisis. This “midnight massacre” includes the cancellation of 90% of the classes in our outstanding Older Adults program next semester. Unless emergency funding is provided, this will be a disaster for the thousands of older San Franciscans who depend on these classes.
It’s crucial for you to understand that this is not just one more CCSF budget crisis. It is in fact part of a nefarious, neoliberal agenda to limit the mission of our community colleges. The California Community College System is one of the glories of our state, serving all adults regardless of educational background. Lifelong learning is a central part of the mission of this system. However, the State Chancellor is pushing to turn our Community Colleges back to their Junior College status of 50 years ago. The state legislature is also supporting this regressive policy with its new state-funding formula for the community colleges: a three-tier system allotting the most money per student for students in a degree program, less money for students in a credential program, and far less money for students taking classes “only” to get needed skills. Twenty years ago, I was one of these “only” students: at John Adams Campus I got the computer skills that I now use in preparing materials for my ESL classes at that same campus. This is just one of countless examples of how valuable classes for our “only” students can be.
The Older Adults program serves thousands of San Francisco citizens in every district in the city. In recent years this program has grown because it is so popular. As a very active CCSF outreach volunteer since 2013, I have gotten lots of feedback about our OLAD program, all of it totally positive. Highly educated persons have told me that this program includes some of their best teachers ever, anywhere. However, as this program is entirely non-credit, it is an obvious target for the State Chancellor’s unconscionable plan to eliminate a central part of the mission of our community colleges.
With his permission, I am pasting below the letter written yesterday by Kelvin Ming Young, Chair of the Older Adults Department, to the CCSF Board of Trustees. He explains this whole situation and its significance for our city clearly and eloquently.
We appeal to you for emergency funding to save these classes. We also appeal to you to use whatever influence you have with our CCSF Board of Trustees to get them to keep the community in our community college. Our chancellor clearly supports the state’s narrow-minded, heartless, inequitable, regressive policy, and so far our trustees have followed him completely, to the anger and frustration of CCSF students and faculty.
For decades, the elders of San Francisco have paid the taxes that fund CCSF. They need and deserve these classes. Thank you for whatever help you can give us in this dire situation.
Yours truly,
Daniel T. Halford, ESL instructor, CCSF
From: Kelvin Ming Young
To: CCSF Board of Trustees
November 25, 2019
Dear Board of Trustees,
With the Spring 2020 Schedule Reduction mandated by the College Administration, a total of 52 classes from the Older Adults Department (OLAD) have been canceled, leaving us with only a meager 6 classes for next semester. One of the class remained on schedule is not even funded by the College, but by SF Supervisor Gordon Mar from the Sunset District. The classes selected for cancellation appear to be random without basis on any logical criteria, as they don't appear to correlate to class productivity, instructor seniority, class location, history or other relevant considerations. The majority of our most popular classes with highest student attendance record are canceled by the Administration.
The Older Adults Department serves thousands of older adult residents in and around San Francisco. Our classes have been held at over 30 locations throughout the City, including Community Centers, Senior Centers, Adult Day Health Centers, Senior Housing, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation Facilities, Hospitals and more. Our Department has been collaborating closely with community partners on a long-term basis, some for over 30 years. These community-partner facilities act as CCSF satellite classes that probes deep into our community. Off-campus Sites rely on us to offer quality education in Lifelong Learning model to serve the senior residents. Due to the special needs of older adult students, we have been bringing our program to the students in their neighborhoods and communities, all without facility rental cost to City College. Our program includes classes from a wide range of disciplines, including Health and Fitness, Arts and Crafts, Music and Theater Appreciation, Writing and Literature, Computer and Technology, and more. Some of our classes have been held continuously for over years or decades. With the abrupt cancellation of nearly all our classes, the administration will create a cascading effect to the programming of all our community partners, as well as denying vital services to the senior residents we serve.
According to City and County of San Francisco Human Services Agency, older adult is the fastest growing age group in the City. Almost a quarter of current population in the City is over age 60, close to 200,000 residents. Projection shows nearly 30% of San Francisco residents will be older adults by 2030. According to City College's own student demographics from 2017, nearly 30% of our students (over 5,300) in the non-credit division are over 60 years old. With the rapid growth of older adults population in the City, there will be even greater needs for Lifelong Learning program such as ours to serve the older residents. However, the College Administration seems to be oblivious to this fact, and continues to treat our program unfairly without serious consideration.
With a 90% reduction to the Older Adults program next semester, I'm gravely concerned for the future of our Department. Our Department consists entirely of part-time faculty, with part-time Chair and a few retired faculty from other departments. Due to the sudden massive class cancellation, many of our instructors will lose their regular income source and health benefits next semester, all without adequate notice for them to seek alternative employment. At this point, I'm seriously afraid the Older Adults Department will be eliminated completely in the coming academic year, leaving dozens of community partners and thousands of senior residents without access to Lifelong Learning education.
This vast cancellation of OLAD program for next semester will have a devastating impact to our students and community. We implore you to consider the serious consequences of this schedule reduction and reinstate our classes for Spring 2020. Thank you very much.
Regards,
Kelvin
Kelvin Ming Young
Chair, Older Adults Department
City College of San Francisco
(510)332-2469
Email: kyoung@ccsf.edu
