[Nfbc-info] Fw: Fw: Legislative Alert--Hearing on Funding for Disable Student Programs April 25th in Room 126

Darian Smith dsmithnfb at gmail.com
Tue Apr 24 18:34:54 UTC 2012


Sorry for the  late notice, but I just got a hold of this.  If you can
please try to drop in.
 i will most certainly attempt to.  Funding  for disabled students
programs have  been  on the decline on my campus, and we are  starting
to feel it a bit.
 Subject: Legislative Alert--Hearing on Funding for Disable Student
Programs April 25th in Room 126

As you may already know, funding for Disabled Students Programs and
Services (DSPS) in the California Community Colleges was cut by
approximately 40% back
in fiscal year 2009-10.  Since then the California Association on
Postsecondary Education and Disability (CAPED) has been working
diligently to try to
have this funding restored.  Unfortunately, the state’s dire fiscal
situation has made it impossible to achieve this goal so far.

Now, however, we have another threat to deal with.  The Governor’s
Budget for 2012-13 proposes to compound the problem by placing most of
the remaining
funding for DSPS into a “block-grant” which colleges could use for
support of any of a number of special programs.  The Governor’s Budget
would continue
to protect about $12.6 million or approximately 18% of the funding
received by DSPS this year, most of which is for statewide grant
programs.  However,
the remaining $56,596,000 which is now allocated to colleges
exclusively for use by DSPS would, instead, be rolled into the block
grant and could be diverted
to be used for other purposes.

With the 40% reduction in DSPS funding, many community colleges are
currently unable to meet their legal obligations to provide services
and accommodations
to students with disabilities.  Those who are students in the
community colleges today will be the leaders of our movement in the
future, so we need to
ensure that they receive the education they want and are entitled to
under state and federal law.  To do this, we need to let the
Legislature know that
creating a funding system which allows diversion of remaining DSPS
funds for other purposes is unacceptable.

Our next opportunity to do this will be on April 25, 2012, when
Assembly Budget Subcommittee 2 on Education Finance will hear the
community college budget.
 The hearing will take place in Room 126 in the State Capitol
beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Ironically, while proposing to eliminate separate funding for the DSPS
program, the Governor is also recommending an increase of $218 million
for the community
college system as a whole.  However, this money would not be available
for use to address the many needs for funding at the colleges.
Instead, the Governor
proposes to use this money to reduce the amount of debt which the
state has accumulated by virtue of failure to fully fund the
Proposition 98 guarantee
in previous years.

It is important to understand that the availability of this additional
funding is predicated on the passage of a temporary tax increase
measure the governor
will place on the November general election ballot. Of course, it is
by no means clear that the ballot measure will pass.  If the temporary
tax increases
are not approved, the Governor and Legislature will then face the
difficult task of cutting billions more from a state budget which
already includes devastating
cuts to many programs.  In this worst case scenario it is highly
likely that there will be further cuts to community colleges and we
will need to mobilize
to prevent even deeper cuts to DSPS.

However, for now the budget is based on the assumption that the tax
increases will be approved and the additional $218 million will be
available for community
colleges. CAPED is asking the Legislature to devote at least some of
this additional money to restoring funding cut from the DSPS program
back in 2009-10.


Getting additional resources this year is likely to be an uphill
battle, but CAPED’s advocacy during last year’s budget process
resulted in the Community
Colleges Chancellor’s Office funding a study to document the impact of
the cuts.  This study should be completed in May and the information
that it will
generate will be crucial to the success of our efforts to seek
restoration of funding.

At this point it is critical that the members of the Assembly
Subcommittee hear from you and the people with disabilities you
represent—especially those
who may be students in the community college system.

While our immediate focus is on the Senate Subcommittee, it would also
be helpful to contact your local legislators and the legislative
leadership who will
make the final decisions about the budget later this year.

I am including the CAPED budget proposal, a sample letter, which you
can personalize to describe how the cuts are affecting students with
disabilities you
know or who are involved with your organization, and contact
information for key legislators.  So, if you can help with this
important issue:

•      Plan to have someone from your organization attend the upcoming
hearing.  If you or someone from your organization does plan to
attend, please let
me know.  CAPED members and supporters will gather in the basement
cafeteria at the Capitol at 3:00 p.m. on April 25th, an hour before
the beginning of
the hearing, to share the latest information and coordinate testimony.

•      Call, write or visit Assembly members Bonilla, Brownley,
Berryhill, Nestande, and Swanson who are the members of the
Subcommittee. See attachment
for their contact information.

•      Bring the CAPED budget proposal and, if possible, a one-page
fact sheet about how the cuts have impacted those you represent.

•      Pass this alert and the attached materials on to any other
disability advocacy group that you think might be interested in this
issue.


-- 
Darian Smith

"To dream what is possible and to put oneself in service of that dream is the
formula
for a life well lived."

- Dr. Peter Benson
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