Junior colleges urged to focus on core mission

California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott said Wednesday that the colleges are faced with a 3% jump in enrollment and an 8% drop in state funding and must be creative about cutting costs.

In an address before the annual convention of the state’s community colleges, Scott said he would ask schools today to focus their limited resources on core missions such as job training and basic education.

The system served 2.89 million students last year -- 150,000 more students than state funding supported.

This year, the Legislature cut the community college budget by $520 million, to about $6 billion.

Scott also called on local colleges to think inventively about funding, recalling that when he was president at Pasadena City College, the school rented out the front of the campus during the annual Rose Parade, earning about $25,000.

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” Scott said.

-- Amina Khan