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# SMC’s funding may fall this year
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smcs-funding-may-fall-this-year/
- Published: 2006-02-15T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:16:14.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Bill would impose a new funding formula*

SMC — Before state legislators approve a new funding formula for community colleges, officials here want them to pay what they owe.

Under a funding formula supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an alumnus of Santa Monica College, a handful of community college districts like Santa Monica College are receiving millions of dollars to make up for decades of underfunding due to the passage of Prop. 13, which capped property taxes and forced colleges to rely mostly on the state for funding.

This year, SMC officials are expecting to receive $4 million under the current funding formula, the last and largest installment in a plan to equalize funding for all colleges that was proposed by education officials here and supported by the governor.

However, SMC may never see that money. There is a growing movement in Sacramento to pass a bill, SB 361, that would once again change the way community college districts are funded. The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), has gained strong support from the majority of community college districts and the chancellor of California Community Colleges because they feel it would finally even the playing field for all.

If the bill is approved, SMC would go from $4 million in equalization funding this year to roughly $400,000, said Randal Lawson, executive vice president of SMC.

Lawson and others here said that would be a major blow to SMC, which is in the middle of an aggressive campaign to increase enrollment after severe cuts to education programs approved in 2003\. During that time, the district, which had more students enrolled than ever before, had to reduce course offerings by 20 percent and intentionally cut enrollment to save money.

“We have completed a magnificent turnaround, but we are not quite back to where we were before. And now we are caught up in what most districts are experiencing, and that is very little growth in enrollment,” Lawson said. “We need this money now more than ever to help in our efforts to get back to the level we were at before we had to make these cuts to programs. We are fine with SB 361 if it passes, but we want this last installment of equalization funds to go through before any changes are made. That would help us level the playing field.”

If SB 361 is approved, it would rely on student enrollment from 2003 to determine funding. The current formula is based on enrollment levels in 2002, when SMC had the most students enrolled in its history. The district would receive more money if 2002 enrollment figures are used.

A spokesman for Sen. Scott couldn’t be reached for comment.

SMC has historically been underfund-ed, said Bruce Smith, a college spokesman. Before the governor approved of the current equalization plan, the district was receiving approximately $3,700 per full-time student, one of the lowest funding levels in the state’s system, compared to a high of roughly $8,000 in Western Kern Community College District.

When multiplied by the roughly 21,000 students who attend SMC, the disparity reaches into the millions.

“We hear all the time that Santa Monica is an affluent community, that we have multi-million dollar homes and that we don’t need the extra money, but the fact is we serve a very diverse student body, most of whom come from outside of the district, who take two or three buses to come here because of our reputation,” SMC trustee Margaret Quinones said at a meeting Monday night with her colleagues. “We need to come up with a campaign to debunk this stereotype and make sure some community colleges remain in the fight for equalization. This needs to be the most important thing on Dr. (Chui L.) Tsang’s plate.”

Tsang is the new president of SMC. He starts in two weeks, Smith said.

Supporters of SB 361, which is still under consideration by the Legislature, said it will finally fix the funding structure, making the process more equitable for all colleges. The bill would set aside funding for facilities and operations and then provide money for each pupil, supporters said. Currently districts are funded per pupil, with the cost of operating included in that.

“All of the arguments for it and against its passage are reasonable when you think about enrollment numbers,” said Scott Lay, vice president of Community College League of California. “Santa Monica obviously wants enrollment numbers from their most active year used while, say, Los Angeles, which absorbed a lot of students from SMC, wants to use more current data. We just have to make sure that we come up with the best formula possible. We want to make sure every student gets the same amount of funding.”

SMC board of trustees chair Nancy Greenstein said her colleagues are not opposed to any change that will make funding more equitable, but the elected officials in Sacramento need to stick to their word and, at least for one more year, keep funding levels the same.

“We need to follow through with this commitment and then move on from there,” Greenstein said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 15, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021506.pdf?ref=smdp.com)