De Anza is facing major reductions in funding to the tune of $5.5 to $7.5 million, which will have a drastic effect on students.  

The Instructional Planning and Budget Committee met on May 29 and May 30 last week to plan out the future of the college and the classes potentially headed for the chopping block due to state budget cuts.

Faculty and staff held presentations for a day and a half, defending the value of their division’s hold to De Anza students. 

While the Student Services Planning and Budget Team has come up with $2.4 million in proposed cuts, the “IPBT has not yet come up with a list of targeted cuts, but has been holding many hours of discussion scrutinizing details of every program and many courses in every division across the college,” said Karen Chow, president of the academic senate.

Both Chow and De Anza President Brian Murphy make it clear that this drastic cut in funding has nothing to do with De Anza, but rather the state of California.

“None of us chose this crisis.  We did not manufacture the state’s inability to support education,” said Murphy in a letter to staff on May 31. 

While there is a $2 million gap between the best and worst case scenarios for budget cuts, clearly neither situation is a good place to be. 

Where De Anza will fall in these cuts rests solely on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative and a competing ballot measure.

If the governor’s initiative passes, community colleges will be in slightly better shape with some of the more severe cuts getting bypassed. The competing measure focuses only on funding for K-12 schools and would not provide any relief to higher education.

“Every potential cut is extremely painful,” said Chow. “The impact of budget cuts on students will be significant.” 

According to Chow, both colleges are supposed to give a list of proposed reductions to the district by June 30, for further discussions and deliberation over the summer. The district board of trustees will be presented the final proposed cuts in the fall.

No matter how it’s sliced, cuts will be made and people will be affected.  With cost of tuition continually rising for higher education, many students may be left without options.

“It is impossible to avoid the obvious: All options will negatively affect our students and their families,” as well as staff and their families, Murphy wrote.