Sustainable Funding for Inmate Education Programs

Spring
2017
Resolution Number
05.01
 
Contact
Assigned to
President
Category
Budget and Finance
Status
Assigned
Proposer Contact
Cleavon Smith, Equity and Diversity Action, Executive Committee

Whereas, SB1391 (2014, Hancock) waives the open course requirement for community college courses offered in state correctional facilities;

Whereas, As of Academic Year 2016-17, 16 pilot colleges began delivering face-to-face courses inside 32 of the state’s 35 correctional facilities;

Whereas, Pilot colleges that are delivering instruction in support of academic programs in state correctional facilities express concern that the courses they are offering might be vulnerable during budgetary cuts or when the colleges are at or exceeding growth caps; and

Whereas, The current practice of categorically funded programs mitigates the impact of budget cuts and local budgetary decisions on the most vulnerable special populations of students;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local academic senates to recognize that serving incarcerated students within the college’s service area is a part of the college’s mission and should be valued and prioritized as other student populations;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges acknowledge that incarcerated students are among the most disenfranchised of the California community college student populations; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office to establish a plan for sustaining the provision of in-person community college courses inside the state’s correctional facilities independent of economic fluctuation.

Acclamation