Outreach defended in capital hearing
By Jeff Hudson
UCLA Today
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to eliminate funding for
outreach programs at the University of California and California
State University drew sharp criticism Jan. 7 from legislators, university
representatives and students at a press conference and joint hearing
of three legislative committees in Sacramento.
Late last year, the governor ordered a $12.2-million midyear cut
in outreach funding. In his budget proposal for 2004-05, he proposes
to de-fund UC outreach programs completely by eliminating remaining
state funding of $33.3 million.
Created under partnerships between university campuses and struggling
K-12 school districts with high percentages of students underrepresented
in university enrollment, many outreach programs started under the
administration of Gov. Pete Wilson after affirmative action was
banned from admissions decisions.
“Outreach programs have mistakenly been perceived as recruitment.
Rather ... they level the playing field,” said Assemblywoman
Carol Liu (D-Pasadena) at the press conference, at which several
dozen students from various universities showed their support.
There are huge inequities among California schools that outreach
tries to address, Jeannie Oakes, UCLA Presidential Professor of
Education and director of the UC All Campus Consortium on Research
for Diversity, testified at the hearing.
At the high end, 4% of the state’s schools send more than
20% of ninth-graders to UC. At the low end, 40% of schools —
many serving low-income communities — send fewer than 3% of
ninth-graders to UC.
“Low-income, Latino and African-American students are clustered
in the state’s most educationally disadvantaged schools,”
Oakes said. “Compounding these inequalities, parents (in affluent
communities) hire private tutors more often and enroll their children
in SAT preparation courses. Students in low-income communities or
those who will be first-time college-goers in their families are
far less likely to have these supports.”
Outreach programs give these students the tools they need to enter
UC, explained Alfred Herrera, director of the UCLA Center for Community
College Partnerships.
“Outreach programs are lifeboats for many students,”
he said. “But the work we do is in jeopardy. It is not acceptable
to eliminate funding for programs that have been successful and
have helped change the lives of so many students, making them successful
contributors in our society.”
Some legislators agreed that outreach programs must be saved.
State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Van Nuys) noted that in the UC system,
35% of African-American freshmen and 46% of Latino freshmen had
participated in outreach programs. Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh (D-South
Gate) said, “The governor should know he threatens our public
university system with irreparable harm.”
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said the cuts “would push college
further away for an estimated 200,000 students served by outreach
programs. ... Slamming the door of opportunity is not just shortsighted,
it lacks vision.”
And State Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose), a 28-year veteran
of the Senate, called the potential demise of outreach “the
most important issue for California’s future.” In 2010,
California’s retirees will be three-fourths Anglo while the
state’s work force will be two-thirds persons of color, he
said. “Outreach is in our profound self-interest.”
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