Editorial: Local colleges facing cuts and other challenges - Ventura County Star

Students at community colleges in Ventura County are paying higher costs while finding fewer classes available and reduced services compared to a few years ago. These regrettable changes resulted from severe budget problems. Unfortunately, more painful cuts lie ahead for Moorpark College, Oxnard College and Ventura College. The three campuses are overseen by the Ventura County Community College District, which has a looming deficit of at least $11 million in the next fiscal year because of state budget reductions. Tuesday, the district's board of trustees is scheduled to review proposed program cutbacks at the three campuses. The trustees expect to vote on the cuts Jan. 17. In the meantime, furious debates are under way as individuals present their arguments for saving threatened programs, understandably so.