This paper describes some of the important changes that have occurred in California community colleges since Proposition 13 was enacted in 1978, in hopes to assist Arizona state leaders as they consider possible reductions on local property tax support for community colleges. Included is an historical overview, an official mission description of…

This paper consists of several short essays on seven different state community colleges. The first essay, entitled, "Michigan Community Colleges: Is Proposal 'A' Harmful or Helpful?" explains how Proposal A was initiated to provide local property tax relief to homeowners and to equalize funding of rich and poor public K-12 school districts. The…

This document contains an historical overview of the Oregon community college system, including its overall mission and student enrollment information for the 1989-94 academic years. The paper describes how Oregon community colleges enjoyed strong state and local tax support until the beginning of a recession in the early 1980's. Declines in the…

This paper examines the financial problems of California's community colleges caused by reduced local property tax support. In 1978 California voters enacted Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment that reduced taxes on real estate. The proposition's immediate effect on community college funding was a statewide, fifty-percent reduction in local…

In 1990 a study was conducted whose purpose was to establish empirically the degree to which governance of each state community college system was centralized or decentralized. This data would provide information on which to base decisions for changing governance structures. The 1990 study was replicated in 1997. A 100% response rate was obtained…