Although Florida's community colleges have consistently been the primary access to college and post-secondary education for state residents and are uniquely suited to help dependent individuals gain the skills necessary to become self-sufficient, state funding to the colleges has consistently been reduced. Income per student from the state has been reduced from 50% more to 22% less than that provided to public K through 12 schools, and the passage of Proposition 2 severely restricts spending by the 1995 legislature. This threatens the colleges' ability to carry out their mission, but cost of supporting dependent individuals is high. In Dade County, for example, one in six residents were living in poverty as of the 1990 census, while the County's 1993 expenditures for food stamps and Aid to Families with Dependent Children alone amounted to $479,706,672. Moreover, a correlation can be drawn between a person's level of education and the likelihood of engaging in crime (the cost of maintaining Florida's 44,000 prisoners is $1 billion over the term of their incarceration). Education is even more important in the Information Age, but statewide 54% of students entering community colleges test as academically underprepared. The state's community colleges provide an essential bridge to independence for residents, leading to further educational opportunities, employment, and higher salaries. Although the colleges represent a bargain compared to the costs of maintaining dependent residents, the state has abandoned its commitment to the colleges and is, in effect, starving the solution to Florida's most serious problems. (BCY)