Re “Measured Expectations _ Crucial to West L.A.’s Response to ‘30’” and “Prop. 30 Will Fatten West L.A. College’s Class Lineup”
[img]1816|right|Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh||no_popup[/img]As a sensitive and shrewd educator, Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh, president of West Los Angeles College, is meticulous about the words he speaks, privately and publicly.
Last spring when Prop. 30’s victory last November allowed 35 classes to be added to bulk up a financially depleted curriculum – typical of California community colleges – he was quick to correct the terminology.
“We talk about (the new classes) as restoration, not addition,” Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said. “When you look at the whole school year, even with (last spring’s) restorations, it still is smaller than the preceding year. This stanched the bleeding.”
Barely 24 hours ago, the president triumphantly announced that far beyond the modest three dozen classes, additional classes were being restored for every semester once the fall term begins.
The number of classes has been increased in all settings – on campus, online, day, evening, weekend and six-week, West L.A. said.
As of yesterday, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, delighted that the fruits of Prop. 30 already have allowed the school to gallop back toward a normal full schedule of classes the year around, he is confident that as the state’s economy continues to brighten, funding will be propped up.
“When that happens,” he said, “there usually is a good strong link between economic growth and the growth in funding for higher education. We hope to return to the days when we can grow 1, 2, 3 percent per year in state funding because that allows us to grow 1, 2, 3 percent in our course offerings.”
The most emotional downside of the possibly cured slide in state funding came when West, like other schools, was forced to turn away students “because we have not been able to offer classes.
“You send that message out for several years, and unfortunately, people get that message,” Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said. “It becomes an expectation that the community colleges, the Cal States and the U.C.’s don’t have room.
“We need to reverse that message as soon as we see signs from the state that growth is coming back.”
