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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Fate of SF City College Unknown

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Monday, December 15, 2014   

SAN FRANCISCO - Eighty-thousand City College of San Francisco students are waiting to hear if their school will be shut down. A judge is deciding whether CCSF deserves to have its accreditation revoked.

Student and single mother Bouchra Simmons said the school is the only option for her and many other students.

"Especially, this is about all, all students," she said. "We are vulnerable. City College has high-quality but affordable education. Without it, it's tragic."

The City of San Francisco sued after a commission determined the school was substandard and terminated its accreditation. The city argues the evaluation of City College was unfair and illegal. Closing arguments were held last week and Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow says he'll issue his ruling in January.

CCSF teacher Tim Killikelly said the uncertainty has caused an enrollment crisis, with student numbers decreasing 20 percent since the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges voted last year to have the school decertified - a decision he called "outrageous."

"They have not provided City College with basic due process," he said. "They have made arbitrary decisions that don't seem to care about what most of the community cares about."

California Federation of Teachers president Joshua Pechthalt said the judge now has the opportunity to let the commission know it is not above the law.

"This commission has really run roughshod over the entire community-college system of California," he said. "They've held these community colleges hostage to their dictates. And so, while this is an important part of the struggle, we want to see major reform of the accrediting process."

The city also argues that City College did not get a fair evaluation because of a conflict of interest, since a member of the evaluation team is married to the commission president. The commission's lawyer calls those claims "absurd" and says the college was given every opportunity to address deficiencies.

More information is online at cft.org.


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