keep open the city college because i have to study at city college. city college for me is like my second [speaker not understood]. being study in city college a medical receptionist, emt, and i was working, but i had two accidents on my job so i returned to city college again. and i'm studying ged. i want to continue to finish my ged. i'm a mother for two childs. they're going to city college and i don't want to lose city college. i know i want to have education for my kids [speaker not understood].

all the students so i will support city college. please keep open. thank you. (applause) >> i'm going to call a few more cards. alvin jah. renato [speaker not understood]. gordon mcclellan. patrick [speaker not understood]. [speaker not understood]. and kabin baras. okay. hello, thank you very much for having this meeting. we really need it. my name is holman turner, i'm a professional photographer. i also teach at city college. i've done that for the past 17 years. so, ~ somehow i fell in love with students and they fell in love with me.

and for months i've been walking around as if this was something surreal, that we could actually be thinking about shutting down city college. for months i kept asking myself if the accreditation firm that is seeking to close city college is so interested in the quality of their education, how could they possibly even consider putting 85,000 of them out on the street? the answer, of course, is contained in the question. only by putting them in the street could those who financially are supporting the accreditation firm get what they want, the business of education. their plan has been well thought out and executed. first you identify schools that already are accredited. next you look for academic or

financial difficulties. then you begin immediately to separate the community from the school. then you put the school on probation, except in this case it was not an option to put them on probation because they might actually survive that. so, you put them on shod cause. that was much more effective. as the media attacks and testifies, students begin to lose faith in the institution and seek other alternatives. as this happened revenues to meet the show cause began to disappear. let me just finish and say. this >> please wrap it up. thank you. yes. city college is worth saving. thank you. (applause) >> thank you very much. my name is [speaker not understood], i'm a former retired faculty member of city college of san francisco. i just want to give you a window into -- i used to be the

director of the eops program, external opportunity program services. cop has three services in the program. if city college closes what would happen to these 1500 students? all of the members of the eops program, it's a state funded program. all the eops [speaker not understood] in the state of california have been [speaker not understood] a certain number of students it can serve. if all these students -- if city college closes, there are students [speaker not understood]. there are second chance students, ex offenders, [speaker not understood] based on their income. if all of these students lose the opportunity to attend city college of san francisco, their surrounding community colleges in the bay area will also have a limit, a cap on the number of students it can serve. mostly unlikely it will be able to attend another community college in the area. so, what would happen to san francisco with an additional 1500 students, ex offenders, low-income students, [speaker

not understood] who cannot go to college, lose fund to begin with. and secondly, san francisco will have additional costs in providing service for these students as well as possibly crime will go up. in some cases we hope not. i strongly support what you're doing. thank you very much for having this hearing, but it's really important to you as elected officials do a little extra, if you can, to try to save city college. thank you very much. (applause) >> thank you. next speaker, please. [speaker not understood], my name is alvin shaw. i have four points to make. the first item is the purpose of accreditation. secondly, the punishment to fit the crime. thirdly, some comments from my neighbors.

and finally, what i feel is the role city and government officials in this situation. okay. in terms of the purpose of accreditation, i used to be a muni driver, also a streetcar and bus instructor. and a couple of concepts that we have is what we call big picture and tunnel vision. so, the big picture is what's the purpose of accreditation? according to federal law, the purpose of accreditation is to guarantee or assure the quality of education for students who get federal money. okay. and this is in the law. it's in section 60 2 of the 34 cfr, okay. everything else that an accrediting agency puts forward in terms of standards and criteria are supposed to substantiate the quality of education.

and what accjc has done is distort the meaning of accreditation to make city college fulfill these criteria that don't really talk about the quality of education. let me move on real fast. secondly, punishment needs to fit the crime. okay. i work for muni. you have unreliable schedules. they haven't been fulfilling for 10 years, for over 10 years. shut it down, okay. [laughter] you know the idea. okay. and just a few comments that i hope you guys can pass on. these were collected for accjc for the third -- could i just read one of them, the best one? >> just one. okay, just one. this is from my next door neighbor. there are world class instructors teaching at city college, graduating high school students deserve their expertise. the problem ccsf faces in

regard to the budget need to be addressed -- needs to be addressed in other ways, not by compromising its accreditation. and she was a student at city college and she's a high school teacher. and i got these comments to give to accjc and they just ignored it. so, could you make copies and give it to all your compatriots? >> thank you. next speaker. (applause) hi, my name is patrick [speaker not understood]. i'm a former [speaker not understood] student. i'm a pretty quiet person so i don't really speak up a lot but i feel like this is important so i wanted to make a few comments as well. i want to reiterate what some people said. it's really difficult helping [speaker not understood] inter disciplinary studies. i'm helping out with enrollment. you can check online and see how many students are enrolled.

we look at it, and it's discouraging. why would anyone want to go to city college if you think you can't finish your studies there. that's one point. in any way you can assist. i'm sure you have a peer department or whatever. there is much to be done with like this kind of damage to an institution's image. also wanted to say i'm really disturbed by the appeals process and that i don't know if you're aware of this, but actually the same people who came to this conclusion are also going to be the ones who review the conclusion. so, i don't think -- i think it's doubtful they'll change their mind. and then also the next step which i think is called the appeal, i'm not sure, would be another review, and that is the person -- the chair of the actual organization actually appoints the people who are going to be on that committee. so, i think -- like i'm not optimistic that, you know, they're going to change their minds and that's pretty disturbing to me because [inaudible]. thank you. >> thank you. (applause) >> thank you very much.

good afternoon, supervisors. i'm bill shields. i'm the chair of the labor and community studies department at city college and i am the point person for the 100,000 member san francisco labor consult at the college. i want to especially address supervisor cohen. it is our hope that if we survive, we can build on the successful city build program which as you know is bringing in people of color with the skilled building trades. which is something i've been working on a long time. trustee chris jackson and greer which is to bring a retail hospitality cohort to the neighborhood comparable, but creating more job opportunities, even than the city build program. they'll have time to work on that now because it's all about survival. hopefully we will survive. i just want to say that from the point of view of the labor movement, the question is is this a just authority on an unjust authority that's represented by the accjc. and when you feel that while there is valued criticism of the college in general, it's

just unjust. it is as if the mayor's office came in and said you are all deposed, you cannot represent your constituents. we lost our democratic voice, our board of trustees. we have an agency that is -- lacks transparency, lacks accountability. rumors fly because we don't know what really goes on there, that barbara [speaker not understood] with an iron fist, that everybody is in fear. we know that at least 30% of -- upwards of 30% of colleges have been penalized by the accjc where in the rest of the country it's only 4 or 5%. so, this group is wildly out of control. we believe acting in a very unjust way. double rock, we had a van that was bringing young people out of some of the neighborhoods in bayview hunters point who won't come to city college if they have to ride public transit because they're going through hostile gang territory. that van was cut out, de funded. that's the kind of thing -- where are they now? they're not coming to our classes.

that's kind of thing we fear losing our special trustee arduella, [speaker not understood] trying to set up downtown campus. please don't let them do that. thank you so much. (applause) my name is [speaker not understood]. i'm a board member of the [speaker not understood] committee and former city college student. while i was attending city college i lived in a very tiny apartment where five of the six tenants were city college students. i slept in the pantry. another student slept in the bed in the kitchen. another shared a bed with her mom and a fifth student shared a bed with her teenage daughter. we were all living to live this way in order to get an education and stay in san francisco. city college was the only option available to us. i went on to graduate from san francisco state. one of my former house mates graduated from cosmetology school reese endly. another just got her masters, an immigrant is working as an electrician's assistant.

we are representative of many san franciscans who have gotten annex he lent education and support needed to build better lives. city college is the reason i vote. it's the reason i'm politically active. it is what allowed me to get a very solid science education. i would not be who i am today without city college and i really, really love my school. i intend to return to city college this fall to take [speaker not understood] i need for a graduate program and [speaker not understood] would like to attend next year when she is 18. please save city college in its current form, not gutted, not privatized for us and the many people who rely on it. thank you. (applause) >> thank you. >> before the next speaker i'll call a few wards. vanet cook. alan tray. francesca [speaker not understood]. the [speaker not understood] whit kerr. [speaker not understood].

and one more, susie wirawate. ~ thank you, supervisors, for having this hearing today. i just want to say -- my name is kevin [speaker not understood]. i'm a former student body city college. [speaker not understood] working with our youth organizing program. and this issue about saving city college is really important to us and the students that we work with. city college is a staple of education within the city. we don't only want to see city college saved. we want to see city college improved. we want to see city college addressing some of the historic issues of racial inequity, the achievement gap for students of color, especially african-american students, the amount of time that it takes students to graduate when they get into city college. so, we were really would like to see you take leadership in bringing the community together to build more support around saving city college, while most definitely including the fact we need to strive to improve

the situations at city college that aren't working for students to make them successful. there's a lot of pressure to have a narrative that doesn't include equity and i want to most definitely make sure that as we continue to speak about this that we talk about equity. we put students at the center of the conversation and really make sure that it's guided by what's going to make sure students get the most out of their education at city college. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. (applause) good afternoon, chair cohen and supervisors. my name is ken tray. i'm political director of the united educators of san francisco and we represent the 6,000 teacher and paraprofessionals of the city's k through -- well, pre-k through 12 system. i'm a 25 year veteran of the high school myself and i have a couple students in close proximity as i speak. [laughter] so, quickly there are two

basic points that the teacher of san francisco want to make. number one, that ccsf must be kept open as it is and allowed to grow, to continue to fulfill its responsibilities to right now the 85,000 students that hopefully get back to the over 100,000 students before the fiscal cuts started hurting the campus. any high school student -- any high school teacher in the city would find it hard to count the number of students whose lives were made better by attending city college. those are the kids who went to a two-year school, could then go on to a four-year school. those are the students who lost their way, but through the second chance recovery programs found their way through city college. they're the lifelong learners, students who i've met 20 years later, students i taught at balboa high school who are now going to city college to learn

new trades, new skills, to meditate, to lead a fuller life. secondly, it is scandalous, it is scandalous that the aajc, a rough faction of commissioners answerable to no one, has put this institution in threat. and it was curious to teachers in sfusd that a credentialling experience can do that to a campus. we used to go through a prudential process through the wasc. and they can be tough and they force you to do a lot of soul searching. but at the end of the day in the 25 years that i've taught in the district, a wasc experience is a healthy one that leads to a growing and better institution. what we have here is a commission that is answerable to no one, that has put an institution that provides the basic education opportunity to tens of thousands of our students at risk. and the city family, the

political leaders, cannot allow that to happen. thank you. >> thank you. (applause) hi, my name is wallace basteen, i'm retired, i'm a lifelong learner. and i've been challenging my mind, enriching my soul, experiencing the joy of learning. the core of this wonderful institution is [speaker not understood] the professors. i have never met such a dedicated giving collection of of subserved individuals in my entire life. and i want to thank ccsf for allowing me to do that and i want to thank you for fighting for them. >> thank you. (applause) >> thank you. hello, supervisors. thank you. i want to talk about two points. i'm vanet cook, esl faculty at city college. one of the standards surround

the area of governance so i'd like to speak a little about that. governance, as you know, people have said democracy is difficult and [speaker not understood] we face many challenges. and one of the areas that acc fought with last year and this year was governance which is standard 4. and last year i was in charge of some of that work as my work in the academic senate and i just want to explain to you that very much so, we worked very seriously on this area of reorganizing committees and trying to explain how committee work was very related to the standards, the accreditation standards. it was not just something that we do because we don't have other thing to do. we reached out to our different constituent groups to try to include -- be inclusive. it's very hard [speaker not understood]. faculty are very busy, but still it's reasonable that the committee work meetings like this need to be open, need to

be transparent. we worked really hard to do that. so, to say that our governance is broken doesn't really hold up with some of the work we've been doing in the last year. we also went through training through the academic senate statewide, through the california community college week. we have followed a lot of the ideas that were led out to us last summer and we don't see that in the report that came out in this last round. and as for asking for help from city hall, i know that one of my colleagues in the academic senate comes to city hall leadership meetings and maybe there is a way for leadership from within city hall's government through one of your council, through you, to be involved with us to help us work together where we do find challenges, to work together as a large group as we are. and finally, i want to just say in terms of supporting the centers that i have been an instructor at ocean -- is that it? >> yes. i've been at ocean john adams, civic center, downtown

mission evans. each one is unique and special. >> i'm sorry. last sentence. oh, they can you tell me? >> last sentence. we need the centers. the centers are fiscally sound. they were studied a year. they are not a drain on the blog. they are a plus. they are fiscally in the red. ~ >> that's a run on sentence, but thank you. the centers are good -- >> thank you. thanks. >> i'll call a few more cards before the next speaker. dmitri toboyatz. sorry for the pronunciation. [speaker not understood]. [speaker not understood]. raul barer a. lena carew. board of supervisors, fellow human beings, my name is diamond dave, a long-time member of the associated student council, pacific college, elected by my fellow students. first off, i want to mention

that already lifelong learning, [speaker not understood] enrichment and civic involvement has been taken off the mission statement. i think that's a good sample of things to come. we have no more elected board of trustees. instead they say super trustee. i think more and more the board of supervisors to provide oversight, question what's happening and provide a place where people can witness, let people know what's happening and play that role. play that role ferment what i suggest -- supervisor campos, i like the idea of having another hearing down at mission campus. along those lines, what i suggest an ad hoc committee made up of some of your aides, some of your aides at the board of supervisors, students, faculty, members of the board of trustees to get together and plan this oversight, plan a series of hearings in which in the next year in which anything

can happen, we have no idea, can provide the oversight which is now missing. and provide a place where people can come, a series of hearings that are connected by perhaps the ad hoc committee. i know as supervisor avalos, you have a member of one of your interns already assigned to follow this up, is that right? >> yes. and i'd like to see each one of you ask one of your aides or one of your interns to work on this. and i think us as members of the association of students and faculty can also have people do that on our committee to help make this happen. and i think oversight is the key right now. otherwise they're pretty much going to do what they want to do. am i right, folks? yes. what do people think of that idea? (applause) in other words, what's up? [laughter] (applause) hello, i'm alan fisher. i have been teaching esl for over 30 years at the mission

campus of city college. it's been a wonderful experience. and i just retired. i couldn't stand what's been going on to the college. and i thank you for holding this hearing. it's a great injustice that the democratically elected board of trustees has been removed from power and, you know, they should be included and i'm glad they have been included in this hearing. but i would like to speak a little bit about the accjc and its conflicts of interest, that it received three large grants from business-related foundations. one from the gates foundation and two from the lumina foundation. and i think we need to look at this in connection -- in the

context of 600,000 students in california who have been turned away from community college education in the last few years. and also in the context of the fact that the accjc and its leader, barbara beano, were politically fighting in support of the student success task force which, if you analyze the recommendations of that task force that led to the student success act, it narrows the mission. it reduces accessibility of students around the state. and if city college administration and board of trustees fought against those -- the student success task force. so, there was a conflict of interest in bringing ~ the accjc into judge the college. accjc is not an impartial

[inaudible]. (applause) >> that's it, thank you. >> next speaker, please. more card. christie luma. roger stott. marlena martinez. and bridget skeela. hi, my name is sharon sutterly. i speak today as a key organizer in the [speaker not understood] organization i'm also at mission campus. also i'm a former student and student rehabilitating from trauma and addiction and education with learning disability. i intend to teach high school to a classroom of revolutionary students. and i know as a living fact that it is impossible for every lower working class student to live up to the standards that have been built specifically to exclude them.

the accreditation attack from this commission has impacted the mission statement at our school to deliberately squeeze out people like me, people without friends or financial support, the elderly, undocumented students and students ever color. not just children from high school. fear is being spread across the city and the state because legislation is threatening the very hope and livelihood of these communities and they're very ready to fight for it. as a student i urge you to inform the mayor that a strong public strains is needed against this process, to give hope back to the city and state and the future of public education. through the removal of our trustee, our voice has been lost as students. and they feel alienated, demoralized and confused. as officials and leaders, you under the responsibility and i think you recognize the severity of this issue and it is excluding a mass amount of

population, fighting for their lives. and it will elevate unless it is addressed immediately and publicly. the ficmat report, let me start there. that is being used as a reason to blame an under resourced institution. it is insulting to the students it is throwing out on the streets. i personally have been to two institutions that have been [speaker not understood] from underneath me. and i think that [inaudible]. >> thank you very much. (applause) good afternoon, supervisors. my name is eric noble. i'm a graduate of city college of san francisco. i was one of the flower in your hair college drop outs who came to san francisco during the summer of love. i dropped back into college late in my career -- my work career.

i am retired now. it took me six years to graduate from city college since i was working full time during that time. so, i stand before you as one of the nontraditional students who were targets of accjc's effort to change city college's long-standing mission to serve multiple learning communities. in my six years at city college, i consistently found the teachers to be both engaged and engaging. after i transferred to san francisco state, i had several teachers tell me that their best students were the transfer students from city college of san francisco. two things i would like to ask the board of supervisors of san francisco to do. first, if you haven't already done so, please read the california federation of teachers complaint against accjc. it's a lengthy document, well

researched and well written. what's clear to me after reading cft's complaint is that accjc is a rogue agency. what is also clear is that the cards are stacked against city college. the rules of the game are stacked. that leads me to my next request. second, what i think is needed on the part of the friends of city college now is political pressure, first on the department of education to have you accjc rescind its actions against city college ~ and political pressure on sacramento and our state legislators to restore the master plan for higher education [speaker not understood]. thank you. (applause) hello, everyone. my name is [speaker not understood].