chinese-american, and filipino migrants. the other class i taught was at the institute on aging with a group of seniors with mall connected impairment. both of my classes were focused on improving body awareness, strength, balance, and coordination, all of these are skills that are necessary to prevent falls. falls among older adults are a public health problem. around 40% of elders 65 years and more fall every year. falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits and the first cause of hospital admissions due to trauma. the classes in the older adults department, including the body dynamic and aging processes and principles of balance and mind-body health provide a wide range of skills and knowledge for participants to prevent falls. prevention of falls in older version elders is crucial to avoid hip fractures and other injuries.

many of us have a weakness or have family members who have suffered false. we know how economically and emotionally draining these are for families to provide care for people. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, i am arianna. i am a student city college. i ask you guys to bring back the administrative 68 report writing you have sheriff his here and they know how to write a report. how can you take my class away? i need that class to be -- to graduate. i am studying to be a sheriff. i got into a program by law. -- by luck. without knowing how to write a report, they would teach me in the department. i'm asking for the funding to

bring back my class so my siblings and my brothers and sisters can become cops in the future. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors, commissioners, trustees. i am an english faculty and chair of the women's and gender studies department at department at city college. the flagship program of women's and gender studies at city college his project survive, our college's sexual health promotion and sexual violence prevention program. one element of the work that we have done over the last 10 years has been free, noncredit self-defence classes. people of all genders and all ethnicities, of different ages and ability levels are welcome to our beautiful mission campus for an eight week saturday afternoon class. we had planned and asked our instructor to commit to teach two sections this semester. we built the spring schedule, we checked the galley proofs, and then our classes are well enrolled. and in two his actions fell victim to the budget crisis in

november. administrators cancelled our entire noncredit self-defence program. who does that affect? we know our noncredit students are low income. i pulled the demographic data of the students who have taken noncredit self-defence over the last five years and 60 1% are students of color. more than 90% are women or non binary. i feel confident asserting that students who take our classes are disproportionately survivors of trauma. you will hear some former students speak today about the impact of a free noncredit self-defence class. when you hear their stories, please know that 995 students have taken the class over the last 10 years on the level of the department and we are ready to restore the second faction of self-defence in spring 2020 and men tainted beyond that. we have the students who want to take it, the space, the instructor ready to teach at, let's do this together. this is part of what your bridge funding camera store can restore

, self-defence. thank you. >> hello. i have been going to city college since 2017 and i have yet to be able to take a class at southeast or evans being that i am a resident in that neighborhood. none of the classes -- they go with my requirements. i just want to push to bring back the self-defence class at the mission campus, being that i am a member of the project survive community and just bring that back to campuses. >> hello, my name is michael. i went to a college in san diego and the city college of san francisco is completely different. i have learned so much here, but i'm concerned what is going on today too.

i am also a student worker for the learning assistance center which has taken a 20% cut. it has been awful for a lot of students because we have cuts to ours. some students can't come to cs as much. second of all, which i'm really proud of, i am a peer educator for project survive. we are a sexual violence prevention program. what's really, really concerning his we lost our self-defence class and this class is really important because we have to give people hope, that they can take care of themselves, they can build life skills to protect themselves to the point that they can even save their lives and even others as well. when i look into crimes, i think crime is a reflection of cries for help. we don't have the resources and we don't have education, but when you provide the education for people, it gives them the beacon of hope that they can find their voice and they can take themselves out of hardships in their life.

that is probably going to be robbed away. that is scary and that will have a huge detrimental impact for our future. we cannot allow that to happen. we cannot allow to let some groups of people -- thank you. >> good morning. i stand here as a san franciscan and a product of sfusd. i'm glad that students are part of this conversation, and the fact they are coming into city college, also junior college doesn't work. i went to skyline grade school, by the way, however, i did not see the opportunities that i needed there. also, i am a homeless student, as a student that wasn't working as much. going to city college i have found my path and i can start a career now. i can work on other things that i love, also the safety of our students, especially our sfusd

students. that free class is available for people 14 and over. also, mothers are taking that course. she is also huge member of our martial arts community in san francisco. there is a picture of her up at navarro that has been in the city for years and closed down and miraculously came back up on geneva if anybody does need classes out there, they should be at least $30 a session. please bring it back for the safety of our sfusd students, for the safety of our mothers, and the fact they can teach their children how to defend themselves as well. >> hello. i am a faculty in the older adult and continuing education, as well as a student at city college.

i would like to push a few ideas in terms of the frustration you have experienced today in terms of information. it seems that is the problem generally at city college. i would like you, as the leaders of the city, to help us find the information we need. a little bit of information i have about the older adult program, which i would like to just point out is also a community of people that most of the time is underrepresented and you can see, if you look into the crowd, there are a lot of us here that would like to be represented by the community college. i understand the state is pushing for graduation transfers and transfers to universities and all that stuff, but there are other communities that people are trying to get out of with low-paying service jobs to high paying union jobs. older adults that have to take care of themselves and build their own communities, and by

such, save this city and costs -- and cause -- because of injuries, but also loneliness and social networks. this is a critical part of city college is to create community. the classes that have been cut at fort mason had hundreds of people going through them. and, in fact, they are self-funded. it is not even a money issue. they make money from the state. it's not city college and i think the money that was made last year was 140,000. these are small numbers. i think the cost projected was somewhere around 180,000 for 2020. the numbers of classes cut for older adults was -- >> next speaker, please. next speaker, please. thank you.

>> the speaker's time has elapsed. next speaker, please. >> my name is zeke. i have been taking classes at city college for practically 20 years. for very long time taking art classes through continuing education, which is now called extension at fort nation -- fort mason. i want to add, please save fort mason. that is an amazing campus. i want to tell you what i love about city college. what i love about city college is how much effort is given and resources to help people succeed do you know you can go into the library without an appointment and get tutored in math and anatomy and physiology or help somebody write a paper? cutting classes is really -- it

is going in the wrong direction. it's not helping people achieve dreams. it is not helping people succeed , and decimating the older adults offerings is unconscionable. i am a big, big advocate of lifelong learning and always have been. and of city college being a community college. it has effected me and that there was a class i was going to take in screen printing next semester was very suddenly was cut, and -- anyway, this seems to be some discussion on who is going to pay for the keeping the

class cuts. please, please work it out. please, work it out. thank you. >> hello. i am african-american and latino as i prepare for classes for this semester, the final last semester at city college. i will be attending a university in fall 2020. i wonder what the next generation if they will have the same upward mobility that ccsf has given me. i have been a student at ccsf through the summer of nine -- since the summer of 1997. at that time, i had a child on my hip and a younger child looking up at me wondering how we will survive.

so i wanted to go for nursing back in 1997, but i thought culinary would be a quicker way for me to be able to provide for my family. so wanted to tell you what ccsf has taught me. when i had taken english one a, it taught me that the teacher went back to the civilization of san francisco and then he taught -- so that was the beginning of our life. we had to go back to our childhood, know who we were, and tell us about our community that we belong to a community, and then it taught us about our individual self. i was doing social justice work. the door was open for me to

learn about project survive which is a place for tranquility , a place where no one is judged and everyone is accepted for who they are. a place of tranquility and love. i was going to take self-defence classes this semester because i am a survivor of domestic violence. >> good afternoon. as a councillor who has worked with thousands of students at city college, i have seen these cuts as really unprecedented. they do not support our students of color, our equity populations , and so many who have dealt with trauma, with insecurity, and it was all the things that we are coping with as a city, as a community. so what you actually see is that the very classes that are supposed to help students reach their goals in terms of degrees,

certificates, and transfers, are being whittled way back, and i started collecting stories from students who said they are in digital illustration, carpentry, commuter science, fine arts, visual media design, the older adults program sent me seven stories as soon as i put out that call. everybody has these needs that are so significant because, you know, in their lives, i see, as a student support coordinator, that if you don't have critical resources, which is what we provide through tutoring, through counseling, through the homeless and housing at risk programs, you are not supporting the full student. yesterday the housing at risk coordinator told me that her office abruptly got moved without any notice. this is not a private space that she will be moving into. she is swarmed. she has had her 20 our full support staff, back. she is the only person handling

this for so many of our students who are sleeping in their cars, couch surfing, and potentially on the streets. these are the students we have to think about and support day in and day out. they come from all walks of life they come from high school, but they are also coming from distant countries where they have experienced hardships. they are older adult students. many of my child development students work full-time and full time and they also have spent years to get their degree so they can provide -- >> my name is janet. i teach ceramics. i think it's time we took a magnifying glass to the way this administration spends money because we share your concerns about the money. we had -- and i think we need to go to the highest levels to look at this. so we are told students of color will be helped by these cuts, but we have been hearing that is

not the case. when i look across my classroom, which is always full, i have 25 students in a small ceramics studio, and i turned away at least that many that wanted to take the class. i see a lot of black hair. i mostly see black hair when i look out across my classroom, and some grey hair. we are an ethnically diverse college and we know it. nobody needs to even prove that. we know that is true, and yet these very classes are the ones getting cut. ceramics lost a third of its program. a third of our program. these classes are always full and we always have a waiting list. we always have to turn people away and people love these classes. we have to look at what is what shout what really is going on. i appreciated your question about, you know, what is the real motive? what is the real thing going on here? faculty who are cut were mostly part-timers who had health

benefits. so that was one big cost savings it had nothing to do with certificates or the programs or what is good for the students. how about the real estate? it's a real estate grab here. we have southeast campus completely emptied out. great, let's sell it. we will tear down the art bill -- arts building so we can build a new building. we just heard there will be another new building built. what is this? what is really going on? let's look at the highest levels of administration here. we want your help. >> hello. i'm a student at city college. just to go off with janet was saying just now, we do want your help. i just wanted to, to the trustees in the room, students and faculty spent the last two months fighting really, really

hard to restore the classes we lost and i'm glad that now you are supporting this supplemental , but you were not there for the legislative visits , you are not there advocating for the funding, and i think that, you know, supporting the supplemental a day before it was voted on is not enough. we all did the legwork to get the votes and if you heard why some people didn't vote for the supplemental, it is because the administration and the college were not asking for it. that is true. you were not asking for it. so i want you to reflect on that and why you were not asking for it until the very last moment when the vote was upcoming and we already knew what the vote would be like. i really would like you to reflect on that and to think why is it that the students and the faculty have had to put in all the work to save these classes that are obviously extremely important to the community. i don't want to be redundant and say, you know, how i have been affected, because i think there are more compelling stories here

from students who are mower disadvantaged than i am and we need your help. we do need your help, but we need your full help, not just when it's convenient and when it will look bad if you don't help us. i wish we had more data as well and i'm disappointed the administration did not provide all the data that supposedly supports all these cuts, but i am most disappointed by the lack of support from our trustees. we really need you to advocate for the college the way that we are advocating for it. i really, really think that needs to be said here because all the students that are behind me, we spend a lot of our time trying to get this to $.7 million that we probably won't get if the mayor vetoes. thank you.

>> this student even offered half of her pastel drawing supplies because she knew how expensive materials could be. i did not accept her generous offer say but -- offered but she exemplifies to a city college student is. some who is generous, kind, and resourceful. these are the students who are affected when you cut classes.

what makes city college special is is a free open campus available for students at any skill level. to get some perspective, san francisco has three private art schools. one is the renowned san francisco art institute which charges, intuition alone, nearly $46,000 each school year and requires a well-developed art portfolio of work for admission. san francisco state, the only other school with a public our program charges $7,200 in tuition for the year. city college is the only place where you can receive a high quality education. i want to share with you all testimonials from city college art department students describing the impact and many of these students participated in the protest art show that is currently on at fort mason on the first floor. i hope you will be able to attend before it closes on february 5th. thank you. >> hello. i am a student.

i'm here to talk about the filipino language classes. as of spring of 2020, the filipino language class was cancelled because and because of that, i was devastated because i want to learn and understand the filipino language. also, the filipino community is one of the biggest communities in san francisco, and because of that, the language is the third most spoken language in san francisco. cancelling filipino language class limits people like myself who are willing to take and learn the filipino language. the filipino language also fulfils humanity in ccsf which is required to graduate. when he to restore the classes so students like myself who want to learn to speak the language, to munich it with family, friends, and the community and are able to get the certificate of accomplishment for taking the filipino language community.

>> hello. i come to you today as someone who was born in san francisco, raised in san francisco, attended lowell high school, eventually got into u.c. davis, and experienced sexual abuse as a child, and in college. so i need to understand that between intergenerational trauma as a child of refugees, as someone with women in my family who have experienced sexual trauma, and is is a right -- and as a survivor myself, you know, the way that the state measures achievement, they would have went right past me. they didn't know that i needed help and i performed perfectly fine in their system. at the end of it, i felt empty.

i didn't know who i was, i didn't know what i wanted to do, and i have had suicidal ideations. you have to understand that in city college, the type of support that we provide is something that is about providing community. it's about teaching people the history of those who are marginalized. it is about empowering those with a sense of identity so they know, they understand their impression and they can fight it in their own lives, they can fight it in their communities, and they can excel because only because of city college do i have the strength to apply to medical school, that i want to go into public health, and i want to be someone who helps the community, who helps the asian-american community, who helps a latino excommunity where my partner is from, who will help the undocumented community,

to provide them extraordinary health outcomes. we don't want to survive, we want to thrive. protecting and bringing these classes back is about being able to bridge and prevent these programs from being cut at all. >> my name is aris. i want to say that there are systemic issues that this administration must address. one thing is getting a forensic audit to address the budget crisis and another thing is supporting emergency bridge funding to get a remaining cosponsor. also, we have our own marketing firm or marketing program, but then they are unable to support the under enrolled classes that are in danger of getting cancelled. students have been doing that. students have been doing outreach despite being exhausted for me i am tired to the point where i have to convince myself that i am not drained at this moment. it has enabled students who live

-- to live their lives. we do this because we care. we do this because this community has taught us how to be empathetic. we are taught how to also live our lives. i know that one night, a family member of mine told me that they wanted to disappear and i know when they said that to me, it felt like all the lights turned off. i wanted to be able to help them and i think city college enables me to have the skill set to talk to someone and help them and pulled him upwards because, again, there is upward mobility that city college provides. i want you to, in this room, it is one room, good it could be one of the 300 historic classrooms i could be provided. thank you. >> hello, everyone.

i am a social justice and feminist and trans study major at city college of san francisco i am low income and i have a not very visible disability. i came to san francisco -- to city college after an incredibly demoralizing experience at a private for-profit art school here in san francisco where i faced institutional homophobia and trans phobia. so when i came in i enrolled in my first lgbt studies class, it put me on a path where i was then able to regain my confidence, not only that, but i was able to see myself living beyond the age of 30. i was able to do that because in the classroom, we had a beautiful and diverse community. it wasn't intergenerational experience with people from all walks of life coming to learn about the lgbt community and about the issues we face and about our history and sharing

how we experience that. and now the lgbt studies department does not have the budget to offer much of any in person classes and that experience is being taken away. it is so important we have that. the community has suffered a genocide. the aids crisis is a genocide. so for me to understand my history, my community's history, i have to be able to have those conversations with community elders and the lgbt classes at city college gave me that space and gave me that understanding and drove me to have the will to serve my community, to understand my community's scrubbed the struggles and be able to put myself forward for all of those aspects and that is what drives me now. and to see that stripped from future generations is a tragedy.

>> these safe places have helped me to proclaim my own self worth and reclaim my body and, yeah, so many of our teachers in the dance department are part-time and almost all of them lost all classes except for one. they weren't fired because it just looks better if you cut all of our classes except for one and they lose their health insurance.

i really feel like all of this is just masquerading as downsizing the college and making it into a junior college and not providing support for marginalized people in our community. city college has been so important for me to be able to grow as a person and move on. also, part of the lgbt studies students and so many of our classes have been moved online. having those classes in person is so important for us to find community and to feel safe. thank you so much.

>> hello. my name is jess and i am a student a city at college. i'm a recipient of free city and i'm completely grateful for this opportunity to transition to a new career. i came to city college specifically for welding, machine shop, and metal arts, which is casting and fabrication all of which have been slashed from the school. i am indebted to these teachers, mike campbell, suzanne pugh, jack da silva for opening the door for me. as a woman in trades, there is not a lot of opportunity. unfortunately, we are sexually harassed at some workplaces or training centers or we are not opened the door for because they assume because of our gender we are not able to do the same things that most men can do. i am just shocked at the way that the school has demolished the training program. we went to the labor council to

tell them what is happening to our city's college and there is manufacturing in our history, in our bloodstream, in san francisco and we can't even fill the jobs that are being advertised. it is crushing. we have students that are homeless. we have students that are food unstable and education is not secure for them. they need to be able to learn skills and traits in order to produce items so they can sell. we have so many students that rely on these classes that can teach you a lot of these physical labor skills. students like myself are organizing and we are inviting the rest of former students and we are working with our community in order to support past and current students. we are suffering and students should not be suffering because of certain administration, the

culture, the lack of financial transparency. we need the governance that we deserve. we should not be whistleblowing. it should be -- >> i am in a movie that deals with gentrification. i have been hearing stories for the past 30 minutes or so. it seems city college is being gentrified. it seems as opportunity is being taken. i know money is in this city the city. we need to preserve the opportunities that are in the city. this has always been a safe haven for people to migrate from all over the world. my parents met at city college. my father is an immigrant. had city college not been here,

no telling where i would be. this is a story of empathy. it's not about feeling sorry or anything like that. it's about being empathetic and understanding that people need opportunities. if not, they lose hope. if people lose hope, there's no telling what will happen. they don't want san francisco to be completely erased. what i mean by that is it is culture. it's diversity. it is inclusion and when i listen to these people, it hurts because those are the stories that they are telling me. they do not have a huge social media following and maybe not financially affluent, but that doesn't mean that they don't deserve to have a voice for future students. we don't deserve a chance to do what they are doing.

>> i brought my own timer because i don't like those little things. they throw me off. happy friday. i just want to shout out to all the niners gear i see here. shout out to everybody. it is nice to see this type of energy and the congregation. a lot of times we don't see that and a fun fact is the last time the niners won the super bowl was the year i was born. i feel like we are due for another one. seeing that type of stuff, it brings hope. we hope that the niners will win and that type of hope is the same thing that san francisco ccsf did for me on my pursuit of education. i was born in the city, raised in the city and i was highly educated in the city. i was fortunate enough to be one of the first people not only in my family to go to college, but as well as in my whole neighborhood.

it wasn't a lot of people trying to pursue higher education. we were confined in a certain type of mindset within our neighborhood to think that graduating college wasn't something that was possible. so you might -- imagine how i felt when being one of the first people to drop of college went to college. i had no hope. i do not have the happiness i felt right now seeing the niners going to the super bowl and knowing i am a a, -- college graduate. i was in a basement with some creative people cooking up one of the biggest independent films in the world right now, but also , i was at a place where i didn't know where i wanted to go fortunately, enough in my pursuit of a degree and graduating from st. mary's college in california, city college provided a crucial psychological class that st. mary's wanted $10,000 for.

i couldn't afford that. i am saying all of that to say that it is imperative to have city college here because the same week that i graduated college is the same week that the last blackmail in san francisco -- [indiscernible] >> thank you. >> i am san francisco city college. my father was a custodian at city. as a student i came here to get basic courses before going to graduate school. i choose to teach at city and to be there as a role model for students of color and poor students. throughout my time at city, i have taught incarcerated students, dual enrolment high schoolers, returning students, veterans, immigrants, refugees,

differently abled, career changers, nonbinary, students like y'all, and the teachers of young children. young children are the future. i teach to the future. do not let present adelson in -- destroy the future. >> we have to take a quick recess because we don't have a

>> and creating a cut-rate, run-down college in one of the most wealthiest and progressive cities in the united states. instead of improving the school, rocha tried to double the wages of his administrators and cut class classes across the board. he wants to increase class sizes

to 40 students and have more online classes. he says he's doing this to create a school for minority students. minority students are often low income and need to work. studies show online classes are more difficult for minorities and immigrants. these classes make it difficult to take classes. he is creating a cut-rate, run-down college and saying he's doing it for the students. he is creating a ghetto in one of the wealth eest cities in america. he is making our city college into a joke. >> thank you to the alonite

people, whose land we are on. thank you to the board of supervisors and the board of trustees and the students , the faculty, the administration of the community. i am here as a student of the older adults program, which i credit making me a survivor with the body dynamics class which has been cut and the reason i'm standing here right now. i'm also here as an ally to myself and the larger bay area communities who desire to learn about black history, culture, and whose department chair has not been hired due to a hiring freeze at our school. i ask that you restore classes and support a lifting of the hiring freeze so that our school's role in helping all

students is realized. [speaki [speaking indigenous language] and i pray that this will happen. >> [speaking foreign language] -- i have first worked at the city college in the early 1990s, 1993 to 1995. and then i started again in 2005 as a classified staff member. i've been a faculty member for the last three years. i do not know if i have a class from one semester to the other right now. in the english department, i'm one of the very few faculty of color. i don't have any classes from last semester. my students are asking me, are you going to teach the next

class? and i had to tell them i don't know, i don't know, i don't know. and now no. and these are english classes and every student needs english classes. i had students saying they couldn't get classes. they were on long wait lists. because the online registration system is so wonky, they were not able to get in at all. some of them are just not taking english this semester. some of them got into a late start class and i'm glad they are. i am teaching a poetry for the people class. some of the students that will eventually tell -- come to city college and i don't know what to tell them. i am also an adviser to the muslim students association. i don't know if i will be there

from one semester to the end. one of our students has been waiting to take the politics of the middle east class since she started at city college and now it's been cut. this is where we are and i'm asking you to give us the funds to restore our spring schedule and put us back on track and support our students of color. thank you. >> i teach in the mathematics department at city college, but my history with city college is 30 years old. i started there as a student in 1990. i'm here to say that contrary to the comments of the administration, these cuts are not helping our students of color. our students of color are being funnelled into particular pathways and they're not given a chance to explore their passions, they're not given an opportunity to take classes when

they have time in their busy schedules from working. i think that the fact that the administration did not send a representative today speaks volumes over the number of students and faculty who are here today to ask for your support in keeping the community in our college. city college of san francisco is san francisco. look around the room. listen to the people who have been here and speaking to you. even our students -- when the opportunities to earn job experience or to earn a certificate as opposed to transferring to a four-year school and going on a very narrow path is taken away, we are robbing our students of color and all of our students from opportunities to explore their passion. if i had not had that opportunity, i would not have

the three degrees i have now. yes, i did transfer to a four-year school. i got my graduate degree. i'm back teaching at city college. that's not what every student needs to do. our culinary arts supplies so many workers to the city in the restaurant and hospitality industry. we're cutting those classes and our students have nowhere to go. they're going to be forced to look at for-profit colleges -- >> thank you, all. i'm faculty from city college. the museum studies classes was cut. out of that came the freedom way initiative, which is what changed the name from a disgraced official to someone who represents those with real

minority struggles. out of the museum studies has come the land acknowledgement initiative. the initiative would institute a purposeful initiative. the city college sits on indigenous land and owes its success to the struggles of the indigenous people. between the museum studies and s.f. monument will be established for the first time. but museum studies will be canceled unless the bridge funding goes forward. in the curriculum pipeline is the museum studies and social adjustment certificate, responding the need to diversify staff. with the population of low-income students and students of color, city college is in a unique position to make this

happen. many students are losing an opportunity to enter a field, crying out for their participation. the $2.7 million bridge funding will help, not hurt, fiduciary responsibilities at the college. >> i taught at civic center at city college for 37 years. i'm speaking today for dan hayes, the chair of the p.e. department. he has the flu. over 90% of city college's student athletes transfer to four-year schools. they earn scholarship. they need to finish their academic work for transfer in two years. losing classes this semester, summer and fall, will jeopardize their ability to finish on time. it will push these students to

take online class or physically attend classes at nearby community colleges. at least 75% of our student athletes at city college are of color, mostly of low-income families. these students strive to be recruited by ncaa schools. in some cases, this is the only way they can afford to attend four-year universities, on athletic scholarships. schools will not offer athletic scholarships to students who do not graduate in two years. it's as simple as that. so cuts in classes make it difficult. it's n -- if not impossible for students to reach their goals. please fund city college now.

>> good afternoon. i especially wanted to thank the school board members for bearing witness to what is being said today. of course i also speak to the board of trustees and to the board of supervisors. my name is sue inglander. i am a woman of many hats and buttons, and today i represent a.f.t. 2121 and also the harvey mill fund that supports the funding of the supplemental fund, but also chemical consciencondemns the cuts at city college. look at the parking lots. the main lot is full, but the supplementary lots are empty. you can see the kind of impact the cuts have had. you ask about what's going on here and now in the budget, i also ask what about the vision of the future.

what are we doing going forward to correct city college as an institution? cuts before classes can properly enroll is not fair to students or faculty. sometimes it takes a week and a half for my classes to meet their error enrolment and go forward. and sometimes we are being cut before that time. the chancellor and mayor express what i think is disrespect for our good-faith efforts to fix the college. we have not reached out until now for money because we were trying to fix things internally. the notion of student success at city college is a joke, a mess, a diversion. the chancellor uses these well-intentioned people to hide

behind and he does not speak to us any longer. i am prepared, i have been prepared, and in class i'm -- >> my name is linda coughman. i've been an engineering instructor at city college for 36 years. i'm incurred the vice president of a.f.t. 2121. i am the faculty chair of the enrolment management committee. at the board meeting where it was announced that there would be huge class cuts, this was before november 19, the meeting before that, i called the administrative chair of the management committee, and i said, the board directed you to get consultation from the faculty and chairs. when is that going to happen? she said, don't worry, it will happen. the next thing i know, the eve of registration, over 300 classes were cut.

yes, i get that we have budgetary problems, but the problem is much deeper than that. we have to ask, what is going on at city college? if it really were about the budget and just making sure we keep the classes where students of color graduate, why is it in my engineering classes i have students that can't get their a.f. degree they were going to get before transferring and the class they were going to take is going to severely diminish their chances of getting into the school of their chance, which is u.c. berkeley. i'm going to read out what one of my students wrote to me. i won't be able to complete my associate degree in engineering. engineering 10b, one of the courses canceled, is one of the classes i need to obtain my degree. under the circumstances, i can't obtain that degree that i've

worked so hard for. this semester is the last semester before my transfer. without that course, my chances of getting accepted to u.c. berkeley have been lowered. what is happening at city college? >> my name is stephanie mckaller. i'm speaking to you from the english department. a former student myself and as a queer identified woman in faculty. if we care about student completion, we need to care about all of these classes that were cut. these are the classes that offer reflections of the stories and histories of our student body. visual arts, creative writing, and dance classes offer spaces for these students to tell and celebrate their own stories. nurturing the cells that often get ignored and marginalized in

other spaces. they also allow people who are marginalized every day to tap into their resilience. my students have expressed similar experiences. i had a student who shared with me that they identified as trans. they were struggling and considering suicide. they said seeing me who identified as queer that they were able to do some important healing. they were not the first student to share a story like this and i doubt they will be the last. i'm also one of the faculty members who lost her employment this semester as a result the cuts. when our department chairs received the information about the class cuts in november, they lacked specific information about how this would affect faculty load. i had previously been offered a

class to teach. i rearranged my schedule. it was on anti-racism. it was very exciting for me. but because of the confusion, i found out two weeks later that i was losing my class. so i found out in the first week of december that i wouldn't have employment in january. when you cut these classes, it does affect the students, but it also affects the faculty who are there who care about the students who help represent their interests. thank you. >> i worked for city college for many years and before that i was an electrician. thanks to city college i completed my degree at state. i got enough math to get through the apprenticeship, which is a very technical trade. speaking of math, shall we just stop pretending this is the

first shocking cut. we've had departments worse than decimated for years now. look at us, we're a beautiful crazy quilt of all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, persuasions. this is city college. this is shocking and rude, but i ask, who needs genocide when you have gentrification? there is an attack on our campus. my parents came from nothing. they were soldiers. my mother was a food insecure immigrant who grew up here. i am proudly working class. please, don't disrespect these teachers who went through graduate school, who are paying off student loans, who can't work and get their health insurance. thank you so much.

>> i'd like to thank the city council members who are still in the chamber. thank you very much for waiting for us. sometimes this goes for a reason. the world looks up to us for freedom for our strength. dear city college, you were founded as a junior college in 1935. today you are a multi-generation al. you include the low income, the seniors, as well as language and the arts. you are for the youth, yes, for the credits and for the long run, for materialistic diplomas and degrees. you are ours. you are way more than that. for thousands of years, peaceful generations of i understand indians have enjoyed their land. they remember for us to respect.

history is also culture. for our education to thrive. and as much as our education is the future, this is also the past. our community comes in many forms. historically, the hippies, and also the great innovators of our time. if free thinkers is what we are, that should go beyond money, beyond budget, more than credits, and about materialistic goals. we are about culture or at least that which we should be. it has been said for our education. does that ring a bell? education should be without

budgets. california is the sixth wealthiest economy in the world. [ please stand by ]

>> unfortunately we have a board and a chancellor now who says there is no money. there's nothing we can do. just as the board and chancellors initially said, in 2012 when the accreditors attacked us and said that we could not resist, successfully resist. we have proven that that was wrong and that the accreditors, in fact, had to change.

>> thank you so much. next speaker, please. thank you. >> my name is joyce and i have been a student in the older adult classes at fort mason, and especially my class which is the figure drawing class. i'm here to ask the board of supervisors to give support for the older adult program at fort mason and also at the other venues here in the city.

it's these classes that are very important -- a very important part of the health of the older adult community, the disabled community, and also the students who are able to attend these classes as well. especially at fort mason, there has been a wonderful, and international, multiethnic community of artists from all over the world that have a place to work. they are -- there are live models and it is a wonderful place for creative people to continue with creative activities and these are so healthy for our community. i ask that you please support the older adults program at fort mason and the other venues in san francisco. thank you very much for your time and your help with this. thank you.

>> i grew up on seventh and folsom street at a time in the 1940s when there was 400 french hotels along the embarcadero. these were all run by french women. they helped the longshoreman and aided other people along the embarcadero. at this type of ambience today existed, would be a much better city. half of my family is french and the other half is mexican. i remember growing up on green street when my cousin was not allowed to speak spanish. mr. mendoza said no spanish in this house ever. and the same thing happened in my house. what happened is i have my two grandmothers grandmother his and my italian grandfather only speaking french to me and refusing to have me speak back. this is just my story. i have been going to city

college for 40 years. i was our director of the tribune and worked for the new york times. thank you. >> i am from the gray panthers. i taught physiology to city college nursing students for a number of years. some of hume treated me later at kaiser hospital. we are furious about the older adult cuts, but we are also furious at the racist cuts to the younger students' classes that disrupt and wreck their lives. they are racist because so many of the students at city college are people of color and they are racist because so many of the cut classes are people of color oriented. i was research lab technician for 15 years, but the research grants started drying up so i needed to change careers.

i entered a thriving biomedical technician program at foothill college that sent technicians to hospitals all over the bay area and it was the only one in the bay area. many of the students were women construction workers who had had terrible endeavor it -- injuries on the job and had to change careers. this enabled me to work 15 years at the san francisco general hospital neonatal nursery fixing life-giving equipment. the semester after i graduated at foothill college i checked the catalogue to see what classes were going to be offered for the following semester. none were listed. i called the leader of the program to ask him why. he said, i don't know why. it turns out his whole program had been cut and he hadn't even been informed of it. this is the kind of thing that is going on on this program that

the state is going forward. restore all the classes and pass the fund. give this city college funding for long-term fiscal stability. >> thank you so much. >> hello. as with other seniors, i have enjoyed taking classes even music appreciation, computer literacy, and tai chi. these classes keep my mind active and enable me to pursue lifelong learning. i also enjoy the social aspect of these classes by sharing common interests and discussing various ideas with my classmates by taking computer classes, i have been able to navigate the internet and find information i

need. taking tai chi classes has greatly improved my balance with falling as a concern for me. with the cancellation of these classes, i feel a deep void in my life. art, music, literature and theatre with ethnic studies interweaving in all these areas play major part in our society. yet the chancellor has cancelled all the city college classes in these areas. these courses play an important role in the development and growth of the whole person. they help students develop skills and critical thinking, ethical reasoning and cultural, social, and environmental and personal awareness and responsibility. these very values are stated in the mission statement of city college of san francisco. thank you. pardon my speech making, i am better at writing than talking

in public. >> my name is paula. i am a part-time faculty member in the p.e. and dance department i have been teaching five classes for 13 years and i was cut down to one class. i do receive benefits there city college of san francisco for my family and three children. i want you for a moment to picture this. i would like you to visualize a dance studio that is half the size of this room and a nice, open space. in one corner you have my student, monique. she is an african-american student who is legally blind in a dance class. i placed next to her sash, a student from belarus who is

working towards her a.a. degree in dance. i also have liz, who by day is a high-powered tech executive and sorrow, a homeschooled freshman and first time college student working on her g.e. on the other side of the room, a cal berkeley student returning to city for dance classes. next to them, lgbtq students, international students completing their ged and in the back, i have a retired s.f. -- sfpd ex-cop. and esl student and faculty from neighboring departments. we are all travelling together, different destinations, different paces, but we are interacting with one another. racial, cultural, socioeconomic and gender barriers do not exist in this shared space. we are in the work -- where in the world can find this happening? we are learning and working together and it is successful. the classes that were cut were

in high demand and over enrolled these classes are necessary. please support us and restore our communities, restore our shared learning spaces. we are a reflection of our city. stand up for your people and for your community. >> hello. my name is christopher. i am a native of san francisco. i have taught film and film editing at city college. currently i have been taking sculpture classes at fort mason and i was absolutely devastated to find out just a couple days before thanksgiving that our classes were cut and he would not be reinstated. i also found out then that 90% of older adult classes had been

cut. so then i also heard that there was this policy that is coming down, this policy of eliminating classes only if you are going to matriculate and graduate. and human improvement classes were being shortened. so i went on to this state chancellor's website to look up the vision statement for community colleges. i got this little tidbit there. it says the colleges are a source of lifelong learning, offering recreation and enrichment and exercise to california's diverse communities his opportunities for learning, training, and civic engagement together make this a rich source of opportunity for all californians. that doesn't sound like it's exclusively for a one track or

another track. it sounds like it's for all californians for enrichment and for general betterment, not only for academically focused materials. this is a community college. san francisco is a community and it should remain a community. please vote for to put $7 million to fund this program. we really appreciated. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> hello, my name is stephen. i am a faculty at the evans campus and i waited till the end because i wanted to give my students a chance to speak, but to the two city college board members, i want to let you know we have been working hard to get these classes put on the 300 classes that were cut, and two the people that would have voted for this specifically said, and

marcus already said this to you, they would have voted for this, but they were not asked by the board. the board and the chancellor. so i just wanted, you know, there is a saying, ask and you shall receive, knock on the door and it will be opened to you. that is where our students to try to do. if they can't do something or they need -- they are struggling , they ask for help. you guys never asked for help. you said an opportunity for do this. stand up and say you will accept this money. we not only have had cuts, we have been halved. our office has been halved in the last few years. you know, we need a change of management there. we have an automotive class and i am a product of city college. a lot of the classes i took got me to where i am. they were classes that i took at night. at times my work and schedule in

family life allowed me to take these classes. a lot of our students come and take my classes. our introductory automotive class is now -- has been cut. the students want to better themselves and move on, they need my class and they need a class on a saturday. our part-time instructor who taught that class, his job has been cut. he has been teaching in our caught -- college for 25 years. his class needs to be restored. he needs to be teaching at least two or three classes. thank you. >> i'm a part-time instructor. i am not here just for myself. with the older adults department , which has been decimated, or the music department which has lost 50% of its classes since 2012.

a few points. city college is a great opportunity for a large and diverse populace, as you have been hearing today. a few issues. city college serves the many and that is part of why it has been targeted. in 2013, the state chancellor's office, in league with the accrediting commission, improperly engineered a state takeover which is never had anything to do with the quality of the instruction at the college, but just a few years, city college lost a third of its students. i think it's 20 to 25,000 maybe. it has never really recovered. that is part of why we're here today. here's another example of downsizing. the state academic senate reinstituted restrictions on course repeatability 10 years ago or so. these are in effect across the state. especially affects the arts,

physical education and downs. such restrictions were imposed and were overcome, but that is not happening at all. that affects enrolment. bridge funding a loanable solve the budget woes at city college, but that is no reason to reject it. please ask for the classes and talk to the mayor and say that you want her to sign the measure when it is passed next week. this is not just about money either. there are extension classes that are fully funded that had to be refunded because they were blocked by the administration. that is tens of thousands of dollars. something his wrong here. >> thank you so much. do we have anymore public comment? seen none, public comment is closed for this hearing.

i definitely want to thank everyone for coming out this morning. obviously we have a lot more information that we need to have a full discussion about what the path forward looks like. it is my hope that the supplemental is moved forward and received by the college so we can preserve as many classes as possible for this 2020 spring semester, but i do just want to say that we are going to be coming back to the table here at this committee to have a further discussion when we have more information to provide to the public so we can figure out a way to work together to move forward. so with that said, i will pass this back over to the chair of the committee, which in this case, a supervisor fewer. thank you also much for being here today. -- thank you all so much for being here today.

>> i forgot that i am the chair. i am so sorry. trustee williams? >> thank you. i want to thank supervisor walton for your attention to this issue and for your love for city college and for everyone's love for city college. all the testimony and everything that was spoken here today. we have heard it loud and clear. i want to, again, reiterate how much we want to work with the city and county of san francisco to apply solutions and solutions now. folks' lives have been deeply impacted. it is very concerning. as a former city college student and s.f. native, to hear some of the testimony, you know, you could not not feel when people came up to the podium and spoke. i just appreciate everyone for coming out and for your tireless advocacy for our college. it has been many years that we have been in this fight together and we will continue to fight

that keep it as a community college. thank you. >> trustee randolph? >> thank you. i want to thank everybody who came out today to speak and provide public comment. i also want to thank our administrators and deans for entering the line's done and being in the trenches every single day. i know how hard you work and i know you have to represent the college here today in a very difficult topic and subject. so i know you are the ones that were sent into the battle. i know all of you and the work that you do. thank you for sitting through this entire hearing and to listen to the public and to us here up front and for persevering every single day at city college. i know you are in the trenches, you are not necessarily the top that makes those decisions. thank you. >> any other comments or questions? seen none, i also want to say

thank you for everyone coming out and also to city college administrators and trustees for educating us on the situation at city college. i look forward to working together toward a solution. thank you very much. do we have any other business before us today? >> is there a motion on this matter? >> i think we would like to continue this to the call of the chair, please. >> is there a second? >> i will second that. >> on that motion says. [roll call] the motion passes. this motion is continue to the call of the chair. >> is there any other business before us today? >> that completes the agenda for today. >> we are adjourned. thank you.

>> it did take a village. i was really lucky when i was 14 years old to get an internship. the difference that it made for me is i had a job, but there were other people who didn't have a job, who, unfortunately, needed money. and they were shown to commit illegal acts to get money. that is what i want to prevent. [♪] today we are here to officially kick off the first class of opportunities for all.

[applause]. >> opportunities for all is a program that mayor breed launched in october of 2018. it really was a vision of mayor breed to get to all of the young people in san francisco, but with an intention to focus on young people that have typically not being able to access opportunities such as internships or work-based learning opportunities. >> money should never be a barrier to your ability to succeed in life and that is what this program is about. >> there's always these conversations about young people not being prepared and not having experience for work and if they don't get an opportunity to work, then they cannot gain the experience that they need. this is really about investing in the future talent pool and getting them the experience that they need. >> it is good for everyone because down the road we will need future mechanics, future pilots, future bankers, future whatever they may be in any industry. this is the pipe on we need to work with. we need to start developing

talent, getting people excited about careers, opening up those pathways and frankly giving opportunities out there that would normally not be presented. [♪] >> the way that it is organized is there are different points of entry and different ways of engagement for the young person and potential employers. young people can work in cohorts or in groups and that's really for people that have maybe never had job experience or who are still trying to figure out what they want to do and they can explore. and in the same way, it is open for employers to say, you know what, i don't think we are ready to host an intern year-round are all summer, but that they can open up their doors and do site visits or tours or panels or conversations. and then it runs all the way up to the opportunity for young people to have long-term employment, and work on a project and be part of the employee base. >> something new, to get new experience and meet people and

then you are getting paid for it you are getting paid for doing that. it is really cool. >> i starting next week, i will be a freshman. [cheers and applause] two of the things i appreciate about this program was the amazing mentorship in the job experience that i had. i am grateful for this opportunity. thank you. >> something i learned at airbnb is how to network and how important it is to network because it is not only what you know, but also who you know to get far in life. >> during this program, i learned basic coding languages, had a had to identify the main components and how to network on a corporate level. it is also helping me accumulate my skills all be going towards my college tuition where i will pursue a major in computer science. >> for myself, being that i am an actual residential realtor, it was great. if anybody wants to buy a house,

let me know. whenever. [applause] it is good. i got you. it was really cool to see the commercial side and think about the process of developing property and different things that i can explore. opportunities for all was a great opportunity for all. >> we were aiming to have 1,000 young people register and we had over 2,000 people register and we were able to place about between 50 and did. we are still getting the final numbers of that. >> over several weeks, we were able to have students participate in investment banking they were able to work with our team, or technology team, our engineering 20 we also gave them lessons around the industry, around financial literacy. >> there are 32,000 young people ages 16 and 24 living in san francisco. and imagine if we can create an opera skin it just opportunity

for all program for every young person that lives in public housing, affordable housing, low income communities. it is all up to you to make that happen. >> we have had really great response from employers and they have been talking about it with other employers, so we have had a lot of interest for next year to have people sign on. we are starting to figure out how to stay connected to those young people and to get prepared to make sure we can get all 2400 or so that registered. we want to give them placement and what it looks like if they get more. >> let's be honest, there is always a shortage of good talent in any industry, and so this is a real great career path. >> for potential sponsors who might be interested in supporting opportunities for all , there is an opportunity to make a difference in our city. this is a really thriving, booming economy, but not for everyone. this is a way to make sure that everyone gets to benefit from the great place that san francisco is and that we are

building pathways for folks to be able to stay here and that they feel like they will belong. >> just do it. sign up for it. [♪]

>> the bicycle coalition was giving away 33 bicycles so i applied. i was happy to receive one of them.

>> the community bike build program is the san francisco coalition's way of spreading the joy of biking and freedom of biking to residents who may not have access to affordable transportation. the city has an ordinance that we worked with them on back in 2014 that requires city agency goes to give organizations like the san francisco bicycle organization a chance to take bicycles abandoned and put them to good use or find new homes for them. the partnerships with organizations generally with organizations that are working with low income individuals or families or people who are transportation dependent. we ask them to identify individuals who would greatly benefit from a bicycle. we make a list of people and their heights to match them to a

bicycle that would suit their lifestyle and age and height. >> bicycle i received has impacted my life so greatly. it is not only a form of recreation. it is also a means of getting connected with the community through bike rides and it is also just a feeling of freedom. i really appreciate it. i am very thankful. >> we teach a class. they have to attend a one hour class. things like how to change lanes, how to make a left turn, right turn, how to ride around cars. after that class, then we would give everyone a test chance -- chance to test ride. >> we are giving them as a way

to get around the city. >> just the joy of like seeing people test drive the bicycles in the small area, there is no real word. i guess enjoyable is a word i could use. that doesn't describe the kind of warm feelings you feel in your heart giving someone that sense of freedom and maybe they haven't ridden a bike in years. these folks are older than the normal crowd of people we give bicycles away to. take my picture on my bike. that was a great experience. there were smiles all around. the recipients, myself, supervisor, everyone was happy to be a part of this joyous occasion. at the end we normally do a group ride to see people ride off with these huge smiles on their faces is a great experience. >> if someone is interested in

volunteering, we have a special section on the website sf bike.org/volunteer you can sign up for both events. we have given away 855 bicycles, 376 last year. we are growing each and every year. i hope to top that 376 this year. we frequently do events in bayview. the spaces are for people to come and work on their own bikes or learn skills and give them access to something that they may not have had access to. >> for me this is a fun way to get outside and be active. most of the time the kids will be in the house. this is a fun way to do something. >> you get fresh air and you don't just stay in the house all

day. iit is a good way to exercise. >> the bicycle coalition has a bicycle program for every community in san francisco. it is connecting the young, older community. it is a wonderful outlet for the community to come together to have some good clean fun. it has opened to many doors to the young people that will usually might not have a bicycle. i have seen them and they are thankful and i am thankful for this program.