Opposition to Student Success Task Force recommendations picking up steam

Last week I wrote how Monterey Peninsula College officials have strongly denounced proposed recommendations to revamp the Community College system, beginning with centralizing operations much like it's done at the UC and CSU systems. The proposed reforms would also reduce the number of classes available for the general public, as emphasis would be shifted to students following a career path.

Sooner than you can say "remediation" I got a letter from Monterey resident Danielle Martin, who's very concerned about the possible loss of classes that may not count towards a college degree, but enrich the cultural landscape of the Monterey Peninsula. Journalism students at City College of San Francisco's Newspaper - The Guardsman - have launched a state wide campaign to denounce the possible impacts this plan would have if implemented. Here's a bit from their press release:

The California Community College span Student "Success" Task Force was formed by California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott for one purpose: to make the difficult choices of how to ration education following a brutal decade of budget cuts across California’s education system. The Task Force produced a document that outlines who they feel should be entitled to California’s education system, and who should be left out. Who they left out though, is any student who is not attending school full time, planning to transfer in two years.
Everyone else is left out in the cold.

And Rick Kappra from San Francisco began a petition at Change.org for the governor of California to "Oppose Student "Success" Task Force Recommendations."

The more you think about it, the more it becomes apparent that the "Success" plan would do to Community Colleges what NCLB did to K-12 education in California: all reading, all math, and no fun. That may be OK if you need reading and writing, but what if you need art? What about the soul?