For many Californians, our community colleges have been "second chance" institutions for those who did not do well in high school or even graduate. For hundreds of thousands of others, community colleges are "only chance" institutions. If the CSU or the UC campuses were eliminated, many if not most of their students would find success elsewhere. However, if the community colleges were eliminated, most of those students would never attempt higher education.

The co-equal missions of California's community colleges are academic transfer education and vocational education. This latter mission is unique to the community colleges, which are responsible for maintaining a well-trained, up-to-date workforce now and for the state's future. Tens of thousands of students take community college courses not to earn a degree but for vocational certificates and the skills that lead to a first job or a better job in areas as diverse as electronics, health care and the food service industry.

The community colleges are also the most cost-effective of California's three higher education systems, and the differences are dramatic. If a student takes a full load of courses at a community college, the cost to the state will be $4,200 per year, versus $9,600 for the same courses at CSU or over $19,000 at UC.

Yet community college students who transfer to the prestigious UC campuses typically do as well (measured by average GPA) as those who began college on those campuses. However, CSU and UC schools are "impacted" (an educational euphemism for turning students away because of overcrowding) while the community colleges have excess capacity that cannot be used because of underfunding. From a public policy perspective, there is something drastically wrong with that picture.

Since Proposition 13, the primary funding for community colleges is from the state although community colleges are supposed to be local and independent. The state funding formula is without logic. West Valley­Mission receives approximately 10 percent less state funding per unit of student enrollment than our sister district, San Jose­Evergreen. For the same student taking the same classes, some districts receive less funding than we do, while other districts receive more than San Jose­Evergreen. Our community college funding is also among the lowest in the nation.

The governor recently announced plans to take back approximately 5 percent of this current year's community college budget. But how do we do that with four months left in the fiscal year? Over 80 percent of our budget is salary and benefits, and our spring semester classes have already started. Shall we terminate classes and send students home?

Next year's projected budget cuts are more than twice as large as the current midyear cuts. For our district, next year's proposed cuts are over $10 million of a less than $85 million budget, and that is in addition to the horrendous cuts this year. The state's financial crisis is real and the community colleges must share the pain. Why, though, should the community college cuts be so much deeper, proportionally, than in the UC and CSU systems and K­12 schools?

Both CSU and UC decided to increase tuition, and they will retain the resulting revenue increases. The governor is proposing to more than double community college tuition, but none of those new funds will be used to offset our budget cuts. Why does the governor's proposed budget require community college districts to increase enrollment next year while our budgets are being cut 10 to 20 percent and student tuition is more than doubled? Must we dramatically erode the quality of education for those students we are still able to serve?

With decreased budgets and increased tuition, our community colleges will serve perhaps 150,000 to 300,000 fewer students next year, at a time when the terrible economy would normally produce a sharp increase in enrollment. For poor students, minority students and those wishing to reenter the workforce, access and opportunity will be sharply diminished.

In 20 and 30 years, there will be some Californians on welfare, in prison or simply leading lives with little hope or opportunity because of public policy choices we are making now about our community colleges. Do those choices represent our values?

Jeffrey A. Schwartz, Ph.D., of Saratoga is a trustee in the West Valley­Mission Community College District.