In an October 5, 2009 article in Inside Higher Ed, reporter Scott Jaschik describes how some community colleges, such as San Joaquin Delta College, plan to eliminate programs that are “best offered elsewhere” in response to across-the-board budget cuts. CCRC Director Thomas Bailey is quoted in the article.

Thomas Bailey, director of the Community College Research Center at Teachers College of Columbia University, said that he also expects to see more colleges make choices like those at Delta, but he sees this as a break from what has been standard practice.

…Bailey said that he was torn about the idea that a college is abandoning remedial education for those who need a lot of remediation, and said he hopes that there are alternatives available near the college. He said that his center's research on remedial education shows that Delta officials are correct about the low success rates with those needing extensive remediation.

"It is true that very few people who start three or four levels below [college level] actually emerge from that," he said. But that doesn't mean that those who never reach college work are not being well served. "if you get someone from 5th grade to 10th grade, even if that's not college level, that's still a useful function" for the college to perform, he said.

"It makes sense for colleges to set priorities, especially when they are subject to such drastic cuts in resources," he said. "Across the board cuts don’t make sense. Colleges should look for programs that do not lead to good jobs, transfer, or subsequent education. I also think that colleges, when possible, should coordinate and perhaps consolidate programs, especially when they are costly. This would require some coordination across colleges and it seems to me could be done within the California district system."

--Read the entire article at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/05/delta (Registration may be required.)