Record surplus, yet Interim Chancellor signals need for harmful cuts.

Two weeks ago, we reported that City College’s Interim Chancellor was calling for significant cuts to classes and programming to address a supposedly dire “structural deficit.” Today, we can report that CCSF will run a $20-25 million budget surplus in 2024-25, the largest the college has seen in over 10 years and a clear indication that the college is not running a structural deficit.

The disconnect between the Chancellor’s messaging and the college’s current financial reality is stark. For the past 5 years, CCSF’s faculty union AFT 2121’s Budget Analysis Team has projected the college’s finances with greater accuracy than District leaders. See AFT’s 24-25 report on the college’s $20-25mil surplus here.  

City College is the largest source of workforce training and higher ed degrees in San Francisco. Its enrollment is growing, and next year is the college’s final opportunity to expedite its transition out of a revenue freeze and onto the new state funding formula (SCFF). Right now, City College is also turning hundreds of students away every semester from essential gateway classes, such as English 1A and Chemistry 32. Given the unmet demand, the budget surplus, and the financial importance of next year, now is the moment to:  

1. Pursue smart growth to better serve students and stabilize CCSF’s finances.
2. Engage in program review and college-wide planning based on sound financial analysis, not sales pitches.

Ethnic studies, Chinese language classes, and other ‘single section’ bedrocks of our community will not be cut based on misleading powerpoints. Our community and students demand better, and that is what we expect of the new permanent Chancellor our College Board will be announcing any day.

CCSF is moving forward.