City College is NOT closed

by Terrilyn Woodfin, Poor News Network

City-College-protest-main-campus-Accreditation-another-word-for-Privatization-011113-by-PNN, City College is NOT closed, Local News & Views The City College of San Francisco is not closed nor is it closing – yet that’s what the media and the newspapers would have you to believe. If they were closed or closing, would I have been able to enroll Wednesday? No, yet I did. If the school was closed or closing, would I and many more like me have been able to apply for financial aid? No, yet myself and others did today. That campus is not dead! It is very much alive and ready to kick ass on Monday.

I attended a rally and press conference today that was very informative. I found out that as usual Amerikkka and the conservative bigwigs want to PRIVATIZE the school so that they can choose who gets in, what classes will be offered, when this will all take place and how it is to come about.

If they are able to do that, people like me – homeless, poor, poverty-stricken single mother – will not have a ghost of a chance to better ourselves and I won’t be able to get out of the rut I’m in. But that’s what they want: to keep you down and out. Remember, most of us are the 99 percent, which includes the 47 percent as well.

Amerikkka and the conservative bigwigs want to PRIVATIZE the school so that they can choose who gets in, what classes will be offered, when this will all take place and how it is to come about.

Did you know that City College started Ethnic Studies? That is one of the departments that will be closed if the Accrediting Commission gets its way by privatizing the school. If they can convince enough students that they will not receive their credits and they transfer from City College, then the number of enrolled students lowers and therefore the school cannot stay open. I say this is another ploy to line the pockets of the greedy in this city and country.

City-College-protest-main-campus-011113-by-PNN, City College is NOT closed, Local News & Views The school also has a new chancellor, and one of the first things she has done is laid off 33 faculty members. That means 33 more families now have to join the unemployed, 33 families could lose their homes, 33 families will have to apply for assistance – but will that matter to the chancellor? Probably not. She’s got a job and her way is secure.

Even though the voters of San Francisco passed Proposition A with that money going straight into City College, she still laid these people off.

The City College is the only community college to offer childcare to single mothers and fathers so that they can get a better education. It is the only college that allows homeless people to get an education. But these conservatives think that too many minorities are getting too educated at a cost that is way too low and they aren’t making any money off of it. Boo hoo. Stop your whining, you corporate brats!

Terrilyn-Woodfin-Queenandi-Ross-Mirkarimi-at-POOR-Community-Newsroom, City College is NOT closed, Local News & Views If they can privatize it, they will be successful at pushing who they don’t want out; you know who they are: the homeless, single mothers and fathers who so far have had no choice but to rely on welfare and food stamps just to survive and ex-cons who have been rehabilitated and want a better life for themselves. The truth is they want you to stay down. They say one thing but clearly mean something else. Their goal is to stamp out the opportunity for people like me to get an education to reach for a higher goal, to be in a better position than where we’ve been.

If they are able to do that, people like me – homeless, poor, poverty-stricken single mother – will not have a ghost of a chance to better ourselves and I won’t be able to get out of the rut I’m in. But that’s what they want: to keep you down and out.

The committee would rather give this allotted money to people who aren’t qualified to receive it while letting go those that are. They don’t believe that you need counselors. So who is going to counsel the students when they need it? Oh yeah, that’s right – somebody who isn’t qualified for the position.

And get this: They want to cut out the union because they know that if they bind the strong man, then they can take the house. They want to get rid of the protection(union) so they can be in CONTROL of what, when, where, how and the money. It’s like everything else in this country; it’s all about politics!

But I’m just wondering what the mayor of this city, Ed Lee, is saying about this? Where is Nancy Pelosi on this issue? What is the governor doing about this issue? Are they in agreement with this? I think we need to hear from them.

If they can privatize it, they will be successful at pushing who they don’t want out; you know who they are: the homeless, single mothers and fathers who so far have had no choice but to rely on welfare and food stamps just to survive and ex-cons who have been rehabilitated and want a better life for themselves.

Are we gonna just sit by and let this take place? I say HELL NO! WE WON’T GO!

So now if you want to get an education and you don’t think it’s reachable, believe me: It is. You can apply online and register today to change your life for the better. It starts with you.

Go to www.ccsf.edu today and follow the steps to your better future. Financial aid is available, but you must apply. The spring semester starts Monday, Jan. 14, but late registration is still open. It’s not too late.

Read more about issues of poverty and race written by the people who face them daily at POOR Magazine/POOR News Network, www.poormagazine.org.