By Melanie Ruiz
This Saturday, Oct. 24, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) is holding a garage sale and flea market to raise money to help offset billions of dollars cut from the state’s public education budget. The district lost $20-25 million this school year under the current state budget, a decision that Milton Marks, president of the CCSF Board of Trustees, says was “made in error and is short-sided.”
Marks admits that it, “really is absurd for the college to be doing this,” but said it illustrates what public agencies are being forced to do to survive in this no-tax climate. The money raised through the sale of donated goods will go to restoring classes and increasing counseling services for the spring semester. In August, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger created the “Great California Garage Sale,” in which state property was sold for just over $1.6 million, a drop in the bucket for the education sector’s needs.
With furloughs, class cuts, and tuition increases littering our public education system, schools have to do something to mitigate the situation for both students and faculty, including fostering a sense of community. There has been great support from people, says Marks, as this event, “gives people a sense of community and helps them feel like they are able to do something.”