Gov. Gavin Newsom released his proposal for the 2026-2027 budget on Jan. 9, unveiling his new plan for California Community Colleges (CCC). This plan involves large sums of money being invested into the state’s education budget, including $15.4 billion for the CCC — and Livermore’s very own Las Positas College.
The budget proposes a number of large improvements to the community college system, according to a joint analysis of the budget by the CCC: “The (CCC) system would receive approximately $1.2 billion in additional funding for one-time and ongoing programs and initiatives, after accounting for technical adjustments.”
This allows for the creation of programs that can help students, improvement for current student-run programs and programs for a diverse student population. Technical adjustments mentioned in the budget, however, were not described.
With this budget, the CCC may oversee a number of improvements such as technical and infrastructural upgrades. The CCC may also upgrade and perform college maintenance with a one-time investment of $120.7 million.
One of the potential improvements, discussed in a student media teleconference with CCC Chancellor Sonya Christian, is the creation of a “common cloud data platform.”
“We have 72 districts with 116 campuses, and right now we don’t have a common platform where all of our student data remains,” Christian said. “The common cloud data platform project is building a space where, through API connections … we can respond in a real-time way.”
The common cloud project would create a system in which all CCC data would be collected and stored. The project would be supported by a $36 million one-time investment and $5 million ongoing. According to Christian, it would provide for a future in which community colleges can work together more efficiently and easily.
LPC says that it aims to enhance educational equity and success for underrepresented student populations. However, due to new decisions from the federal government which states that “violate the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause,”this has become more difficult. Christian affirmed this, saying, “Our HSI (Hispanic-Serving Institution), MSI (Minority-Serving Institution), NPC (Nonprofit/Caregiver) block grants were terminated by the federal administration. So, our colleges wanted to continue with their commitment that the student support strategies that those grants had included in them.”
Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget would also grant CCC a one-time investment of $100 million for these programs continuation, “The student block grant funding is a way in which to mitigate issues that we don’t currently anticipate,” Christian said. “Our students … have the services coming to them that were planned for at the beginning of the budget year.”
The new budget will bring many changes and developments to CCC. However, the changes specific to LPC are yet to be seen.
***
Musa Ashraf is the news editor for The Express. Follow him on X, @MusaZash.
