After controversy surrounding Santa Monica College’s proposed “tiered tuition” plan, which would raise the price of popular classes, the California Attorney General’s office opined that the proposal, if enacted, would expose the school to lawsuit.

Originally scheduled to take effect for Summer and Fall 2012 semesters, the tuition plan has been indefinitely postponed since the Attorney General’s statement,

Former Shalhevet students at SMC say the price hike wouldn’t have bothered them in any case, because the school is still so much less expensive than Jewish day school.  But they worried for their peers from less advantaged backgrounds.

“It defeats the purpose of ‘education for all,’ because if you come from a poor family or are living on government funding, it could be hard or impossible to pay a grand for one class at SMC,” said Shalhevet alumnus Sam Joffe ‘10, older brother of sophomore Talya and senior Ariella Joffe.

Sam said the tuition hike would affect mostly courses needed to transfer to four-year colleges, and make those classes cost about $1,000 each instead of $200.  He said students were also worried about staff cuts and a cancellation of next year’s Winter Session mini-semester in January, which would put staff out of work for six to seven weeks and cancel hundreds of short-term, intensive classes.

“The majority of students are not happy with the [proposed] two-tier system, and everyone is hoping for the new tax incentives to pass,” Sam said — referring to the fall ballot initiative that would raise taxes to help close California’s budget deficit without making further cuts.

SMC’S  Board of Trustees proposed the plan in early April, after California cut $800 million, or 12 percent of its budget. The proposal would have separated high-demand classes, many of them required, from the remainder, potentially raising the current $36 dollars per unit to $180 and creating two price tiers.  Students would pay more for popular classes, typically those needed to transfer to four-year schools like UCLA, while paying the same price for less popular electives.According to the Office’s statement, a tiered tuition system would violate the California Code of Education. “We look forward to them [California Attorney General Office] sharing their legal analysis with the College,” SMC spokesman Bruce Smith said in a press statement.   “We also look forward to continuing the dialogue with the Chancellor’s Office on ways community colleges can increase student access at a time of devastating state budget cuts.”

SMC’s tuition plan would have been the first of its kind in Community Colleges throughout the country. Opponents say tiered tuition effectively gives priority to wealthier students, and thus privatizes public education.

However, after $10 million in budget cuts and locking 200,000 students out of the system, SMC President Chui Tsang said a tiered system may be the best option.

“We have a lot of other students who are locked out of the system, and we need to allow them an opportunity to go forward so that they don’t lag behind,” President Tsang said. “Many of the students have an opportunity to get a seat in the college, they’re the lucky ones. The unlucky ones… cannot get a seat in the system right now.”

For Shalhevet juniors looking at SMC to bypass their senior years, tuition increases and budget cuts are one more thing to consider. Current students say they noticed there were not enough classes to meet demands, and the competition that resulted.

“I think everyone has issues enrolling in a class,” said  Ariella Benji, Shalhevet almuna and SMC student. “There are so many people who need a class and who want to get a good teacher and sometimes you don’t get the teacher you want.”

“But,” She continued, “if you are willing to talk to counselors and be creative, there are always options, which is something I really like about SMC.”

Others thought financial considerations were minor for those willing to pay for a Jewish private school.

“It’s kind of irrelevent in my eyes because I’m coming from Shalhevet,” said junior Adir Hassid, who plans to attend SMC next year. “I’m paying almost 30 grand, so whatever the SMC tuition will be like- even if it’s raised a bit- won’t even come close to what I’m paying right now.”

“The majority of the students there, I wouldn’t say are the richest,” Adir continued. “A lot of them are on there own trying to pay their own tuition and I’m sure it’s annoying for them to go from paying $36 per unit to 180 bucks.”

Adir said he had noticed results of the budget cuts on campus.

“I noticed that sometimes when I go to the counseling services they are jammed, there’s a shortage of counselors and teachers.”

The tiered tuition plan also led to demonstrations and some conflict on campus. On April 3, the SMC Board of Trustees convened to discuss the proposal and was met with a student protest.

Participants shouted ‘Shame on you!’ and pulled the fire alarm, and then attempted to enter the meeting room. After some time, SMC campus police used pepper spray. In the indoor hallway, approximately 30 people were affected, most of them students.

“They could have handled it better,” said Sam Joffe, “rather than pepper spraying students and beating them with night sticks. But the students were rallying in a child-like manner. They where throwing toilet paper around and pulling fire alarms.”

As damaging as budget cuts were looking earlier this year, things are looking worse for California schools as Governor Brown announced the state’s overall deficit had reached $16 billion. No additional cuts to the community colleges have been proposed so far.