Labor groups associated with California community colleges are endorsing the alteration of Proposition 98 for the 2008 ballot, a move that would allow for increased funding of community colleges without taking funds away from K-12 schools, reduce fees to $15 per unit and ensure local control of the "state-local community college partnership," according to the Times Advocate, a publication of the Butte College Part-Time Faculty Association and the Communications Workers of America Local 9421.

According to the Times Advocate, these substantial improvements would be implemented without the need to raise taxes. Prop. 98, drafted back in 1988, is, according to the Faculty Association of Community Colleges, designed to protect funds for public schools and community colleges.

However, the problem with the proposed changes, say some critics, is that voters may misconstrue certain aspects of the bill, assuming that the changes will take monies away from K-12 schools. Proponents of the new legislation, who need to gather about 600,000 petition signatures to get the proposal on the ballot, have already collected nearly one million. However, during the special election two years ago, voters said no to Proposition 76, which would allow for exceptions to the minimum state funding for schools designated by 98, suggesting that the voters may be reluctant to tinker with this important legislation.

One of the most potentially beneficial aspects of the proposition is that state funding of community colleges would be determined in proportion to enrollment, providing more money for schools with larger populations. Fears are mounting in the community college labor community, however, that the powerful California Teachers' Association, comprised of K-12 employees, may be mounting efforts to oppose the proposition.