Delta College's next struggle

If it's not one thing, it's another.

Now that the whole accreditation battle is over — and students at San Joaquin Delta College can rest assured their degrees and accumulated credits will be recognized — Delta's board of trustees and administrators face a nearly 10 percent budget cut.

Trustee Steve Castellanos told me today, while being interviewed for a Saturday column about the accreditation mess, that these are "unprecedented" times that will call for "very, very tough" decisions.

That's kind of stating the obvious, but seeing how some governmental agencies treat the truth, it's nice to know the Delta board has its collective head on straight.

The saddest part about the budget cuts at Delta College, as Castellanos pointed out to me and I agree with, is that community colleges offer affordable education — and a chance to boost one's economic prosperity. Such drastic cuts impair that mission and ability.

Just as we're trying to give folks a way to get back on their feet, we're knocking rungs out of the ladder up from the cellar.

I know, I know. There isn't enough money to fund all the good government-supported causes out there. That doesn't make it any less depressing.