At the beginning of this year, the Legislative Analyst Office drew a proposal to cut physical education classes in community colleges in California.The LAO recommended that the state pay community colleges the smaller non-credit amount for P.E. classes, specialized P.E. classes such as football courses and a few other enrichment courses, according to Doug Hoagland, a reporter for the Fresno Bee. This proposal would save the state of California up to $120 million.Even though the state may see this as a positive, many community college professors and students see the proposal as an awful idea.

With the passing of this proposal many P.E. teachers are either going to receive huge salary cuts or lose their jobs completely, and the students will miss out on their exercise time.

In many P.E. classes at Bakersfield College the students and teachers wrote letters to the board begging them to not pass the proposal made by the LAO but just a few weeks later the proposal was passed.Many teachers’ class schedules were either cut in half or dropped altogether.Mrs. Eve-lyne Thomas, modern, ballet and jazz dance instructor at BC, said, “My ballet and modern dance classes were all dropped, and my jazz dance classes were cut in half. Instead of having four jazz classes, now I only have two. All of my dance classes are beneficial to the students, and none of them should have been cut, but I am just glad that I still have a job.”

With the cuts, many students don’t appreciate not being able to enroll in the P.E. class of their choice.

Elizabeth Ortega, music major, said, “Now that the proposal has been passed I can’t even get into the yoga class I want because they are only three times being offered instead the usual six.”

While the students and teachers who are affected by this are not happy about the proposal, those who don’t teach or take P.E. classes really don’t care about the outcome.

Elaine Brown, an engineering major, expressed, “I have never really liked P.E., so I think that this was a good idea, but I still feel bad for the teachers who lose their job.”

BC wasn’t the only community college that has experienced cuts in the P.E. department. Schools such as Fresno City College have as well.

This proposal made by the LAO may have saved the state over a $100 million, but it has taken jobs away from teachers and useful classes from students.