RE: It should be free

The suggestion that the community colleges should be free is financially unrealistic, is poor public policy, and would damage the colleges in terms of requiring substantial cuts if the state did not "backfill" funds.  This would mean fewer classes, laid off faculty, etc., especially during times when the state faces a financial crunch as it does now.

If the state did "backfill" the fees, this is questionable in terms of the state's priorities.  In that scenario, other public services would have to be reduced or eliminated in order to transfer funds to the community colleges just to keep them at the same level of revenues as they now have.  

It is also relevant that the California community colleges currently have, by a long way, the lowest tuiton/fees in the country, about $330 per full time student during the academic year.

If the cc's were totally "free," this would let those who can afford to pay off the hook (one third of students taking credit courses already have their fee waived).  Rather than spending money so that no one would have to pay the fee, it would be better to have more effective information and counseling about the student financial aid available.  This aid can also offset the other costs of attendance (books, materials, transportation, childcare, etc.) which are usually far larger than the student fees and are undoubtedly a huge burden for low-income students.