Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's prediction of drastic education cuts, delivered Tuesday, was grim and sobering—but not entirely unanticipated. California, once synonymous with dreams, is now better known for its budget catastrophes. Amid all the scaling back, many argue that public education has suffered the most.

Louise Jaffe is acutely aware of the dire financial state of California—and the consequences it's having on students who attend public schools at all levels. She is a member of the Santa Monica College board of trustees, the Santa Monica-Malibu Council of PTAs, the Santa Monica Childcare and Early Education Task Force and has played a key role in countless similar groups.

Jaffe recently met with Patch on a brisk afternoon at the SMC main campus. Playing the role of tour guide, she pointed out the massive construction that will consolidate 20 offices into the new student-services building (and "maybe reduce staffing needs"). Jaffe also detailed the main campus' new information-and-technology building and parking-roof solar panels.

But above all the progress looms the dark cloud that is the state budget, about which Jaffe was visibly concerned.

The college has more than 30,000 students and, with a faculty that includes 1,000 part-time teachers, is one of the city's largest employers. Jaffe spoke about the possibility of SMC having to sacrifice access, quality—or both.

Santa Monica Patch: How important are Measures Y and YY to the state of education in Santa Monica?

Louise Jaffe: I always want to say that people don't understand how terrible the state budget situation is, but the passage of Y belies that. I feel very lucky to be part of a community that doesn't stick its head in the sand.

One of the great opportunities that Y and YY present to the community is to focus on early childhood, so that children are entering kindergarten ready to be successful.

Patch: What do you say to those who criticize SMC for undertaking construction projects amid budget woes and the push for bond money?

Jaffe: Bond money is voted on, and it's put before the voters for a specific purpose, which is to build facilities. The money that goes into these facilities is restricted to that use; it cannot be used for hiring new teachers or opening new classes. So that's an easy question to answer: Them's the rules.

Patch: Will any of these developments alleviate parking and traffic problems?

Jaffe: The student-services building will have 500 underground spaces, so that will help.

The Big Blue Bus partnership has been the most significant improvement in terms of getting students out of cars. About half our students are [using the BBB]. It's also a huge boost for the community: The Crosstown Bus is now coming every 10 minutes or so, instead of every half-hour.

We've been very strong supporters of the Expo Line coming, but the Big Blue Bus partnership should be a nationwide model, because it helps students and reduces traffic and cleans the air. But it's expensive: We're paying for that, and our students are through [an optional] fee the Associated Students collects.

Patch: Are you increasing enrollment?

Jaffe: Enrollment has stayed about the same. The state funds [schools] based on full-time equivalent enrollment. In the past, if you had more students, you could hire more faculty. Now the state is not funding additional students. Also, people don't have jobs, so [they're turning to community colleges] for training.

These are interesting times. We have the lowest [fee] rate by far of any of the community colleges across the country. I don't know how we'll be able to hang on to that.

Patch: Can students expect fees to be raised?

Jaffe: Nobody wants to raise fees. Raising fees will translate to denied opportunity.

Patch: What are the backup plans if the state's budget crisis doesn't get rectified?

Jaffe: We're limited to what we can do. We built up a reserve while the storm clouds were gathering, [so] we haven't had to lay off any full-time employees. But we've reduced class sections less than other community colleges have. In the winter, we'll cut our normal offerings about in half. [Some other colleges] had no winter or summer sessions last year, but we've been able to maintain them so far.

Patch: Some criticize the college for recruiting international students. How do you respond?

Jaffe: International students are very motivated to be here, and they bring this diversity of perspective and intellect and experience that, educationally, is really rich. They also provide us with a source of funding that isn't dependent on the state.

Patch: Are you looking at new revenue-generators?

Jaffe: [Half-jokingly] Get married in the quad—and have a swim!

[This interview has been edited and condensed. This sentence—"But we've reduced class sections more than other community colleges have"—has been corrected to read, "But we've reduced class sections less than other community colleges have."]

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Past Santa Monica Patch Q&As:

• Gleam Davis: 'Expo Line Is Not a Panacea' for Traffic Woes
• OPCC Executive Director John Maceri on Homelessness in Santa Monica: 'We're All in This Together'
• School Board Member Nimish Patel on 'The New Normal'