The National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges found that community colleges in nearly half of all states will be facing midyear reductions in their state appropriations this coming school year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The survey revealed that 18 of 28 states with community college funding formulas failed to fully meet their pledged amounts in the 2007-2008 school years. What is even more disturbing is that although all public educational sectors received reductions during the 2007-2008 school year from the previous school year, community colleges saw the biggest one-year drop in funding at 5.2 percent. Although we acknowledge that a bad economic situation will translate into tough budget reductions, the concentration on community colleges should be reexamined. Flagship universities during the last two years experienced a 1.8 percent decline, while regional state colleges experienced a 3.7 percent decline. This continuous spiral in public education funding is a disturbing trend that has strained our countryâÄôs public education system. Indeed, the nationâÄôs higher-education system has been under-budgeted since state allocations started to drastically decline in the early 1990âÄôs . More expensive education along with quality limitations result in a philosophy that education should not be prioritized. Although they do not attract the prestige their counterparts do, community colleges play a vital role in our countryâÄôs higher-education system, educating students in a different way than what you find at a four-year college or university. Some students just are not cut out for the type of atmosphere flagship universities offer. Community colleges play too vital a role to be pushed around the way they currently are.