EDITORIAL END OF THE RIP-OFF L.A. COMMUNITY COLLEGES FINALLY GET A FAIR SHAKE.

THE glacial pace of politics has finally injected some sanity into the way California funds its community colleges, bringing greater equity and resources to Los Angeles' financially strapped campuses.

The old formula for funding California's community colleges was set with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. It funded campuses based on when they were formed and what their tax bases were at that time, as well as other factors.

But the formula rapidly became obsolete as certain areas -- including L.A. -- developed faster than others. The result was that while some schools collected as much as $8,100 per student, others got as little as $3,500.

Suffice it to say, fixing the community-college funding formula has been a long time in the waiting. But the moment arrived last week, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing of Senate Bill 361.

Yet even though the discrepancy is now smaller, it still remains. SB 361 provides $159.4 million for funding equalization, but only 4 percent of that will go to the Los Angeles Community College District. Los Angeles serves 8 percent of the state's community-college enrollment.

So the LACCD gets stiffed again, albeit less so this time. But the good news is that future funding will be distributed evenly on a per-student basis.

That means the rip-off is coming to an end, and that's a relief for the LACCD and the thousands of students to whom it provides opportunity and hope.