EDITORIAL WRONG TIME FOR PROP. AA.

COMMUNITY colleges fill a vitally important role in our educational system and the Los Angeles Community College District has come a long way toward rehabilitating itself after years of poor management.

Armed with $1.2 billion in Proposition A bond funds approved overwhelmingly by voters two years ago, Pierce, Valley and Mission colleges along with the other six in the district are making long-needed repairs and building new facilities.

The colleges' leaders have ambitious plans to take their facilities to the next level, which is why they have come back to voters to seek $980 million on Tuesday in Proposition AA. Under state law, they could not have asked for more two years ago.

No one should underestimate the critical importance of the community colleges in the lives of so many people nor the needs they have for better facilities.

But timing is everything.

And this isn't the right time to be asking for more money from taxpayers who have yet to digest a slew of recent bond issues and also face a host of new state and local taxes. The economy remains weak and most people have little extra cash to spare.

Like public and private institutions everywhere, the LACCD needs to learn to live within its means.

As it is, the colleges have their hands full carrying out the projects they have already undertaken. If Proposition AA is defeated, the colleges have more than enough time to come back to voters when the economy is stronger.

The proper time to decide this issue is in a general election, when large numbers of people have the opportunity to vote rather than Tuesday, when a small number will likely turn out and decide whether to raise everybody's taxes.