The fight to keep San Francisco City College's accreditation went to court Thursday.
Supporters of the college asked a judge to put an immediate stop to the process to take away the campus' accreditation.
"If this discretization continues, more students are going to leave and we're going to continue to see a drop in finances for the college," said Joshua Pechthalt, who heads the California Federation of Teachers.
Last July, an accreditation commission moved to pull City College's accreditation over a list of financial problems. The order is set to take effect July 31, 2014.
Pechthalt said the decision has already devastated the college's enrollment.
"Enrollment at one point was 125,000," he said. "It's down to 85,000."
Attorneys for teachers are asking the judge to throw out the commission's decision, at least until a trial could be held in June.
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"If there's a finding on the merits, there would be a redo," said Bob Bezemek, an attorney representing teachers. "They would start with a fair evaluation team with fair standard."
But lawyers for the accreditation commission said the injunction is unnecessary because the college is already appealing the decision. They said whether or not that appeal succeeds, students should be given ample time to make other arrangements.
"Is it fair to the students to not give them adequate opportunity now to find their education opportunities elsewhere?" said Laurence Kessernick, who serves on the Accrediting Commission for Community Colleges.
The college is currently under the control of a trustee, who is not taking part in the legal action. No decision was made Thursday.
