This address by the Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) discusses recent and long-term changes in the district's programs, educational quality, and financial standing, and suggests means for future improvements. First, the paper highlights the district's achievements in improving transfer education and developing new high technology training programs. The paper then examines changes in education over the past decade, citing societal influences and enrollment trends and placing special focus on the deficiencies in many students' writing and communication skills. Suggestions are then offered for improving remedial programs in response to these deficiencies. Next, the paper explains plans to establish a Commission for the Advancement of Teaching to, for example, assess faculty needs, establish principles for basic skills instruction, and promote computer literacy. After commenting on the future of community services in the LACCD, the paper considers district funding problems, strategies in developing the 1983-84 budget, and financial priorities. Finally, possible methods for dealing with financial stress are identified, including reevaluation of programs, improvement in productivity, increases in fund-raising activities, and the attraction of private donations; and the undesirability of the alternatives of employee retrenchment and fee increases is stressed. (DAB)