Candidate for
Board Member; Foothill-De Anza Community College District

The State budget crisis has devastated education. While the UCs serve the top 15%, and CSUs serve the top 30%, community colleges serve the top 100% of high school graduates. Yet the UCs receive three times as much, and the CSUs twice as much, funding per student. We are the most flexible institutions to respond rapidly to the changing needs of area employers. We need to create partnerships with businesses which have jobs for our students.

FHDA needs an aggressive legislative agenda -- the administration, Board, professional association, faculty and classified staff unions need to partner together on a common legislative agenda to preserve and expand our funding. And we need to fight for more local control over community college decision-making.

Until the budget crisis is solved, we need to focus on core educational programs so our students can transfer to four-year colleges, get job training and re-training, and obtain career certifications. And we must continue to offer financial aid and student support services to help our students weather this storm.