In November many things will be decided, but one thing is crucial for community college students and that is the passage of Proposition 30. Should it fail to pass Los Medanos College and all community colleges will become ghost towns. The institutions of learning will not suffer due to lack of students wanting an education, but because the lack of funding needed to keep the classrooms open will dry up if Prop 30 fails to pass.
If students receive little support from necessities like labs and the accessibility to finding available classes, then the ability to earn degrees and certificates will be gutted. The future of California itself will become grim. If students are unable to reach their educational goals they will be limited in their opportunities to find employment beyond low paying jobs. This means there will be a further drain on a struggling economy resulting from no fault of their own, which means the problems of today will only worsen.
Former Los Medanos College President Peter Garcia once explained he believed governments were formed partly to accomplish things that small bands of average citizens could not accomplish on their own as small communities. One thing he named was creating a system of roads, however the very path to California’s future is being continually eroded by budget cuts to the state’s educational system.
The leaders of the state for too many faulty reasons have continually turned their backs on campaign promises to not cut funding for schools. Too often politicians pretend they understand how vital education is when seeking election, but fail in their promises to properly value it.
It is now up to average citizens to say that we will not turn our backs on our futures, but will demand an educational system that can lead California forward and not perpetuate the state’s decline. We must once again do what our leaders would not and vote in the funding they should have provided in the first place.
Students, faculty, members and staff at LMC on election day prove that you believe in the complete education for the state and approve Proposition 30 and vote for Measure A as well. Do not let the date pass you by, but plan for it — make it a vital priority because it is our life line to a better future. Go beyond your vote on election day — cry long and hard beforehand and demand the opportunities “we the people” are always suppose to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” There is no way these things may be achieved if people do not understand how to find them and for many education is the road to their dreams.