While many students look forward to New Year’s Eve with thoughts of champagne and midnight kisses, this New Year holds something special for El Camino.
Since 2009, being a student has been tough, and while the old obstacles of tests, essays and homework continued to hang as heavily as they always have upon the average student, new hurdles such as shrunken course offerings, reduced counselor access and massive waitlists only made the road to student success longer and rougher.
For a time, it was easy to believe that the threat of continued budget cuts would loom over El Camino for all eternity like some sort of existential thundercloud.
While it would be nice to say those days are over and done with, such a claim would be premature. However, it would be safe to say that a glimmer of sunlight has shone through the clouds and the road has smoothed out for the first time in years.
With the passage of Proposition 30 and Measure E, the new year will be a time of opportunity for the college, a chance to recover and improve on this new found forward momentum.
Thanks to Proposition 30’s success, the school has avoided a $7 million budget cut this year that would have caused 250 sections to be dropped from the upcoming spring semester, as well as likely putting the last nail in the coffin of winter session.
Not only has EC avoided reductions to courses, there will actually be an increase to the number of courses offered both here and throughout California, with room for an expected 20,000 new students to be added this year throughout the state.
Additionally, with the success of Measure E, new, green technologies will be added to the campus, cutting utility costs by almost $1 million a year and reducing EC’s environmental foot- print.
The measure will also provide funding for new projects, such as a new gym and Administration Building, and renovations to the Library and Auditorium.
Finally, many classrooms, some more than 50 years old, will receive much needed renovations and updated technology.
Of course, in the face of such hope, it’s easy to lose sight of the larger picture, but now is not the time to get tipsy on victory champagne. The school is nowhere near its pre-2009 funding, and while the future seems brighter now, it’s hard to tell how quickly that could all change.
What’s important to keep in mind, then, is how EC managed to make this first step on the road to recovery.
When winter session came under fire last semester, it was the combined efforts of EC’s students and faculty that managed to save it.
When the college needed new funds to renovate, it was a campaign supported by the faculty and ASO that ensured Measure E’s success.
When Proposition 30 was challenged by not one, but two opposing tax initiatives, it was again faculty and students who banded together to educate voters on the importance of Proposition 30.
If anyone doubts the part played by EC’s teachers and students, just remember that a huge 28 percent of voters in this last election were college aged, and that for the first time in 20 years, a tax hike was passed in California.
While everyone makes New Year’s resolutions they don’t really intend to keep, this year is an opportunity to do something meaningful.
Instead of making empty promises to lose weight, to exercise more, to stress out less, this should be the year to make a real change, to improve El Camino even more.
While the winter session may be safe for now, with nearly $700 million dollars of community college funding still being deferred by California, that could change at the first sign of trouble.
Don’t slip into apathy now that the election is over; instead, stay aware, stay involved, and make sure that EC remains a college worth fighting for.
Soon it will be a new year; if students and faculty continue to work together for the college’s benefit, a new El Camino will be there to meet it
