Sean Donnell is an English professor and president of the Federation of Teachers, the teacher’s union.

What are your responsibilities as president of the teacher’s union?
I act as the liaison between the union and the administration. I run meetings for the executive board, the college council and try to keep us in touch with the California Federation of Teachers. I make sure the organization is running correctly.

What do you teach?
I teach English.

What does the teacher’s union do?
What we have here at EC is collective bargaining. We bargain things such as raises and insurance benefits. We basically represent employees on campus, particularly the teaching faculty.

What are the teacher’s union’s goals?
To preserve the rights of workers. It’s not like we’re trying to get everything, but we want to make sure we preserve the rights for teachers. We are constantly vigilant about getting fair compensation benefits.

What is Proposition 92?
A ballot measure, formerly the Community College Initiative, designed to give community colleges a lower tuition at $15. It also establishes a Board of Governors similar to University of California colleges and California State colleges and to ensure adequate funding for community colleges.

How would it benefit students?
Our funding for students is woeful. We’re looking for a systemwide improvement. We want to make sure there is money left aside for community colleges from the state’s general budget. We want to get a consistent amount of funding every year. Two-thirds of four year graduates started at community colleges, so it benefits those students as well.

Why do you support it?
The measure is sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers. Although that is not the reason I support it, I personally, whole-heartedly endorse it and would ask everyone on campus to make sure this proposition gets passed. It is the best way to positively impact the most college students in the state of California.