SANTA ANA : District Resolution Backs Senate Bill

The Rancho Santiago Community College District has endorsed a U.S. Senate bill which would establish an assistant secretary for community colleges position within the U.S. Department of Education.

Last week, the college district’s Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a resolution stating their support of the bill and asked U.S. Sens. Alan Cranston and John Seymour for support.

“With the passage of this resolution, our board has demonstrated its solid support toward building a stronger voice for the nation’s community colleges in the hierarchy of the federal government,” Chancellor Robert D. Jensen said.

In the resolution, the board states that there is a lack of executive leadership for community colleges in Washington and that the current structure of the U.S. Department of Education has served community colleges poorly.

“Community colleges such as Rancho Santiago College are not receiving the benefit of strong federal leadership on issues, programs and projects of importance to our students,” the resolution states.

The Rancho Santiago Community College District is the first community college in the state to formally support the measure, college officials said.

The district, which has campuses in Santa Ana, Orange and Garden Grove, enrolls more than 40,000 students in credit and non-credit programs.