The Community College Initiative: What it Takes to Win
	by Jonathan Lightman
	Jonathan Lightman is the Executive Director of FACCC, the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, one of the co-sponsors of the Community College Initiative.

   In my eight and one-half years at FACCC, I've always admired the determination, spirit and foresight of the Santa Monica Faculty. Years before other faculty leaders understood the value of strengthening the statewide faculty association, your union developed a way for all Santa Monica College Faculty Association members to join FACCC. That decision paved the way for the successful SMCFA - FACCC lobbying effort to force a Fifty Percent Law compliance audit – showcasing how Santa Monica College, among others, shortchanged faculty salaries.

    During the years that Santa Monica faculty suffered the indignities of a wayward administration and often hostile board, you never gave up the fight, utilizing every available political, legal and media strategy to advance your cause.    When former Governor Gray Davis tried to balance the budget on the backs of community colleges, you organized flights, buses and carpools to Sacramento, elevating your voice among the loudest in the state.

    The SMC faculty's legacy of pluck and determination also helped qualify the Community College Initiative for the February 5, 2008 ballot.  Your  financial  and  volunteer  contribution made a genuine difference in the first part of the campaign. It's now time to gear up for February, which is all about money and organization.     Don't expect someone to do this for you. We still need to make this a collective effort. Everyone who's vested in securing the future of community colleges must contribute something. If you've written a check for the qualification phase, please consider writing a new one for this part of the campaign. We're not going to win without money, and we need it today, not tomorrow.

    Have you communicated the significance of this initiative to other registered voters? To your colleagues and your students? Are you making sure they are registered to vote? The Community College Initiative is the best chance for every Californian to go to college – and they are living proof of it. In the end, it's for them, so get them involved, registered, and working on getting others registered to vote. The more we involve our students in the electoral process, the greater our chance of succeeding. These kind of students vote – and so do their parents.

    I'm confident that when the history of community college faculty is written, Santa Monica College will be highlighted as a case study demonstrating the power of faculty unity and determination. And when they write about the Community College Initiative, the SMC faculty will also be showcased as a model for everyone making this a collective effort. Let's get to work.

Visit the FACCC Website, www.faccc.org ,  for more details about the CCI and the upcoming FACCC Education Institute conference (which will have dedicated sessions about the initiative) October 19-20 in Pasadena.