The nation continues to wait for swing states to count presidential votes, but many local measures have already been called. Voters in several states and counties decided on ballot measures that could provide more resources to community colleges, which are even more financially strapped than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bonds for Modernization and Safety
Some community colleges won big Nov. 3.
Voters in Prince George’s County in Maryland voted overwhelmingly to let the county issue bonds to improve community college facilities.
The $121.7 million bond will be used on projects through 2026 for Prince George’s Community College. It will renovate the more than 40-year-old Largo Student Center to meet energy specifications and provide more space for social events. It will also renovate Marlboro Hall to include technological innovations for the classrooms.
Citrus College in Glendora, Calif., won approval for a $298 million bond on the Los Angeles County ballot that will upgrade its infrastructure to improve its safety. The bond will be used to remove leaky roofs, mold and lead paint, as well as ensure buildings meet safety regulations for earthquakes and fire and can provide clean drinking water.
The money will also be used to upgrade classrooms and laboratories and provide resources to student veterans preparing to transfer or enter the workforce. The improvements and additional supports are meant to improve the retention of teachers and overall quality of education.
The college is encouraged by the results, said Melissa Utsuki, executive director of communications and external relations at the college.
“Before Measure Y was placed on the ballot, residents, stakeholders and community leaders across the district were engaged to identify the vision and priorities for our own local higher education goals while dealing with COVID-19,” she said in an email. “Measure Y was designed to be a part of the local and regional economic recovery plan, and we wanted our local voters to decide on this important issue.”
The extra resources are more important now than ever due to the pandemic, she said. The funds will help make the campus safe and secure for when students return.
Elsewhere in California, some results weren’t yet clear. Voters in Santa Clara County voted on whether to give San Jose-Evergreen Community College District $4.5 million per year for nine years through an annual parcel tax increase. The money would be used to provide students with assistance for basic needs as well as prepare them to transfer to a four-year college. It would also go toward attracting and retaining faculty and providing career and job training. The measure needs two-thirds of the vote to pass and had about 61 percent by Thursday afternoon.
A second measure would issue a property tax levy of $17.5 per $100,000 in assessed value to support an $858 million bond for the district to use to upgrade facilities that prepare students for more technical careers, such as those in emergency response and health care, as well as recruit faculty and modernize and repair classrooms. It needs 55 percent of the vote to pass and had about 53 percent by Thursday afternoon.
New Avenues of Funding
Maryland voters have opened up a new resource for education funding with the passage of Question 2. The measure asked voters to authorize sports and events betting at licensed facilities, and it passed with about two-thirds of the vote.
This new revenue is slotted to go toward education in the state. How it will be divvied up among the sectors, though, is yet to be determined, said Roger Hartley, dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore.
The ballot initiative itself is vague and leaves the distribution of the revenue up to the Legislature. It will likely be used to fund the recommendations from the Kirwan Commission report, Hartley said.
The commission is led by William “Brit” Kirwan, a former chancellor of the University System of Maryland, and it recommends investing just under $4 billion per year into public schools. Funding for the recommendations is a big issue in the state, Hartley said, as the Democratic House called for raising taxes but the idea was rejected by Larry Hogan, the Republican governor.
There’s still a chance that the sectors will lobby for money to go toward issues outside the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations, though, he said. It’s especially likely with the state of higher education revenue due to the pandemic.
“It’s really important, especially now that state and local governments have been super constrained in their budgets by the coronavirus, that there be an alternate source of funding for schools,” Hartley said, but “it’s such a big bill that there’s still going to be a fight.”
Another…
Read More: Results for bonds and new revenue for community colleges