Laura Santos

Background

I’m from a Mexican working-class family. My mom’s family were Central Valley farmworkers, and my father was a UAW member. I grew up in Echo Park and Bassett, and after community college I graduated from UCLA and UC Davis law school. I practiced law for 10 years, and now do public relations as an independent contractor. I was a Bassett USD board member from 2007 to 2013, when I was elected to the Mt. San Antonio College board.

I’m honored to have represented Mt. SAC Area 3 (Baldwin Park, Irwindale, portions of Bassett and the Covinas) since 2013. Today, along with the world, the United States, California, Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Valley, Mt. SAC is going through tremendous changes and challenges.

Challenges & Goals

Challenges we face include those faced by everyone all over the world. The number of students is a metric that helps determine the amount of our funding, and it’s forecast that a decline in the number of children will affect Mt. SAC’s funding in the near future. We usually stay in front of challenges and take action. For example, enrollment dropped tremendously for all community colleges during the pandemic, so our staff worked hard to bring our students back. They used multiple means to contact students, even paid fees for students who couldn’t enroll because of outstanding amounts owed, and we now have more students than we had before COVID. But we are now a victim of our own success, because last year the state put a cap on growth. So we now have 2,000 students that we are not being paid for, which amounts to a $10 million cut in funding!

Although our policies and practices support undocumented students, we now also have to worry about our international students and every one of our students. As housing and the cost of living became unaffordable, people have chosen not to have children, causing a decline in enrollment which resulted in many K–12 schools closing. The experts have warned that community colleges will soon be affected. I am pleased that Mt. SAC employs top-notch experts who do a great job anticipating and preparing for challenges, and I’m confident we will stay ahead of big changes to ensure Mt. SAC has a safe landing. Employees who research and plan for Mt. SAC are so important, especially today when federal policy is cruel and puts our students and their families at risk.

I am not happy with California’s governor. Mt. SAC has been shovel-ready for a registered nurse bachelor’s degree program for a decade, but the governor has vetoed multiple bills that would have allowed it. He recently signed a bill that will make it harder to have such a program.

Mt. SAC now has a good board that represents the community well, is professional, and respectful. This time of great change and challenges is not a good time to have a board member who must come up to speed and disturb the board’s good balance. For a strong leader who will put students, their families and the community first, vote for Laura Santos!