FA President Dante Morelli, second from right, and SCCC President Ed Bonahue, far left, flank a group of SCCC students in Albany in February. Immediately in front of Dante is SCCC Chief Diversity Officer Christina Vargas. A contingent of SCCC administrators, faculty and students go to Albany each spring to advocate for increased funding and support for our college. (photo courtesy Christina Vargas)

As noted in my cover story on the threats coming at us from the federal level, this article addresses concerns that we are facing at the state, in the county and here at the college.

State funding issues

On March 4 I sent a request to contact your local NYS legislators to seek an increase in state aid funding for community colleges. At this point in the budget process, both the Senate and Assembly put their one-house bills forward and the news is not terrible, but it could be better.

The Senate has proposed to add $7.2 million to community college base aid, while the Assembly has proposed an additional $22.5 million. These one-house bill proposals are in addition to the $416.7 million Governor Hochul has proposed in her executive budget. In New York, the ultimate goal is always to get a balanced budget delivered by April 1. It could take longer this year which means we have time to advocate for our students on the state level.

As mentioned in my March 4 Day of Action email, we need to continue our annual advocacy for fair and appropriate funding in the state budget (remember, NYS is supposed to contribute 40% of each community college’s operating budget but it’s been under 28% for years).

To better ensure that our elected officials in Albany properly fund community colleges for the 2025-26 budget, please call your local state Senate (look up your NYS Senator)  and Assembly representatives (look up your NYS Assemblymember) and state the following:

• Invest $429 million in our community colleges to cover base aid (only $12 million more than last year's investment from the State). An additional $95 million will put the New York State investment of community colleges at 33%.
• Our students have been unfairly paying an MTA tax of $400,000/year for decades. This unfair tax on our students does not even furnish any of our campuses with an LIRR station or any other MTA benefit (the closest station is 3 miles away from the Brentwood campus). The MTA now has plenty of money they have generated, and will continue to generate, from congestion pricing. Why are our students being unfairly saddled and unfairly taxed when the MTA has other revenue generators?

County advocacy

The Suffolk County Legislature has become one of our strongest advocates when it comes to funding. They have increased their contributions annually which have helped to support our students and the college.

Similar to other public education institutions, SCCC is faced with ballooning healthcare costs through our EMHP health insurance. The college has had to take on an additional $1 million in funding for retirees, although the county has long supported our retired members’ healthcare. This shift has accounted for an unexpected and unbudgeted additional $3 million dollars to the college’s overall budget.

Other actions

Finally, many members have asked for information in case ICE or other agencies present themselves to students for possible deportation. You can access a Know Your Rights document in Spanish, along with cards that AFT has created for students and their families.

Our profession, our students and our college will be negatively affected by the drastic cuts and elimination of protected rights of members and students that the federal government is threatening.

Please take a moment of your day to advocate using the action items in this as well as my federal concerns cover story to help ensure we can continue the critically important work we do on behalf of students.

The conversations in the fall meetings I attended for NYSUT, AFT and NEA were very different conversations than what we are having now. In fact, we recently, cautiously joked, “Remember when we thought AI was the biggest challenge in higher education?” Now, the conversation and discussion has shifted to how we need to protect and fight for our profession.

I cannot recall a time as an FA officer where I’m making a dire request to please advocate for the work we love so much.