At the Sept. 18 board of trustees meeting at College of the Canyons, a new board member was voted in for Area 5. Carlos Guerrero is an educator in the San Fernando Valley, and several supporters of his opponent took to the podium. There were comments about “conflicts of interest,” an “educator shouldn’t be on the board” and that the “union endorsed Guerrero.” First, having educators on a college board is an imperative. Only an educator will understand what an academic senate is, how funding formulas operate, what drives enrollment and how enrollment targets are met, what student resources are important, and so much more.  As a former COC student who has also been employed there for 14 years, I can personally attest to how important these things are as an employee. As a student, I took it all for granted. I had no idea of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into running a college. The few things I mentioned now make sense. Several people running against the slate endorsed by COC employees — all employee groups — are business leaders in this community. They have no experience in education. Their children may have attended COC, but that does not give them an understanding of what a board does. In addition, it makes no sense to have a problem with a union endorsement, especially unions that understand what it means to be a COC employee, regardless of which employee group they belong to. Teachers’ unions at all levels of education fight for certain rights that benefit students. Our country’s teachers work hard all the time to ensure that quality education is delivered. Endorsements by teachers demonstrate that they know which candidates are best for the open positions.  If you were to Google a list of unions in our country, you would see that police, firefighters, machinists, nurses and many more unions exist. Unions do understand their constituents. As a community member, I have every confidence that supporting Edel Alonso, Jerry Danielsen, Andrew Taban and Michelle Kampbell will bring this college into greater heights than ever before. Kristin Haywood Canyon Country The post Kristin Haywood | Educators Imperative for COC Board appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.