Dr. Miguel A. Coronado for 

EDUCATION

 

      Coronado announces bid for college board By: Andrew Clark "Dr. Miguel Coronado announces his intent to run for the Antelope Valley College School Board Wednesday morning in Lancaster. Jun. 24, 2015/ RUBY VARELA/Valley Press" LANCASTER - Flanked by 50 supporters, civil rights advocate Miguel Coronado announced his candidacy for the Antelope Valley College board on Wednesday in front of the college.

 

     Coronado, whose doctorate is in higher education administration, said his academic studies and time as an Antelope Valley College faculty member have prepared him to run for the board. "The time is now; we can no longer wait to create the necessary collaboration, the necessary strategic plan to make sure our community improves through education," he said. Should he be elected, Coronado said he would be the first American of Mexican descent on the board and the first minority member in five years. "I am a proud immigrant who has been able to come to this country and live the 'American Dream' through education," he said.

 

     Coronado serves on a number of community groups. Among the groups, he is a member of the community advisory committee for the Lancaster Sheriff's Station, the chairman of the drugs, alcohol and tobacco project at Antelope Valley Hospital, co-chairman of the Measure L bond advisory board for Lancaster School District, a planning commissioner for the city of Lancaster and an advisor for the hospital. He also serves as a guest teacher in the Antelope Valley Union High School District. "Most importantly, I serve as founder of Agents of Change, an academic organization that focuses on recruiting, retaining and transferring students to university," he said.

 

     Coronado previously worked as a field representative for former Assemblyman and Antelope Valley College board member Steve Fox, a Democrat who is planning to run for Assembly again in 2016. "That experience has prepared me to navigate the political system in the Antelope Valley and I'm very grateful," he said. Fox and Lancaster Sheriff Station Capt. Pat Nelson attended the announcement.

 

     Coronado said he is particularly concerned about students trying to transition from high school to college, citing academic unpreparedness, financial hardship and difficulty with the matriculation system as factors. "One of the things we're working toward right now to try to improve is remedial education. A lot of the students who are graduating from high school are not prepared for the academic vigors of the college. Therefore, they have to start with lower division English and lower division math," he said. "What we're trying to do now is set up a partnership with the Antelope Valley Union High School District to create a strong bridge where students will have the opportunity to be recruited, retained and graduate, and most importantly, transfer to universities."

 

     In addition, he called the current system, "distorted, inefficient and ineffective." He also said he hoped to bolster the colleges's academic counselors. "My objective is not only to serve my community outside of Antelope Valley College, but to make sure I can serve my community inside of Antelope Valley College through the work that I have been doing since 2003 as an academic counselor," he said.

 

     While Coronado said he is aware of the demographics of the college, he stressed that he is not running solely to represent Latino residents. "We have (a campus population) of Latinos at 44.4%, African-Americans at 21.8% and whites at 23%," he said. "I'm not focusing on Latinos only. Latinos are not my only responsibility. My whole responsibility is the community and the community that is interested in graduating." Coronado also said he sympathizes with not just the college students fresh out of high school, but also older, working students. "I know what it is like for our students struggling to navigate the educational system while having to work, go to school and take care of a family," he said. Coronado also said he hopes money will be used to help increase the number of counselors and lower the class sizes. "

 

     At a time when revenues are finally coming into California community colleges, while we must continue to be cautious in the promise of ongoing increases in state revenues, these new funds should allow the college to do more in very strategic and collaborative ways that focus on building both the capacity of students and the college's programs and services," he said in a statement. "Increasing availability of classes and the number of counselors, lowering class sizes and improving the high school to college transition, so that students are not staying in the system so long because they have to begin their freshman years taking remedial classes must be a priority."