Santa Monica College Faculty Association donates $5,000 to local schools

At their first annual Pier Party, the Santa Monica College Faculty Association donated $5,000 to the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation on Sunday, April 27. The event was the Foundation’s yearly effort to raise funds for all schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. This year the Faculty Association, headed by Political Director Tom Peters, presented the check to the Education Foundation’s leadership to support the educational pursuits of the district’s students. Peters, also a high-tech trainer at the SMC Disabled Students Center, called the Foundation’s event “the best cause in the city.”

“Many community leaders and supporters were present and they were all apparently gathered at this fun event to support the Education Foundation, thus supporting the children of Santa Monica” Peters said.

According to Peters, this is the Faculty Association’s first time donating to the district and they were inspired to do so after the SMMEF reported in the local news that it was $800,000 short of its goal of $4 million.

“State budget cuts to education have dramatically reduced the amount of funding schools receive,” Peters said. “As a result, the Education Foundation has had to rely more and more on private support for public education.”

Because many K-12 students in the district will be future students of SMC, the Faculty Association recognizes the inherent benefit in helping these children succeed up to the college level. The donation will specifically go toward the district’s Vision for Student Success, which will provide valued programs for every student throughout the District.

“The beauty of giving to the SMMEF is that the funds will be distributed equally to all of the K-12 schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District regardless of any individual schools’ ability to raise small or large amount of funds,” Peters continued.

He relished in seeing “parents, children, and supporters come together on this great pier of ours to have fun and raise money,” and he hopes for many more celebrations of this type in the future.