California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill titled AB 2881 on Sept. 30 that would help student parents at community colleges and universities.
This bill will create a priority registration system for students who are also parents. It also will require colleges to have web pages dedicated to helping inform student parents about programs such as California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) and the California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
“This legislation is super exciting for us,” said Jeanette Mulhern, department chair of early childhood education and coordinator of the Nest.
Mulhern has been involved in supporting legislation that helps student parents in CA in the past. CRC had implemented lactation rooms before a bill that would make community colleges and high schools required to do so, Mulhern said.
Elham Ghaleb, a Nest support teacher at CRC and a teacher at the child development center, shared her thoughts on what impact this bill might have on student parents.
“To have more parents come into school, to be successful, to support their families, themselves, to be able to raise their kids,” Ghaleb said. “I’m sure that’s a great thing for our society, not just for those parents.”
This bill will add CalEITC, YCTC and WIC to the list of public services and programs at community colleges and state universities, according to the bill. The bill does not involve collecting data about student parents.
Mulhern expressed concern about the data involving student parents at the campus.
“The data on student parents is probably 20 to 30% of the population at our college or should be,” Mulhern said. “If we are missing that percentage, it’s because we haven’t had a parent-friendly campus.”
Emely Salgado, a student support specialist at the Nest, understands why some students may not support priority registration for student parents. She said her viewpoints about student parents have changed since she was a student of Mulhern’s.
“My thinking was, why them and not me,” Salgado said. “But now that I see how hard it is, and because part of my job is helping them register, helping them figure out what classes they need to take and seeing that firsthand, it’s good for them to have that priority registration.”
To find out more information about the services that CRC provides for student parents, visit the Nest at their webpage and follow their Instagram @thenest.crc.