I started taking classes at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix while I was still in high school, back before dual enrollment was common. So, yes, this was a while ago.
I was drawn to philosophy, but I also took literature, political science, and English composition. I wanted to learn from teachers who had spent their lives thinking carefully about their subjects.
A good education, I think, should help answer two questions: How can I support myself? And what makes a life worth living?
On the first day of my philosophy class, the professor asked us what the highest good for human beings might be. Not just something pleasant, or whatever makes a person happy on a particular afternoon. He wanted us to consider the deepest answer.
We offered ideas, and then the discussion turned Socratic. The professor tested our assumptions and asked us to explain our reasoning. He pointed out gaps in our arguments. I left with more questions than answers, but I also left wanting to understand what a good life really is.
That was my first experience of community college: committed teachers, serious questions, and a kind of education that made me more curious.
Now, about 25 years into my career as a university professor, two of my sons are taking community college classes. I want them to have the opportunities I had. But these colleges are facing real difficulties. Community college enrollment dropped 22% from 2010 to 2023, a loss of roughly 1.7 million students, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Enrollment has started to recover, but the recent gains have not made up the difference.
That is one reason I pay attention to an election that can be easy to miss: the races for community college governing boards.
In Maricopa County, three candidates are running together as Change4Maricopa: business executive John David Crow for an at-large seat, entrepreneur Ryan Caracciolo in District 4, and educator and administrator Susan Winder in District 3. Winder has 35 years of experience. Their campaign focuses on affordability, workforce and health care training, and bringing back community college football. Depending on where voters live, not everyone will see all three races on their ballot.
The campaign also puts a spotlight on four issues that community college boards across the country should take seriously.
Financial accountability
Community colleges are meant to provide an affordable education. Doing that well takes careful financial management, something higher education institutions do not always get right.
A California state audit released in August 2026 found that several community college districts lacked adequate reserve policies. Of the six districts examined, four had reserves above their own limits or the statewide median. Yet the districts with those larger reserves had no formal plans for using the money to improve student outcomes.
Boards should be prepared to explain how spending supports teaching, student success, or career preparation. Programs with an ideological focus should face the same scrutiny as any other expense. Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives should not be exempt simply because administrators believe their goals are worthwhile.
In the end, fiscal responsibility means being clear about whose money is being spent and what it is meant to accomplish.
Create a path from the classroom to a career
Too many students know the familiar version of the college experience: four years of classes, heavy debt, and a degree that does not necessarily lead to a job. Community colleges can provide a different route.
Students hoping to become electricians, nurses, welders, medical technicians, or semiconductor specialists should be able to see what qualifications they need, complete an affordable program, and move into work. Employers understand which skills are in demand and can help colleges shape relevant training.
Still, I would not want community colleges reduced to job-training centers. Education should address both how a person will earn a living and what gives life meaning. We should not have to give up one question to answer the other.
Face the claim that education can be neutral
Governing boards also have to consider a difficult question: What values should shape education?
For years, Americans have heard that public education can put Christianity aside and remain neutral. I think that idea mistakes the problem. Christianity may have been pushed out, but other ways of seeing the world did not simply disappear. Marxist ideas and political activism, among other things, moved into the space that was supposed to be neutral.
Christians should not have to set aside their convictions to take part in public education. And we should be skeptical of the claim that education can avoid questions of truth and goodness, or ultimately questions about God.
Offer young men a reason to see a future in education
The difference in college enrollment between young men and women remains striking. Research published in July 2026 by the American Institute for Boys and Men found that 43% of women ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college in 2024, compared with 34% of men.
There is no single explanation for that gap. But I doubt that young men will be encouraged to enroll by lectures that present them as the problem. Some may simply decide college is not for them.
A young man interested in advanced manufacturing should be able to see a clear route from education to a job. The same goes for someone hoping to work in health care. Colleges should help young men develop their abilities, not treat them as if they are already guilty of something.
The race near the bottom of the ballot
What should community colleges ultimately do?
I still think about the professor who asked our class to consider the highest good. He helped me picture an intellectual future I had not really imagined before, and that experience eventually contributed to my career teaching philosophy.
Other students discover their direction in nursing, engineering, construction, business, or technology. Their goals are different, but education should help them find and develop their abilities. That is one way it can give people hope.
The people elected to community college boards will influence those opportunities for years. These races rarely attract much attention or major campaign spending. They still matter, and they deserve a look before you finish your ballot.
Community colleges can be great again. So do not stop at the top of the ballot. Keep going, and vote for conservative candidates who understand what these colleges could become.
