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# Governor taps local educator for state board
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/governor-taps-local-educator-for-state-board/
- Published: 2004-04-07T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:11:54.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Community, Sunset Park, #archive-import

*Quiñones true to school, seeks reelection at SMC*

SMC — A prominent Latina educator who chairs the Santa Monica College board of trustees was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday to a governing board that oversees all of the state’s 109 community colleges.

If confirmed by the state senate, Margaret Quiñones, 49, a resident of Sunset Park, will join the California Community College board of governors, which makes policy decisions that affect 2.8 million students.

Quiñones, a democrat, said she was honored by the appointment, adding that her primary concern was how the board will help individual campuses stabilize their finances.

“Even though Santa Monica is at the bottom of the funding, so are a lot of other community colleges,” Quiñones said. “Because I work for the community college and I’m a product of the community college, it’s not just going to be about Santa Monica — it’s going to be about all the community colleges in California.

“My perspective is very broad,” she said. “I think much more broad than some of the other board of governors.”

Despite the added commitment, Quiñones said she will run for reelection to the SMC board of trustees in November. She expressed optimism that some of the academic programs cut at SMC last year will be reinstated. The programs were cut in a broad-er effort to fill a $10 million-plus funding shortfall from Sacramento.

“There’s no way — as a community in Santa Monica or any other community — you can be raising students without those opportunities,” Quiñones said. “It was all about money, but the college has always had the intent, and it’s my belief and I think some of the other board members at the college, there will be restoration of those programs. They may not look like how they were before, but they will be restored.

> “My perspective is very broad. I think much more broad than some of the other board of governors.” — — MARGARET QUIÑONES Chair, SMC board of trustees

“Just economically, we have to restore auto technicians,” she added. “I really do care a great deal about those programs. And now I think with the community college coming with a little bit of recovery, this is a direction I think we can go.”

Quiñones was one of six state educators appointed to the board on Tuesday by Schwarzenegger. Also named were: Anthony Alvarado, 61, of Coronado; J. Steven Rhodes, 54, of Los Angeles; Sara Martinez Tucker, 48, of San Francisco; Catherine Unger, 57, of Los Angeles; and Leslie Wang, 56, of Gault.

“Each of these exceptional individuals shares my commitment to higher education and to creating more opportunities for Californians to utilize our excellent community college system,” said Schwarzenegger, who studied at SMC in the early 1970s. “Every person brings a unique background and perspective which will be a tremendous benefit to such an important board.”

Quiñones, a third-generation Californian, is a single mother with two children who both started at SMC before transferring to public universities. Her daughter, Sandra Franco, 26, studies at Cal State University at Northridge. Her son, Francisco Franco, 24, recently graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Quiñones, who in 2000 became the first Latina elected to the SMC board, first spent eight years on the board of education for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, where she was also the first Latina to serve. She’s been a counselor at El Camino College in Torrance since 1988 and served two years as interim dean at Irvine Valley College.

Piedad F. Robertson, president of SMC, and Thomas M. Fallo, superintendent and president of El Camino College, described Quiñones as a dedicated, hard-working counselor.

“Dr. Margaret Quiñones will bring a wealth of experience as a counselor and elected trustee to the statewide community college system at a time that our two-year colleges are facing keen challenges,” said Robertson.

Quiñones is a graduate of SMC who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in mental health research methods from California State University at Dominguez Hills, a master’s in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of California at Los Angeles. She was also a fellow at the John F. Kennedy Harvard School of Government.

The 17-member California Community College board of governors sets policy and provides guidance for the 72 districts and 109 community colleges in California.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 7, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040704.pdf?ref=smdp.com)