"Valley Interfaith Project, a community organization composed of religious and civic leaders, spoke in support of the tax hike, telling the board members that the increase was small but would yield a good return on investment. 'The state has placed our educational system in a vise grip and now only provides 1 percent of the funding for the district,' Monica Dorcey said.

Read more

150 PCIC leaders, DREAMers and their parents filled the Board Room at Pima Community College and cheered when the Board of Governors voted 4-1 in favor of in-state tuition discounts for DACA students. Currently, hundreds of undocumented local students pay five times the in-state rate and are not eligible for financial aid.

PCIC leader Melanie Nelson spoke of the six Deferred Action Civic Academies held at her church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, last fall. "These students have lawful status now, but they can't afford the high tuition. Before DACA we had several attempted suicides in our parish. Now they need an pathway to an education and a future," she said. Before the vote, Jimmy Ojeda, a homeowner and parent, from St. John's, and Monica Leon, a U of A graduate, from Casa Maria Catholic Worker shared their own immigration stories. The group's goal is now to get the University of Arizona system to follow Pima's lead.