Education
Helping people get the needed technical skills to compete in today’s international marketplace is a national priority. To achieve this goal, I will support initiatives designed to improve the effectiveness and impact of America’s community colleges.
Community Colleges: Poised for Success – America’s community colleges enroll more than six million students and constitute 36 percent of this nation’s graduate and undergraduate students[1]. These institutions provide affordable tuition, convenient locations, and flexible schedules designed to accommodate students with or without jobs. Community colleges are uniquely poised to work directly with local businesses, industry and government to provide customized skill training and development programs to meet local economic needs in diverse areas, such as: nursing, health information technology, wind energy technicians, and advanced manufacturing.
America’s Economic Future – America’s future jobs will require technical knowledge, training and skills. According to economic projections, in the years to come, jobs requiring an associate degree or post-high school vocational training will grow more rapidly than jobs requiring no college experience[2]. Because America is facing “rapid technological change and global competition, community colleges are needed more than ever to raise American skills and education levels and keep American businesses competitive.” [3]
Proposals to Strengthen America’s Community Colleges - The federal government must strengthen its support for community colleges. Today, most community colleges receive the bulk of their funding from state and local governments, whose budgets have been devastated by the economic down turn. Moreover, despite the crucial role that community colleges plan in educating America’s workforce, community colleges and technical schools “receive less than 30 percent the level of federal government support provided to four-year colleges.”[4]
I support efforts, like President Obama’s budget-neutral American Graduation Initiative, which set ambitious goals for improved community college graduation rates, as well as providing additional funding to encourage innovative approaches to increasing graduation rates and improving student success. With nearly twenty community colleges serving every corner of this state[5], the State of Kansas would benefit tremendously from these proposals. These institutions could also be the educational cornerstone of a green economy.
[1] Alex P. Kellogg and Robert Tomsho, Obama Plans Community-College Initiative, The Wall Street Journal (July 24, 2009) (available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124753606193236373.html)
[2] Council of Economic Advisors, Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow, (July 2009) (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea/Jobs-of-the-Future/)
[3] The White House Office of the Press Secretary, Fact Sheet on the American Graduation Initiative, (July 14, 2009) (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Excerpts-of-the-Presidents-remarks-in-Warren-Michigan-and-fact-sheet-on-the-American-Graduation-Initiative/).
[4] Sara Goldrick-Rab, Stimulus for America’s Community Colleges, the Brookings Institute (Oct. 27, 2009) (available at http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0203_community_college_berube.aspx)
