Education Proposals to be Part of the State of Union Address

Today, President Barack Obama will be giving his first State of Union address to the Joint Session of Congress. According to the White House, President Obama is expected to push for additional education dollars for higher education and K-12. The Administration is requesting that the Department of Education’s funding level grow by 6%. The President will likely press Congress to pass the FY2010 Education Reconciliation and the American Graduation Initiative. The Administration’s formal budget request will be released on Monday, February 1.

As for the jobs bill, Senate Democratic leaders are coalescing around a proposal that would provide over $80 billion for infrastructure, energy, and state aid. The House passed its $154 billion jobs bill in December. The Senate Democratic leaders may unveil their bill as early as tomorrow.

In other news, the Center for American Progress held an event on “Community Colleges and Competitiveness: Generating Economic Opportunity Through Innovation in Postsecondary Education” this morning in Washington, D.C. The event was keynoted by Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, a professor at Northern Virginia Community College. Assistant Secretary of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education Brenda Dann Messier also keynoted the event.

The event had a number of other speakers including Gail Mellow, President of LaGuardia Community College and Keith Bird, Chancellor Emeritus of Kentucky Community and Technical College System. More information can be found at: http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2010/01/commcoll.html. The video for the event should be available online shortly. Read more!

Center for American Progress Hosts Thought Leaders from White House, Lumina, Gates, JFF & Boeing

This morning, the Center for American Progress hosted a panel of thought leaders to deliberate on "Getting to Work: The Tough Journey of Getting to More Postsecondary Degrees." Panelists (see below) explored opportunities and challenges of meeting President Obama's challenge to increase the number of Americans with postsecondary credentials. While not billed explicitly as a discussion on community college education, the discussion was almost exclusively about the importance of community colleges and ways in which to promote, improve and grow the community college system.

Opening remarks were given by James Kvall, senior director of the White House National Economic Council and Rick Stephens, senior vice president of human resources and administration for the Boeing Company. Featured panelists included:

• Jamie Merisotis, CEO, Lumina Foundation for Education
• Arthur M. Hauptman, independent policy consultant
• Nancy Hoffman, vice president, Jobs for the Future
• Nisha Patel, program officer for special initiatives, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The discussion was moderated by Louis Soares, director of economic mobility, Center for American Progress.

Merisotis, a featured keynote speaker at ACCT's upcoming 40th Annual Community College Leadership Congress in San Francisco, said "for too long, we have focused on means, not goals." "I'm optimistic about the chance to improve community college with the support of the Obama Administration," Merisotis said, "but we still have a long way to go."

Findings of a Center for American Progress paper published in February, "The Other College: Retention and completion rates among two-year college students," were discussed. The study discusses later academic performance of community college students, as well as completion statistics and determines that "America’s future economic success may well depend on how we invest in two-year institutions. National leaders would be wise to move the 'other college' to the forefront of the postsecondary policymaking arena."

Hauptman read from a new study he co-authored with Young Kim entitled "Cost, Commitment and Completion in Higher Education: An International Comparison." Hauptman indicated three goals that he believes should be sought: 1) Focus more attention and resources on community colleges; 2) Develop strategies to improve completion rates and; 3) Consider higher enrollment as a means to moderate costs per student and improve productivity.

The overall message given by the panel suggested that improvements to America's community colleges are necessary, but that these colleges are of great, and increasing, importance to the nation's education system and economy.

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