Published: Sunday, August 22, 2010
'Skills gap' imperils community colleges
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, "There are no second acts in American lives." And yet, so many of the hopes and dreams of America have been built on exactly that possibility.
Things have changed over our history. The West is no longer the sole provider of those hopes and dreams -- although Alaska still beckons those who would reboot themselves, in both senses of that word. And, unlike previous generations, second chances are more difficult for us now, because we are clothed in cyber-biographies that reveal our histories much like the ribbons on a military uniform display a career-on-a-chest.
We are a people who believe in second chances, sometimes to a fault. It is interesting that in situations where the public interest is involved, not too long ago the common expression used to be, "He deserves a second chance." Today it is not unusual to hear, "He has a right to a second chance."
Long before rights replaced merit, the two-year college in America was the home of the second chance. It was the place of opportunity for those who in one way or another -- economic, academic or temperament -- didn't fit the profile needed to gain entry to and succeed in a four-year college or university.
They used to be called "Junior Colleges," and there are still a few that have retained that name. Their main purpose, initially, was to prepare students who weren't quite ready for the rigors of academic study at the four-year college level.
Their charters broadened over the years and they became increasingly attuned to the educational needs of the workplace and the community … and became community colleges. This allowed efforts to prepare students not only for university-level study but also for the rigors of today's life and workplace by rebalancing the academic and the pragmatic dimensions of knowledge.
Students enroll in community colleges for diverse reasons, but economics often tops the list. That was true before this recession and is even more so now. The lower tuitions and lower living-at-home costs make a community college an attractive alternative even for those high school graduates who had been accepted into four-year institutions.
Community colleges are also an attractive choice for those who have never felt quite comfortable with academic subjects. They offer a second chance to pursue additional education with what they believe to be an increased portion of practical knowledge and a somewhat reduced risk of failure. In an economy that is increasingly based on rapidly changing technology, this is an important goal for education.
Community colleges do not generally have the overhead costs of athletic programs, residential campuses or bloated numbers of tenured faculty, but education is still expensive and community colleges struggle to meet demand.
More importantly, though, the problem that community colleges share with four-year institutions goes back to that one word, "ready." Inadequate reading skills, for example, were cited in Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's recent support for ending the "open admissions" policy in Chicago's City Colleges -- a group of seven community colleges serving the city's residents. The expense of remedial courses, $30 million, and the negative effect on educational quality were both cited in his recommendation.
In principle, California's community colleges still operate on an open enrollment basis. But since there aren't enough spaces in the classes for all and there is no money to expand, attendance is rationed on a first-come-first-served basis. While that seems fair in one sense, it also presents a community college system with a diminished promise of a second chance it once offered. And it may be the future.
Community colleges are drowning in a flood of unready applicants. More than half the new students arriving at community colleges today lack the necessary skills in reading or math to proceed with their education. They need remedial work just to get started -- and many of them are so poorly prepared they even fail at that. And since enrollment at community colleges has increased 17 percent over the past two years, it is easy to imagine what the "skills gap" is doing to resource allocation, academic standards, organizational energy and individual student progress.
Remedial programs have been renamed and are now known as "developmental education" but the new happy-talk name hasn't made them any less remedial or any less a problem. Increasing amounts of community college resources and energy are consumed in cleaning up the educational mess that our public elementary and high schools have made.
Hopes and dreams, expectations and second acts play a larger part in the American economy than Wall Street's and academia's computer models recognize. If the second chances offered by community colleges are diminished, our America and our economy will survive … but it will be a different economy and a different America
James McCusker is a Bothell economist, educator and consultant. He also writes Business 101 monthly for the Snohomish County Business Journal.
Things have changed over our history. The West is no longer the sole provider of those hopes and dreams -- although Alaska still beckons those who would reboot themselves, in both senses of that word. And, unlike previous generations, second chances are more difficult for us now, because we are clothed in cyber-biographies that reveal our histories much like the ribbons on a military uniform display a career-on-a-chest.
We are a people who believe in second chances, sometimes to a fault. It is interesting that in situations where the public interest is involved, not too long ago the common expression used to be, "He deserves a second chance." Today it is not unusual to hear, "He has a right to a second chance."
Long before rights replaced merit, the two-year college in America was the home of the second chance. It was the place of opportunity for those who in one way or another -- economic, academic or temperament -- didn't fit the profile needed to gain entry to and succeed in a four-year college or university.
They used to be called "Junior Colleges," and there are still a few that have retained that name. Their main purpose, initially, was to prepare students who weren't quite ready for the rigors of academic study at the four-year college level.
Their charters broadened over the years and they became increasingly attuned to the educational needs of the workplace and the community … and became community colleges. This allowed efforts to prepare students not only for university-level study but also for the rigors of today's life and workplace by rebalancing the academic and the pragmatic dimensions of knowledge.
Students enroll in community colleges for diverse reasons, but economics often tops the list. That was true before this recession and is even more so now. The lower tuitions and lower living-at-home costs make a community college an attractive alternative even for those high school graduates who had been accepted into four-year institutions.
Community colleges are also an attractive choice for those who have never felt quite comfortable with academic subjects. They offer a second chance to pursue additional education with what they believe to be an increased portion of practical knowledge and a somewhat reduced risk of failure. In an economy that is increasingly based on rapidly changing technology, this is an important goal for education.
Community colleges do not generally have the overhead costs of athletic programs, residential campuses or bloated numbers of tenured faculty, but education is still expensive and community colleges struggle to meet demand.
More importantly, though, the problem that community colleges share with four-year institutions goes back to that one word, "ready." Inadequate reading skills, for example, were cited in Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's recent support for ending the "open admissions" policy in Chicago's City Colleges -- a group of seven community colleges serving the city's residents. The expense of remedial courses, $30 million, and the negative effect on educational quality were both cited in his recommendation.
In principle, California's community colleges still operate on an open enrollment basis. But since there aren't enough spaces in the classes for all and there is no money to expand, attendance is rationed on a first-come-first-served basis. While that seems fair in one sense, it also presents a community college system with a diminished promise of a second chance it once offered. And it may be the future.
Community colleges are drowning in a flood of unready applicants. More than half the new students arriving at community colleges today lack the necessary skills in reading or math to proceed with their education. They need remedial work just to get started -- and many of them are so poorly prepared they even fail at that. And since enrollment at community colleges has increased 17 percent over the past two years, it is easy to imagine what the "skills gap" is doing to resource allocation, academic standards, organizational energy and individual student progress.
Remedial programs have been renamed and are now known as "developmental education" but the new happy-talk name hasn't made them any less remedial or any less a problem. Increasing amounts of community college resources and energy are consumed in cleaning up the educational mess that our public elementary and high schools have made.
Hopes and dreams, expectations and second acts play a larger part in the American economy than Wall Street's and academia's computer models recognize. If the second chances offered by community colleges are diminished, our America and our economy will survive … but it will be a different economy and a different America
James McCusker is a Bothell economist, educator and consultant. He also writes Business 101 monthly for the Snohomish County Business Journal.
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