AUSTIN, Texas - A new national survey of community and technical colleges highlights the importance of job-focused education and training.

It finds 35% of students at these schools are taking non-credit courses that lead to industry certifications and credentials. That's a change from students who used to stick with academic courses designed to transfer to a four year school.

Tamar Jacoby - president of Opportunity America, the group that did the survey - said community and technical colleges offer students, whether they're 18 or 48, an affordable pathway to a career.

"Community college students can be job-focused or not job focused,' said Jacoby. "They can be learning welding or nursing or they can be learning liberal arts and sociology."

Texas' Commissioner of Higher Education Harrison Keller says many students enrolled in non-credit programs later pursue four year degrees, but on average, only 20% of community colleges allow students to leverage non-credit learning for college credit.

According to the survey, of the nation's 10.5 million community college students, about three quarters are older than 25.

Last week, the Austin Community College District announced a new partnership with Toyota Motor North America, called "Technician Training and Education Network," to begin next fall. It's designed to provide a pipeline to careers with Toyota and Lexus.

Chauncy Lennon, vice president for learning and work at Lumina Foundation, said the next challenge is getting more American businesses to cross-promote innovation.

"Get industries to come together and better identify their shared skill needs," said Lennon. "And then, signal those over to the community-college system."

A survey question about partnerships between community colleges and local employers found that only about 36% of employer partners offer workplace-based learning opportunities.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

From gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to Superintendent of Public Instruction hopeful Michele Morrow, some Republicans running for office have suggested North Carolina could reject federal funding for public schools.

The idea is raising red flags for parents and teachers alike. The North Carolina Justice Center estimates turning down federal funding could strip more than $1 billion from schools and result in thousands of job losses.

Justin Parmenter, a teacher in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, thinks it would harm vulnerable student populations and strain already underfunded schools, especially in rural areas.

"Things like providing free and reduced (price) lunch for students who need that support," Parmenter outlined. "It would be serving students with special needs. It would be funding programs like substance abuse and mental health care."

Those who would turn down federal funding said it comes with "strings attached" or requirements they do not agree with. But Parmenter countered he has heard no clear plans on how to offset the nearly $1.7 billion shortfall it would create. He stressed a lack of a concrete strategy raises serious concerns about deeper cuts to public education.

Claire Kempner is a parent of three public school students voicing similar concerns, particularly about how cuts would affect rural areas and the quality of education. She worries about teacher retention in the face of low pay.

"We have a really hard time retaining teachers, especially in more rural areas of the state, like where I live," Kempner explained. "Teachers are not paid well enough, where they can live off of their salary. They're going to go to other areas or they may even leave the state completely."

The North Carolina Justice Center reported rejecting federal funds for North Carolina schools would lead to wider gaps in racial and economic opportunities.


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Colorado voters will decide whether to change the state's constitution to ensure families have school choice as a fundamental right.

Kallie Leyba, executive director of the American Federation of Teachers-Colorado, worries Amendment 80 on November's ballot would hurt the state's already underfunded public schools by diverting taxpayer dollars into a private school voucher program.

"Which would put Colorado's budget on the hook for paying for private education," Leyba pointed out. "It would drain the resources that the 95% of kids in Colorado who are attending public schools rely on."

Colorado students already have the right to attend any public school, including charter schools, regardless of where they live under the state's Public Schools and Choice Law. State law also allows families to home school or enroll in private school. Proponents of Amendment 80 said it will cement those rights into the state's constitution and protect parents' rights to educate their children the way they believe is best.

Josh Cowen, senior fellow at the Education Law Center, pointed to decades of evidence showing private school vouchers have led to some of the steepest declines in student achievement on record.

He added measures similar to Amendment 80 passed in Arizona, Florida and Ohio have led to serious budget cuts.

"Those states are spending a billion dollars each right now on vouchers, primarily for kids who are already in private school," Cowen explained. "When you're spending that kind of money on private religious education, you're not spending money on other things."

Leyba argued Amendment 80 could also harm Colorado students in rural parts of the state who depend on public schools.

"We have quite a few districts that are considered rural," Leyba noted. "Those kids don't have the options of private schools. Public schools are their option, and it's really important that we keep those public schools strong."

Palm Beach County schools are working to curb chronic absenteeism, which has surged since the pandemic.

Nearly 39% of Palm Beach County students missed 11 or more days of school last year.

Keith Oswald, chief of equity and wellness for the Palm Beach County School District, said families often face a combination of challenges triggering absences, so the district uses a variety of strategies, including sending notifications to parents when students reach five, 10 or 20 missed school days.

"I would say the more common where we see the 10 to 20 day range, I think it's a bad habit that we picked up from COVID of not coming to school that's stuck," Oswald observed. "Thinking that I could just miss a day or two a month is not a big deal but really, we're trying to educate people that it is a big deal."

The 2024 Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book revealed chronic absenteeism nearly doubled nationwide after the pandemic, with 30% of students missing significant amounts of school. The report also emphasized the long-term economic risks of learning loss, with U.S. students potentially facing $900 billion in lost lifetime earnings due to decreased academic achievement.

According to the Florida Department of Education, the statewide average of kids missing 21 or more days of school has modestly improved from a record high of almost 21% in the 2021-22 school year to 19.4% last year.

Oswald said the district also organizes problem-solving meetings with families to address concerns like transportation and housing instability, which can be primary causes of absenteeism.

"Sometimes it comes with employment; there's sometimes mental health issues in the family," Oswald outlined. "Food insecurity can come up at times. In our most severe cases, I think it's a sense of despair that a family gets into and needs additional support."

When community outreach fails, Oswald noted Palm Beach County has more formal procedures like working with a local judge on truancy interventions to help families understand the law and find solutions. He added the district needs more support staff to help with this dedicated outreach.

According to the Kids Count data, students in poverty and children of color are disproportionately affected by chronic absences, further widening the achievement gap.


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