"Community college changes urged; System needs a strong board, report asserts" November 18, 2011|By Mary Carmichael, Globe Staff
Massachusetts’ decentralized community college system should be overseen by a strong governing board that would refocus its mission on workforce development and establish a performance-based funding formula, according to a report the Boston Foundation is expected to release today.
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Yeah, I didn't think it was about education. More like indoctrination and inculcation over there.
The report - based on an extensive yearlong analysis of the system, which has low graduation rates and inconsistent educational programming - also suggests that the new board consider further changes, such as merging Bunker Hill and Roxbury community colleges into one school with two campuses.
The recommendations are likely to ignite debate in the Legislature and provoke an outcry from the state’s 15 community colleges, many of which are trying to implement their own improvements.
“I hope the colleges see this is not a blame game, not an assault, but just the reverse - we’re saying these institutions are crucial to the economic future of the state,’’ said Paul Grogan, chief executive officer of the foundation. He added that he would “have a bunker ready’’ should the schools, and legislators from their districts, prove recalcitrant.
The report has powerful supporters, including the mayor and many business leaders, who say that despite surging enrollment the colleges do not produce enough workers with the right high-tech skills.
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You've been had, college kids. So how much enslaving debt did you accumulate getting that worthless degree?
"Community colleges dispute call for overhaul; Presidents deny need for governing board" by Mary Carmichael | Globe Staff, November 19, 2011
Community college presidents reacted with surprise yesterday to a new Boston Foundation report calling for a dramatic structural and financial overhaul of the state’s 15-school system.
The report cites poor graduation rates and an inability to produce enough workers with the technical skills that employers demand.
In Massachusetts, where we are always told we are so much more ejerkated than others?
It calls for a strong new board to oversee and coordinate the colleges and recommends aggressively measuring student performance and funneling funds to schools with the most impressive statistics.
The presidents said they largely agreed with the report’s assessment of their challenges and some of its recommendations, but they took issue with its chief proposal - the creation of a central governing board - arguing that they already collaborate to solve problems.
“We think we’re doing a hell of a lot better job than we did in the past,’’ said William Messner, president of Holyoke Community College. “We’re on the case.’’
The report was released at a crowded forum at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank yesterday, where many of the college presidents saw it for the first time, if they were lucky enough to get their hands on it before copies ran out....
That's when I got up and walked out.
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