January 12 , 2007 |
Produced by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges |
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This Week in Leg News…
Governor’s education budget Next week in Leg News… Student recommendations for access and affordability
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Gregoire looking out for families Governor Chris Gregoire has a plan to make life better for families. She delivered that plan in her state of the state address to the Legislature on Tuesday. Education plays a major role in the governor’s plan, from early learning through higher education. She hopes to build on the work of the last two years, including expanding early childhood education, cutting K-12 class size and opening doors to college and universities to more students. “We’ve solved real problems for real people,” the governor said. “We have demanded accountability and made the kind of changes that will move families forward.” But, if anyone wonders if that’s enough, the governor says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Quality education, reliable health insurance and a good job are the cornerstones for her plan. “We need an education system that families can rely on to prepare our kids for the globally competitive job market of the 21st century,” she said. Adding more early learning slots, continuing to lower class size and bolstering K-12 math and science are part of her plan to get more students to pass the WASL test. The governor said she recognizes a high school diploma in the future may not be enough. She wants to continue investment in Running Start for the trades, school to work and mentoring programs. The governor sees expansion of high demand programs throughout all of higher education as a way to avoid importing workers for these good paying jobs. In order to give students a chance at these programs, she plans to create a long-term tuition policy, starting with freezing tuition at community and technical colleges to “encourage more students to enroll.” The governor concluded, “When we end this session let’s have people say we got things done … and we’ve provided families a future they can count on. Governor Gregoire releases her “education budget” On December 19, Governor Chris Gregoire released her 2007-09 operating and capital budget proposals. At her press conference she touted what she considered to be an education budget – with 61 percent of her $29.9 billion budget going toward investments in education from early learning to college to workforce training. For the two-year college system, the governor’s budget includes the following highlights: Operating Budget Enrollments The governor proposes over $50 million for 4,675 new funded enrollments. The enrollments are distributed as follows:
Tuition The governor’s budget proposal adopts the two-year system recommendation to freeze tuition at the 2007 level for two years. Her budget proposes $19.7 million to backfill what would have been collected by the colleges assuming 3 percent annual tuition increases over the next two-years. “We’re going to make education more affordable,” stated Gov. Gregoire. “We really need to freeze tuition at our community and technical colleges, which means we pay what they would otherwise receive in tuition … and we need a tuition policy that gets predictability to students and their families.” The funding may be used for faculty salary increases, including increments, per local bargaining agreements. In addition, the governor proposed capping tuition increases at research universities at up to 7 percent, and regional colleges at up to 5 percent. As part of her regional economic development strategy, the governor proposes $5 million for a new regional Opportunity Grant Program to expand the current Opportunity Grant pilot programs for students in a higher income bracket. The grants would cover tuition, fees, books and materials for students to complete education and training in high demand fields. Her budget proposal includes $4 million to expand mentoring and academic support services for TRIO-eligible students (low-income, first generation, or students with disabilities). Compensation The governor’s budget proposal includes permanent funding of the one-time 1.6 percent salary increase funded in 2007 for all employees. In addition, all employees would receive a 3.2 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2008 and a 2 percent COLA in 2009. The COLA is delayed until September 1 for employees not represented by a union. Other items of interest: $3.8 million to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) for an online student advising system. The HECB and SBCTC would work together on this project. Funding to the HECB to allow need-eligible students who only take one course to receive State Need Grants. The Department of Corrections would receive $25 million for its Offender Re-Entry Initiative, which is aimed at reducing recidivism. Inmate education and workforce training are part of this initiative. Washington State University would receive $757,000 to create three new small business development centers in southwest Washington, Kelso/Longview and Aberdeen/Shelton. In addition, Highline CC and Olympic College would add one FTE each to their existing small business development centers. Capital Budget The governor’s capital proposal for all higher education is $1.1 billion, with 49.9 percent going to the four-year institutions and 50.1 percent to the two-year college system. The governor’s Capital budget proposal for community and technical colleges totals nearly $513.2 million. The governor’s proposal follows the system’s prioritized list through the requested infrastructure projects. In addition to direct appropriations, the governor’s budget also includes the system’s total Certificate of Participation request of $46.9 million. Maintenance and operations funding Governor Gregoire proposes full funding for the system’s maintenance and operations (M&O) request (included in the operating budget). Two-year colleges respond to gov’s budget in committee hearings At the House Education Committee on Tuesday, Transition Math Project Communications Coordinator Brian Jeffries spoke on behalf of fully funding the State Board’s request for $1.3 million to expand the project shared by the SBCTC, Higher Education Coordinating Board, Council of Presidents and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “The Transition Math Project has developed College Readiness Math Standards that have been adopted by both the two- and four-year colleges,” Jeffries stated. “These math standards will better prepare students to know what they need to make the transition from K-12 to higher education or to a career.” Currently, the project is focusing on growing local and regional partnerships with high school and college instructors with the goal of sharing curriculum, teaching methods and best practices. In addition, they are working to align college placement tests with the College Readiness Standards statewide, he said. “By not fully funding the request for the project, as proposed in the governor’s budget, we are hurting these local partnerships the most,” Jeffries said. SBCTC Executive Director Charlie Earl spoke before the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday regarding the Governor’s budget recommendations. Earl specifically mentioned the governor’s investments in community and technical college enrollment, flat tuition and Opportunity Grants. “We’re very pleased with those initiatives,” he said. “And as the process of consideration continues, we intend to talk with you about part-time and full-time faculty compensation, equipment and new means of educational content delivery, as those three things all go to the relevance of our system.” Washington Learns report heard in budget committees – direct tie to Governor’s request Governor Chris Gregoire presented the recommendations of her Washington Learns report before the Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committees on Wednesday. Spanning early learning through higher education, Gov. Gregoire stated that the work of Washington Learns laid the groundwork for her 2007-09 budget recommendations. Recommendations point toward greater accountability from educational institutions and a shift from inputs to a greater emphasis on outputs and success. For higher education, the governor highlighted the 8,300 general enrollment slots, most specifically emphasizing the enrollments earmarked for high demand fields. “We can’t afford not to invest in those high demand fields,” she said. She also outlined a plan to make higher education more affordable and predictable for students by freezing tuition at the community and technical colleges and capping tuition at the research universities at 7 percent and regional institutions at 5 percent. To infuse the economy with more educated and skilled workers, the governor spoke of 200 more apprenticeship slots annually at two-year colleges, and the expansion of the Opportunity Grant program to meet regional employer training needs. Public testimony was heard in the House Appropriations Committee. Lisa McFarlane from the League of Education Voters spoke on behalf of the recommendations of Washington Learns and commended the governor for capping tuition and supporting high demand enrollments. “Your challenge will be to improve on this budget,” McFarlane told the committee. Wes Pruitt, legislative liaison for the Workforce Training and Education Coordination Board, echoed support for increasing access to the State Need Grant for part-time students and the expansion of high demand enrollments at community and technical colleges. “Those enrollments are significant to us because the number of (high demand) enrollments that go to the community and technical colleges, go directly to the workforce,” he said. House and Senate higher education committees focus on the future The future of higher education was on the docket in both the House and Senate Higher Education Committees this week as higher education leaders were invited to share their vision for the future and talk about the challenges ahead. On Monday, the House Higher Education Committee began the 2007 legislative session with a work session on strategic plans and goals of the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB), State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), Council of Presidents (COP) and Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB). New committee chair, Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver, stated her committee’s focus would be on getting the big picture of higher education – laying out the plan for future committee discussions on transfer, access and accountability. Jim Sulton, executive director of the HECB, gave a broad overview of Washington’s higher education system and the board’s role in furthering the two main goals of their master plan: to increase opportunities to earn degrees and enhance the system’s responsiveness to the state’s economic needs. Sulton spoke about the collaborative work between the two- and four-year college systems to improve student transferability through Major Related Pathways and the creation of an online advising system. SBCTC Executive Director Charlie Earl spoke to the challenges ahead in increasing student participation and success rates across all higher education. He noted the data gathered in the Washington Learns, Prosperity Partnership and the Workforce Board studies. Earl spoke to Washington’s changing demographics, which include a more diverse population, and industries dependent on a growing number of workers ages 25 to 35 as the Baby Boomers retire. “There are 1.4 million Washingtonians of workforce age today who don’t have education beyond high school,” Earl stated. “This demographic is very important.” These factors, along with the need for Washington to remain globally competitive, were the driving factors behind the two-year colleges’ System Direction, a 10-year plan outlining goals for economic demand, student success and innovation, he said. Collaboration was the major theme throughout the hearing, as committee members were especially interested in knowing which areas the two- and four-year systems and workforce board worked together to collaborate and share common goals in order to be responsive to business, industry and student needs. Terry Teale, executive director of the COP, highlighted the work of the Transition Math Project and Major Related Pathways as two major projects shared across K-12, two- and four-year colleges. And Don Bennett, interim executive director of the WTECB, echoed this collaborative approach in each of the Workforce Board’s strategic objectives. When asked about the high level of coordination between the Workforce Board and the two-year college system, Bennett explained that most industry jobs require the education and training provided at the two-year college level. Committee chair Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, expressed the importance of re-establishing a separate committee to focus on higher education issues to create a 21st century education system in Washington. Associate Director for Policy and Research Bryan Wilson presented the WTECB’s biennial employer survey just recently updated. “Fifty-one percent of employers are still having difficulty finding qualified workers to fill jobs,” Wilson reported. “This shortage runs across industry sectors from construction to manufacturing to nursing.” When asked how to meet employer needs, Wilson’s answer was to fund more enrollments at the two-year college level to provide education and training for high demand industries. “It is often a surprise to people not familiar with it, but only 21 percent of jobs require a bachelor’s degree or higher,” he explained. Wilson also presented the results from the workforce education study, which focused on identifying barriers to workforce education, the financial needs of students, and simplifying the delivery of workforce education aid. “We need to address people where they are,” he said. “We need more slots at two-year colleges, more financial aid for low-income students, and more integrated programs to reach a growing number of non-English speaking people in need of vocational training.” SBCTC’s Earl commended the work of the Workforce Board as he addressed the committee. “This truly shows the cooperative nature of our relationship,” he said. “Their data and analysis give us the information we need to be responsive to the needs of the economy, our students and our employers.” Earl presented the State Board’s system direction and budget request to the committee. Employee training improves companies and employees The Senate Economic Development, Trade and Management Committee has a slogan to guide its work throughout the session, “Washington, the smart state.” On Wednesday the committee met to get smart on the latest happenings with the Job Skills Program and the Customized Job Skills Program. Bryan Wilson, associate director with the WTECB, described Washington as a state lacking in support for customized employee training compared to other states. This is despite the fact that investment in training employees has twice the return as investing in equipment. Carolyn Cummins, policy associate at the SBCTC, described the success of the new Customized Job Training program as “an economic development tool geared toward businesses that are growing new jobs in Washington,” she said. “This is a program that meets growing companies’ very different needs.” Since the start of the Customized Job Training Program this summer, the state has invested $70,000, creating 204 new jobs. In reviewing the Job Skills Program, Cummins described $3 million more training requests than it has the money to provide, translating to a lost opportunity to train 2,100 workers. For this biennium, the state has invested an average of $1,300 per worker to equip nearly 2,900 workers with increased job-specific skills. Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, the prime sponsor of the customized training program said, “We want to attract new companies from out of the state and the country. We are encumbered by the limited dollar amount we can spend.” Geoffrey Lawrence, vice president and general manager of SeaTac Packaging, spoke to the committee as a recipient of training funds through the Job Skills Program. SeaTac Packaging used the training to expand its company, and worked with Pierce College Puyallup and Washington Manufacturing Services to train unskilled workers to learn ESL and efficient manufacturing skills. “Speaking for other companies, … there are a lot of small, basic manufacturing companies which employ unskilled labor like us,” Lawrence said. “It’s extremely important to support the education of those folks to move them up so we can remain competitive.” Rick Hole, plant manager of Oceanspray Cranberries in Aberdeen, is using the new Customized Job Training program and the Job Skills Program to start a new cranberry product production plant in Grays Harbor County. Oceanspray employees will receive 10 days of job retention training and 80 days of technical training provided by Grays Harbor College. “We’re working to change our culture so we can be competitive globally,” Hole said. Using the example of one of his employees who will benefit from basic education while on the job, Hole described to the committee about the change he expects to see in his employees as well the community at large. “We’ll be successful when his children will be able to make education choices he wasn’t able to make.” Enrollment planning overview The House Higher Education Committee heard a wide range of strategies to project future enrollments and recruit students at its work session on Wednesday. According to the Office of Financial Management, if colleges and university enrollment trends continue at their current pace through 2013, two-year colleges would need to add 2,200 slots for full-time students and four-year universities would need to add 1,400 slots each year. That doesn’t take into account policy shifts, such as creating new programs for people currently underserved in higher education. Representatives from the SBCTC, HECB, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, The Evergreen State College, the University of Washington and Washington State University provided testimony on how they plan on meeting the needs of future students. Jennifer Wallace, director of government relations at The Evergreen State College, and Michelle Whittingham, associate vice president for enrollment services at Eastern Washington University, talked about the significant role community and technical college transfer students play in their enrollment demographics. Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, expressed interest in comparing enrollment level trends with tuition increases as well as taking a closer look into enrollment trends for students of color. Mary Alice Grobins, finance director at the SBCTC, explained the thorough process used by the two-year colleges to track trends and project enrollment growth. In addition to population changes, the community and technical colleges try to account for growth in areas that are in demand. For example, students over 25 years old, whose population surges over the next 10 years, will likely enroll in more workforce training programs. The State Board is also studying the effect of tuition on student enrollment. Tana Hasart, president of Pierce Puyallup described three scenarios showing how two-year colleges alter their enrollment, including partnering with local healthcare organizations to open nursing programs to more underrepresented students, breaking apart five-credit technical courses into one-credit chunks to be more friendly to working adults, and ending technical programs that no longer have a local workforce need. Hasart said, “When you differentiate enrollment planning and management from the universities to the community and technical colleges, we’re talking about access and responsiveness directly at the community level.” Two-year colleges highlighted as key to bachelors degree production The Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Workforce Development Committee chaired by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, heard several research reports related to the state’s economy at its session on Tuesday. Bill McSherry, director of economic development, and Angela Kerwin, senior policy analyst at the Puget Sound Regional Council, presented the work of the higher education workgroup of the Prosperity Partnership, a coalition of government, business, labor and community organizations from King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties dedicated to developing and implementing a common economic strategy for the region. Their proposal includes producing 8,000 more bachelor’s degrees by 2010 in high demand areas such as computer science and engineering. Kerwin highlighted the community and technical colleges as the key link because 40 percent of high demand bachelor’s degree graduates get their start at a two-year college. McSherry indicated that the Partnership proposal also includes a recommendation to increase applied associate degrees in several related fields. The committee showed appreciation for the information provided by McSherry and Kerwin. One of the newest members of the committee, Sen. Jim Clements, R-Selah, supported the need for more math and science teachers for eastern Washington. Committee hears support for corrections education The Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee met Thursday to consider SB 5070, which incorporates changes to existing laws and new provisions that impact offenders returning to the community after prison. In his opening remarks Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, commented that we are at a crossroads. We must decide if we are in the business of “building prisons or building lives”. Kathy Goebel, SBCTC program administrator for corrections education, urged the committee to include language in the bill to increase educational and vocational training programs at our state correctional facilities. She indicated a recent Washington State Institute for Public Policy report concluded that investment in evidence-based programs will reduce recidivism and criminal justice costs for taxpayers. Both the Department of Corrections and the Joint Legislative Task Force on Offenders Programs, Sentencing and Supervision support expanding education and employment training programs for eligible offenders. Tim Boutz, a faculty member at Walla Walla Community College, and Ari Kohn with the Post-Release Prison Education Program, both spoke of their concerns that the bill does not go far enough to provide offenders with access to post-secondary education programs in prisons and in the community. Ginger Richardson, a community corrections officer with the Department of Corrections and representing the Federation of State Employees, strongly urged that language be included in the bill to provide follow-through for offenders to continue their basic skills education through the completion of a GED even after their release from confinement. Cliff Traisman, lobbyist for the American Federation of Teachers-Washington, testified that the federation had provided the bill sponsors with several friendly amendments that would increase community colleges faculties’ ability to be involved in decisions regarding correctional education programs and offender re-entry plans. Apprenticeship update in House The House Education Committee met Thursday morning to hear an update on the pre-apprenticeship incentive grants and pilot projects. Presenters from business and labor talked about the opportunities for expansion of secondary pre-apprenticeship and other career and technical programs for the trades. They praised the Renton Technical College Construction Center of Excellence for providing collaboration and support to further the apprenticeship program. Several also spoke in support of the governor’s proposal for 400 high demand FTEs for apprenticeships. Terry Tilton of the Washington Building and Construction Trades Council described pre-apprenticeship programs as providing rigor in both academics and technical skills. She described the hurdle of raising awareness among young people. In a recent job interest survey, construction trades rated 248th out of 250th amongst high school students, despite the high wages they can earn. Danilo Petines, Jr., a student at South Seattle Community College and Steven Taylor, a student at Seattle Vocational Institute talked about the job opportunities they’ve received from being apprentices. It wouldn’t be session without those obscure bills… To continue our long-standing tradition of demonstrating no bill flies under the radar of our deft legislative liaison, we are adding three more “official Washington state” bills introduced this session. If passed, House Bill 1084, will make the Lady Washington the official ship of the state of Washington. House Bill 1069, will designate the Pacific chorus frog as the state amphibian. And Senate Bill 5064, would designate the Garry Oak as the official oak tree of the Washington state. In 2005, the orca whale joined these other official state symbols: apple as the fruit; steelhead trout as the fish; American Goldfinch as the bird; “Alki” as the motto; coast rhododendron as the flower; “The Evergreen State” as the nickname; western hemlock as the tree; “Washington, My Home” as the song; petrified wood as the gem; square dance as the dance; “President Washington” as the ship (not sure if this will conflict with HB 1084); “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On” as the folk song; bluebunch wheatgrass as the grass; green darner dragonfly as the insect; and Columbian Mammoth as the fossil. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you updated… Legislative News is back in production The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges Communications Office is geared up to offer you another season of Legislative News. Suzy Ames, Erin Brown and Amy Boatright are working behind the scenes to produce reviews of the major issues of interest to Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges. We also will keep you posted on legislative hearings, and the status of bills of interest to students, colleges and their employees. Legislative News continues to be published early Friday afternoons during the session, and is distributed via e-mail to State Board members, trustees, college presidents, public information officers and others who want to catch up on the latest information. A copy is also posted on the State Board’s Web site, www.sbctc.edu. If you would like to receive Legislative News electronically, please send a message to Suzy Ames at sames@sbctc.edu. We welcome any questions or comments you may have regarding the publication. Please contact Suzy Ames via e-mail or call (360) 704-4310.
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