When many of us talk about education in Washington, our conversation revolves around public and charter schools. The Legislature struggles to meet the state Supreme Court’s mandate to fully fund education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Charter schools, overturned by the state Supreme Court last fall but reinstated by the Legislature during its recent special session, continue to draw controversy from those with an interest in the K-12 system.
The education conversation, though, extends deeper than K-12.
Statewide, nearly 386,000 students attend our state’s community and technical colleges. That’s nearly 60 percent of all students enrolled in the state’s public colleges and universities. At Centralia College, more than 7,000 students attended in 2014-15.
Students receive an excellent education at these 34 colleges without paying a premium price. At Centralia College, we help students earn associate and bachelor’s degrees, GEDs and high school diplomas, and create a workforce ready for the job market. Employers need people with the skills we teach.
In spite of this high return on taxpayer investment, the community and technical colleges have seen little relief from the Legislature since the recession. In real dollars, state funding is down to levels not seen since before 2007. The bonds needed to construct, maintain and repair campus buildings across the state have decreased by 55 percent in the same time period. Per-student funding has declined by more than 7 percent.
At the same time, the Legislature raised tuition more than 43 percent (including a much-welcomed 5 percent cut for the 2015-16 school year).
This drop in state funding and the resulting tuition hikes have meant lost opportunities for students, our communities, and our economy.
To maintain and expand our middle class and our world-class economy, our state needs to support and grow our community and technical colleges. Continued budget reductions and tuition increases are not the answer.
State lawmakers cannot leave 386,000 students behind. We need the same urgency and action we saw this year as they saved the education for 1,500 charter-school students. Our state’s community and technical college students, their families, communities and the state depend on it.
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Marty Brown is executive director of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Dr. James Walton is president of Centralia College.
