Let’s keep job training affordable

Fernando Franco discusses the positive role that Iowa's community colleges played in his life and his search for a stronger career.

Iowa is known for our quality education and highly skilled workforce, but we can’t afford to move backwards when the jobs of tomorrow require more training than ever. We must invest in workforce training and help more Iowans get the skills they need to take on 21st century jobs.

That’s why we are concerned by Governor Branstad’s proposal to cut Iowa’s investment in community colleges by a total of $6 million compared to last year. The cuts would hit worker training efforts especially hard.

With more than 100,000 Iowans enrolled statewide, community colleges play a key role in training our workforce. If businesses are going to expand or locate in Iowa, we must have a skilled workforce that can meet their needs. As Iowans continue recovering for the national recession, now is not the time to cut funding for worker training.

Middle-class Iowa families depend on affordable community college tuition to get the additional training that helps them land good jobs. Yet tuition at Iowa’s community colleges is already 60 percent higher than the national average, according to the Iowa Department of Education. Cuts to our community colleges could mean further steep increases in tuition.

When it comes to worker training, our community colleges have done a great job. With the ever-increasing demand for skilled workers, we need to ask them to do even more and to give them the resources to do it without making tuition unaffordable.

As we begin to put together the budget, we’ll be working with our Republican colleagues to grow our skilled workforce and bring more jobs to Iowa. If you’d like to lend your voice of support to the outstanding work ofour community colleges, you can sign an online petition at www.iowahouse.org/communitycollege.