With the new year upon us, as well as the next legislative session that begins in just a few days, I look forward to continue addressing many of the needs that are important to us: mental health, public education and infrastructure (water/sewer, transportation, broadband). Just as important is our continued investments in programs that meet current workforce needs but also help identify, develop and train workers for our evolving market demands as well as workers for the economy of the future. Our community colleges are key to this mission.
We know that education is the greatest equalizer and is the ticket to our children’s future. With more education come more opportunities to compete for higher-paying jobs. While funding and addressing the needs of our four-year universities is important, we know that the workforce has great demand for skilled workers who require no bachelor’s degree but necessitate training beyond high school. As the demand increases for skilled workers, our community colleges fill a critical role in the effort to prepare Texans with the work skills they need to compete for higher-paying jobs.
To this end, during the 2021 legislative session I supported the creation of the Texas Commission on Community College Finance to study state appropriations and make recommendations to establish a state funding formula and funding levels sufficient for sustaining viable community college education and training offerings throughout the state. The current funding model is more than 50 years old and no longer supports or fully meets the needs of students, employers or our communities.
The commission has proposed some excellent recommendations that will prioritize funding based on student success as opposed to the number of students served. This performance-based funding means that college funding would be tied to measurable outcomes including the number of credentials that provide professional skills, credentials awarded in high-demand fields, and transfers to four-year universities.
This new model will better support our community colleges that are already taking advantage of the tools the legislature has provided to train our students. These tools provide students the opportunity for a seamless transition from high school to college or to a program that teaches the skills for a high-demand occupation. For example, community colleges are partnering with high schools to create Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools. These are innovative open-enrollment high schools that allow students least likely to attend college an opportunity to receive both a high school diploma and a credential and/or an associate degree.
Texas businesses are struggling to find qualified workers to hire. If we want to keep Texas as the No. 1 state for businesses and job creation, more must be done to increase our workforce pipeline that meets the needs of industry. By tying funding to students’ success, the recommendations by the commission encourage more partnerships and collaboration between high schools, community colleges, four-year universities and industry. When student success is a pathway to a high-demand better paying job — this is a win for all Texans!
Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa represents Texas State Senate District 20, which extends from HidalgoCounty to NuecesCounty. He writes for The Monitor’s Board of Contributors.
