WTCS President Dan Clancy's
Statement on Representative Mason's Wisconsin Jobs Initiative
Representative Cory Mason’s jobs proposal and the public discussion that it inspires could not have come at a better time. President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative is pushing for greater federal investment in two-year community and technical colleges and raising expectations for strong economic outcomes from this investment. Despite the recent budget decisions of the Legislature and Governor to increase student financial aid, the longstanding shortage of financial assistance for technical college students has worsened.
Wisconsin’s technical colleges are designing new programs, developing online and alternative means of educating our state’s workforce in the very industries that economic experts believe will ensure America’s future prosperity: clean energy, renewable resources, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing and technology. New resources are needed, however, if technical colleges are to fully meet the challenges of soaring enrollments, more complex and diverse student populations, and a constantly evolving technical sophistication within our economy.
These are difficult financial times for the state as well as its citizens and the Legislature will have to choose from among many worthy and competing priorities. Representative Mason has been a leader in efforts to prioritize new pathways to prosperity through job creation and retention and he has consistently advocated that effective jobs legislation must involve Wisconsin’s technical colleges. We agree there is no better place for human potential to be turned into family-supporting employment and economic success. Representative Mason’s Wisconsin Jobs Initiative is a bold proposal that could leverage new federal investment in the state and enable Wisconsin’s technical colleges to educate more highly-skilled workers in fields that will create and sustain jobs in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Technical College System is eager to work with the Legislature and the Governor to expand technical college capacity for workers and employers and to enhance
students’ access to college for the economic betterment of all.
Dan Clancy is President of the Wisconsin Technical College System and serves on the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges.
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