Recycling the Economy
Chancellor Gary Poertner gave a release on Jan. 14th about how community colleges give back to the communities.
The idea is that community colleges collect money from property tax and state funding and by graduating students; the students go and get jobs in the community. When the students get the jobs or careers they chose for college they then pay a tax.
This tax according Poertner’s release, for every dollar the community colleges receive and graduate a student the students pays an average tax of around $4.78 back into the local economy.
Some faculty do believe that because there are 2.4 million students in community colleges in California that when they graduate they will give back to the local economy when that student has his or her taxes deducted form their paycheck. Don Mineo said, “Community colleges do better than Cal states and Universities when it comes to a return on the investment.”
According to Mineo he believes that the programs that community colleges offer such as Career Technological Education(CTE) has a better turn around than normal teaching. If students get actual experience from the career rather than just sitting in a class room and having a lab once or twice a week; that does give them a better hands on approach.
Mineo also said, “It’s about creating new avenues for students. The problem with the current issues are not that the school is not working; it is that the companies that do the hiring are outsourcing the communities and that is not giving back to the community.”
Mineo also stressed that the cost of living in California is what is also making it hard for graduates and colleges to give back to the communities. He explained that the nursing program at Saddleback college does help but the job does not pay enough for nurses to live off of.
Mineo believes if the colleges and students are to give back to the community then the solution is not to outsource the jobs. The companies are always looking to find someone who will work for less just to save a little money, which Mineo thinks is the key problem. “We do give back to the community, but we could do more,” Mineo said.
For info go to:
http://www.socccd.edu/Perspective1.14.2013.htm