Obama: Community Colleges Can Boost Economy

From CNN, "Obama: Community Colleges Can Help Boost Ailing Economy":

Community colleges are only two-year institutions, but the Obama administration says they could play a key role in helping boost the ailing economy for years to come.

To underscore that contention Tuesday, the president unveiled the American Graduation Initiative, a 10-year, $12 billion plan to invest in community colleges.

During his announcement at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, Obama noted that the economic recession and a changing U.S. economy have reduced the number of automotive industry jobs, a mainstay in Michigan.

The "hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won't be coming back. They are casualties of a changing economy," Obama said, adding that "even before this recession hit, we were faced with an economy that was simply not creating or sustaining enough new, well-paying jobs."

Also, see Dana Pico's related essay at Common Sense Political Thought, "Donald Douglas and the Community College System (with links to my recent essays on blogging and teaching at the two-year college level).