Do you SEE yourself here?

Folks:

A confirming review is in regarding the need for the "urgent reinvention" of education in the State of Michigan. Now all we need to determine is what would it look like (begin with the end in mind)? Perhaps this may become the signal that the "tipping point" has begun.


LOCAL COMMENT: Michigan's call for more degrees is impressive -- and imperative

BY THOMAS BAILEY and JAMES JACOBS
January 3, 2005

With the recent release of the report of the Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Higher Education, Michigan attempts to define an important new standard for the level of education that states will regard as their responsibility to provide. This report calls for all Michigan citizens to strive for the completion of a post-secondary degree or credential "coupled with a guarantee from the state of financial support linked to the achievement of that goal."

No state has gone this far to make post-secondary education a commitment to its citizens. The report was developed as the result of deliberations of a 41-member task force of educators, business and labor organizations assembled by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has set a goal of doubling over the next decade the number of Michigan residents who have completed a post-secondary degree or another credential of value such as an apprenticeship.

Today only 37 percent of Michigan's 18- to 24-year-olds are enrolled in post-secondary education. That's more than 10 percent below the levels of the leading states in this critical area. Twenty-five percent of Michigan adults have "some college," but no credential past a high school degree.

In dealing with this goal, the commission was well aware that any response needed a bold move, which would put the state in a position of guarantying economic support for all Michiganders who want a credential beyond high school. This step is particularly extraordinary because few states face such a pressing need as Michigan does to alter its fundamental economy. Over the past four years, Michigan has lost more jobs than any other state, as the huge auto-manufacturing base continues to shrink.

While in the past, getting hired in a unionized auto industry job could guarantee decent pay with substantial fringe benefits for those with even less than a high school education, those jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate. To shift to the new economy, the state needs to rapidly enhance the educational levels of its citizens. The commission report argues that increasing the educational credentials of Michigan's citizens is the only way in which the state can be assured of a promising future.

The commission's specific recommendations focus on three important areas. First, the demand that credentials are the desired outcome -- not simply more citizens attending college. Access to higher education still remains an issue for many low-income Michigan families, but the focus of the commission's efforts is on completion. These credentials of value could be college degrees, but they also can be apprenticeships, industry-validated certificates and other forms of non-degree achievements that give economic return in the market place. What the state will measure and support are educational credentials that matter in today's marketplace.

Second, for high school students, the commission demanded the elimination of various multiple high school tracks in favor of making college prep courses the norm. In addition, the commission called for a dramatic increase in the number of school districts using credit-based transition strategies from high school to college. Not only will students in high school prepare for college, but a large number will attend college classes while they are in high school. They will gain not just credits to be used to further their college education, but also familiarity with college level work. That is particularly important for students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Third is the critically important role that community colleges will play. Community colleges will remain institutions to earn a two-year degree, but the commission is also calling for them, in specific circumstances, to offer vocational or applied baccalaureate degrees in many growing economic sectors such as information technology and technical training.

These recommendations and more are a statewide response to the lack of a college-educated workforce, and its implication for the future of Michigan. Throughout the report, there was an emphasis on how the higher educational system must actively recruit students from low-income urban and rural high schools so that Michigan remains a leader in economic development.

This is a tall order in a state where the government budget has been slashed for the past four years and total state spending is no larger today than it was in the mid-1970s. Moreover, the state's largest school district, Detroit, is faced with an enormous fiscal deficit that threatens its viability.

Yet the leadership of the state is committed to moving ahead with this bold vision. One of the most frequent words in the report is "must." This is an imperative for the economic prospects of Michigan and its citizens.

This is a gamble, but it will make Michigan the leading state in providing post-secondary credentials for all of its citizens. In that way, the mitten could become the model for a new merger of workforce and economic development for the rest of the country.

THOMAS R. BAILEY is director and JAMES JACOBS is associate director of the Community College Research Center, an organization dedicated to carrying out and promoting research on major issues affecting the development, growth, and changing roles of community colleges in the United States. CCRC is housed within the Institute on Education and the Economy at Teachers College, Columbia University. Write to them in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI 48226.