The Foreign Service Journal, December 2009

88 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT how to pay for college.” Gateway to Opportunity In May, President Barack Obama called on Dr. Jill Biden, a community college professor, lifelong educator and the vice president’s wife, to lead a national effort to raise awareness of the unique importance of community colleges to the nation. Expansion and improvement of the community col- lege system are the focus of the administration’s education initiatives and key elements in its plans for eco- nomic recovery. “As a competitive advantage for the United States, the community col- lege system is essential,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel told a June meeting of the Democratic Lea- dership Council. In training workers in vocational, occupational and techni- cal fields, as well as preparing students for access to four-year institutions, these institutions fill a critical gap for students and society. With this in mind, some federal stimulus funds have been directed to support of community colleges. And, in early June, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan launched a $7 million competitive grant program to help community colleges and other organi- zations prepare the unemployed pop- ulation, such as laid-off autoworkers, for a second career. Speaking at Macomb Community College in Michigan in July, just one day after the Council of Economic Advisers released a report describing how the U.S. labor market will grow and shift toward jobs that require workers with greater analytical and interactive skills, Pres. Obama an- nounced the American Graduation Initiative. The AGI would boost funding to community colleges by $12 billion, with the goal of educating five million more workers, over the next 10 years. “Not since the passage of the original GI Bill and the work of President Truman’s Commission on Higher Education — which helped to double the number of community colleges and increase by sevenfold enrollment in those colleges — have we taken such a historic step on behalf of com- munity colleges in America,” Pres. Obama said. “It will reform and strengthen community colleges like this one from coast to coast so they get the resources that students and schools need — and the results work- ers and businesses demand.” The program would establish a system of competitive grants to increase the effectiveness and impact of community colleges, raise gradua- tion rates, modernize facilities and create new online learning opportu- nities. Continued from page 85