With topics ranging from underemployment to community colleges tackling workforce development, here are some articles worth reading:
Catherine Rampell of The New York Times‘ Economix blog looks at the broader measure of unemployment, the “U-6,” which stood at 16.2% at the end of 2009. “In three states — Michigan, California and Oregon — more than a fifth of people were working less than they’d like to be. Job conditions were most dire in Michigan: The state had a regular unemployment rate of 13.3 percent last year, and a broader unemployment rate of 21.5 percent.”
Surprisingly, California community colleges saw a decrease in enrollment this year, albeit a slight one (1%), with major state-funding cutbacks, writes The Los Angeles Times. “Customers want our services but we cannot offer more classes,” Chancellor Jack Scott said. “Many colleges are dipping into reserves to fund these students. They’ve had to reduce course offerings or they’d be facing bankruptcy.”
Northern Virginia Community College President Robert Templin told lawmakers in Washington that two-year colleges should become “strategic hubs” in workforce development, according to this Community College Times piece. Templin spoke in Washington during WIA reauthorization hearings. “In an era in which high school is no longer the finish line, state and federal programs should utilize and support the public asset that anchors workforce development at the postsecondary education level—the community colleges,” Templin said in his written testimony.