"Call to Action" Attracts National Media

The concerns over the poor performance of many students who attend community college are not limited to Texas (please see the previous post).

National organizations representing the nation's almost 1,200 community colleges, their governing boards, faculty, and their 11.8 million students have signed a statement of commitment to increase student completion rates by 50 percent over the next decade during closing ceremonies of the American Association of Community Colleges' convention in Seattle. Leaders of the six groups participated in a public signing of a "Democracy's Colleges: Call to Action" preceding the closing session. The coalition called on all community colleges to share in the commitment.

Because of the convention and statement, many national media outlets have picked up on the issue of student success at community colleges in the U.S.

Here's a pdf of the document.

Here's an interesting interview on PBS' "News Hour" program, with Mary Spilde, president of Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, and chair of the board of directors for the American Association of Community Colleges, and Hilary Pennington, who oversees higher education programs for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is providing funding for the new effort.