"The problem we are trying to fix is the skills gap; the problem is not the community colleges. The community colleges are the solution."
Governor Deval Patrick

PRESS RELEASE: Coalition disappointed with Senate Ways and Means actions on community college funding, May 16, 2013

The Coalition FOR Community Colleges is a statewide coalition of Massachusetts civic, community and business leaders who want to see community colleges live up to their potential for all students. The need for strong community colleges has never been more urgent: Massachusetts faces a “skills gap” that has left more than 100,000 positions unfilled at a time when 240,000 residents are unemployed, but unqualified for the open jobs.

Convened in light of the growing need to strengthening community colleges and in support of reform efforts to align the colleges with labor market needs, we believe that the state’s 15 community colleges are uniquely positioned to be engines of workforce development but need to embrace change to create opportunities for thousands of students and provide a needed boost to our state’s knowledge economy.