“Texas needs to step up its support for community colleges and technical schools to build a pool of skilled workers and maintain a competitive workforce, according to a new report from statewide and local business development groups”.
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Erica Greider of the Houston Chronicle outlined initiatives (the full article can be found here) aimed at enhancing support and outcomes for Texas community colleges, with particular emphasis on increasing middle skills gap training and certifications to ensure our workforce is able to meet the state’s growing demands. 54% of jobs in Texas right now are middle skill jobs, meaning they require some college, like a certificate, but not a bachelor’s degree. But only 45% of Texans are considered middle-skilled, creating a “skills gap” that too many of our neighbors fall into. The report, produced by a number of business, education, and policy groups — including the Commit Partnership — includes a series of policy recommendations to aid the work of the Commission on Community College Finance.