I am a member of the state Workforce Investment Board along with so many of our partners from other state agencies. With Gerald Pierce of Wegmans, I co-chair the emerging workers subcommittee of that board. The Workforce Investment Board is eager to meet the Regents this month. The 26 college and university presidents and systems heads on the Higher Education Advisory Council offer good advice on higher education. This month the Council engaged the issue of improving completion rates.
Completion rates vary by sector, and also among different ethnic and income groups.
It is yet another aspect of the gap in achievement. The root causes and the strategies to overcome them are extremely complex. There is a surprising amount of experience and insight on this problem among Council members and this may be a good topic for a statewide conference. The Council also considered the idea of an all-sectors budget in the next budget cycle. It is all too easy to find areas of disagreement.