Previously Raccoon Valley Radio reported that the Iowa House passed an educational budget plan and we told you about the state universities.  Today’s focus will be on Iowa’s community colleges.

Republican Representative Chip Baltimore says of the $60 million education budget, $10 million would go to Iowa community colleges.

Baltimore notes two keys reason why he thinks community colleges need additional funding.  One reason is because community colleges provide much more intense training for technical and vocational jobs throughout the state that are seeing higher demands for employment.  The second reason is so that students can complete their general education classes before they go on to one of the state universities.

“So we’re seeing a lot of students coming out of high school, go into a community college for a year of two and get some of those general education requirements out of the way while trying to figure out what they’re interested in.  And they’re doing that more cheaply than they would if they just went straight into a regent university.  So community colleges play a very, very vital role in setting the course of the future for many of our young people.”

Representative Baltimore adds that there’s an increasing amount of students who enroll in community colleges and in order to continue to provide the best educational services, community colleges deserve additional funding.