| | | | |  | | By Bianca Quilantan | With help from Michael Stratford COMMUNITY COLLEGES COULD BE A KEY WORKFORCE LINK —Congress' CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law on the promise of jump-starting research and development and building a more inclusive technical workforce. Community colleges, which serve the majority of higher education's low-income students and students of color, must be included in the conversation, experts say. — The law has spurred private investments for semiconductor production since the bill was introduced in spring of 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. More than 40 new semiconductor ecosystem projects were announced across the country, nearly $200 billion in investments were announced across 16 states to increase domestic manufacturing capacity, and 40,000 new jobs were announced in the semiconductor ecosystem as part of the new projects.
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President Joe Biden speaks with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger at the groundbreaking of the new Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio, Friday, Sep. 9, 2022. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo | — "Industries that CHIPS is focused on … are going to require a number of middle-skilled jobs," said Shalin Jyotishi, a senior analyst at New America. "These jobs require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree, and that's really where I think community colleges can play a much more proactive role in fulfilling the vision of CHIPS." — Community colleges, which have long had the missions to support workforce training, have the potential to become themissing link between aligning technology development and talent development, Jyotishi said. While four-year colleges typically produce the scientific workforce, two-year colleges are well-suited to respond to the need to produce technicians or the technologist workforce in emerging technology fields. — The colleges will need support and funding to build capacity for training and expand experiential learning or work-based learning. "The investment conversation should be targeted on building capacity at community colleges to partner with four-years, industry and other organizations," he said. — Community colleges could also play a key role in supporting the K-12 STEM pipeline. The National Science Foundation, a key agency in the law, received a $1 billion boost in the last round of government funding to help with implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act. NSF could help community colleges through its grant program that focuses on experiential learning opportunities for adult learners and youth. With the dual-enrollment of high school students on the rise at two-year colleges, it could be a chance for community colleges to support this type of learning on their campuses for K-12 students. Youth apprenticeships will also be important. — "An apprenticeship is the closest possible coupling between education and work," Jyotishi said. "If we can connect CHIPS with community colleges and apprenticeship expansion, I think that's going to be a boon for emerging tech workforce development. "But it's also going to be a political win for folks who want to get more support for CHIPS through appropriations," he added. "Community colleges and apprenticeships are not right-wing or left-wing — they're the whole chicken … there would be an interesting legislative agenda behind those intersections." IT'S MONDAY, JAN. 9. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. Let's grab coffee (even virtually!). Reach me at bquilantan@politico.com. Send tips to my colleagues Mackenzie Wilkes at mwilkes@politico.com, Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com and Michael Stratford at mstratford@politico.com. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
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Former Education Secretary John B. King Jr. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo | KING'S VISION FOR SUNY —John King Jr., former education secretary in the Obama administration, starts as chancellor of the State University of New York today, POLITICO New York's Katelyn Cordero reports. He will helm the state's public 64-campus system with 370,000 students. — King said he is going to focus on rebuilding relationships with the state's education leaders after his rocky tenure as New York's education commissioner from 2011 to 2015. King's time leading the state education department was marred by fights over federal Common Core standards that he tried to implement — a fight that led unions to call for his ouster and ultimately led him to step down. — "I've been talking to lots of legislators and legislative leaders since the Board of Trustees announced my appointment, and folks have been very supportive," King said in an interview with POLITICO. "I think there's incredible consensus across the New York state government about the important role that SUNY can play and the need to make SUNY as successful as possible." — King said he hopes to revive the SUNY system that faces enrollment declines and fiscal troubles. "We've got to continue to maximize investment in research and scholarship, and we have to make sure we're accessing all the federal dollars we can," he said.
| | | SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES — Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit Friday against the tech companies behind major social media platforms arguing that they are to blame for students' worsening mental health, The Associated Press reports. — "Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants' social media platforms," the complaint said. "Worse, the content Defendants curate and direct to youth is too often harmful and exploitive ...." — In emailed statements, Google and Snap said they have worked to protect young people who use their platforms. "We will continue working to make sure our platform is safe and to give Snapchatters dealing with mental health issues resources to help them deal with the challenges facing young people today," Snap said in a written statement. 6-YEAR-OLD SHOOTS VIRGINIA TEACHER — A first-grader shot and wounded a teacher with a handgun at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia during an altercation Friday, The Associated Press reports. No students were hurt. But Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said the gunshot was not an accident. — "Today our students got a lesson in gun violence," said George Parker III, Newport News schools superintendent, "and what guns can do to disrupt, not only an educational environment, but also a family, a community." — American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also issued a statement to renew the teacher union's call for "basic safety precautions like background checks, safe storage laws and red flag provisions, as well as a ban on assault rifles."
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. | Lynne Sladky/AP Photo | "HILLSDALE OF THE SOUTH" —Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday announced plans to remake New College of Florida, the state's liberal arts university, into a more conservative school, POLITICO Florida's Andrew Atterbury reports. The campus will be "refocused" in the image of Hillsdale College, a private conservative religious school in Michigan, according to DeSantis officials. — "It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida's classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South," James Uthmeier, chief of staff for DeSantis, said in a statement. — The Sarasota-based college is the smallest of Florida's 12 state universities. The school enrolled 633 undergraduate students in fall of 2021, marking a 24 percent decrease compared to 838 students in 2017, state data shows. "New College of Florida has reached a moment of critical mass, wherein low student enrollment and other financial stresses have emerged from its skewed focus and impractical course offerings," Taryn Fenske, communications director for DeSantis, said in a statement. — DeSantis appointed six new trustees to the board at New College, including Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who has advised DeSantis on critical race theory. Other appointees include Matthew Spalding, a constitutional government professor and vice president at Hillsdale College's D.C. campus, and Charles R. Kesler, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College who also serves as editor of the Claremont Review of Books.
| | | — Lindsay Fryer, formerly of Penn Hill Group, is starting a new firm, Lodestone DC, focused on strategic consulting, lobbying, and government relations, primarily in the education and workforce policy space. — Kelly Leon is stepping down from the Education Department's Office of Communications and Outreach and heading back to Michigan. Deputy press secretary Fabiola Rodriguez has also left the department's communications team. — Ben Melano is leaving the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and joining the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as its deputy director of federal affairs.
| | | — After 6-year-old is accused in school shooting, many questions and a murky legal path: The New York Times — 8 K-12 trends to watch in 2023: K-12 Dive — America's public schools are losing students: Axios — Here's a look at which colleges are blocking TikTok: Higher Ed Dive — Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors: The Associated Press | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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