A coalition of Bay State business groups from outside Greater Boston — representing more than 11,000 companies statewide — is fighting an effort by the Patrick administration and some Boston-based development organizations to consolidate control over the state’s community colleges.
A recent compromise effort in the Legislature failed to satisfy leaders of the rebellion, organized by regional business leaders, including David McKeehan, executive director of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce.
“Those parts of the overall proposal would have control of the community colleges shifted to Boston,” said McKeehan, who helped organize the 17 chambers of commerce that make up the Massachusetts Alliance for Independent Community Colleges. McKeehan scoffed at the suggestion that recent legislative changes represented any kind of a compromise.
The Fitchburg-based regional chamber chief said his members support increased state funding of community colleges, but are vehemently opposed to the governor’s plan to give the state Board of Higher Education more authority over the presidents of the 15 Bay State community colleges. McKeehan’s group also doesn’t want the governor to have the power to appoint the chairmen of trustees for community colleges.
“We’re eager to be supportive of anything that makes sense in trying to deal with the ‘skills gap’ (a term used by Gov. Patrick) and workforce development needs,” McKeehan told the Herald. “It’s just that we don’t think that has anything to do with these changes in governance.”
Jim Klocke, executive vice president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said Patrick’s proposal for increasing state influence over the community colleges represents a middle ground between states that have a heavily centralized system and those like Massachusetts with very decentralized administrations.
Klocke agreed with McKeehan that the state’s community colleges are doing a good job serving their communities and local businesses, but he said more coordination is needed to help students transfer more easily and for the schools to meet statewide goals as well.
Changes to the governor’s original proposal being made in the House should make the plan more acceptable, despite McKeehan’s negative reaction, Klocke said.
“This strikes a balance between a totally decentralized system and a totally centralized system,” Klocke told the Herald.
State Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki said compromise is still possible.
“The governor is not trying to take centralized control over the community colleges, which are important regional institutions. He’s just trying to establish some accountability of their performance and have the 15 schools work together as a consistent system,” Bialecki said. “The governor has proposed one solution. The House has produced another solution. We’re glad to continue to talk about it.”
But McKeehan argued that control needs to remain with the colleges’ local boards.
“Here at Mount Wachusett Community College less than 23 percent of the budget comes from the state,” he said. “The local board is really the group that is responsible for the institution’s sustainability.”