May 18, 2021
Contact: Melissa Villarin
Office: 916-327-5365
Office E-mail: MVillarin@CCCCO.edu
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following the Governor’s release of the California Comeback Plan, which includes significant investments in partnerships between the community colleges (“Chancellor’s Office”) and Labor and Workforce Development Agency (“Labor Agency”), the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, and California’s Labor Secretary, Julie A. Su, issued the following joint statement:
Over the last two years, we have worked together on our shared commitment to better align the workforce system to meet the needs of California’s students and employers. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated unemployment have accelerated the need for our work. The pandemic-induced economic crisis has also had a disproportionate impact on women and communities of color in California and derailed the education and employment goals for many of the state’s 2.1 million-strong community college students.
The Governor’s California Comeback Plan prioritizes investment in workforce and jobs recovery with equity and supports the cross-system partnership between our two agencies to achieve rapid recovery.
The Governor’s proposal includes $157 million in one-time General Fund dollars to strengthen collaboration to connect education with good jobs. One proven avenue for doing this is through High Road Training Partnerships which focus on ensuring that training programs are aligned with the skills needed in industries with high labor demand and that individuals who face the greatest barriers to employment have the opportunity to participate in these training programs and have access to these quality jobs. High Road Training Partnerships focus on racial and gender equity, second chances, climate sustainability, and industries critical to the State’s economic recovery, including hospitality, healthcare, transportation, wildfire prevention, and cybersecurity.
The proposed budget also provides an increase of $10 million one-time Proposition 98 General Funds to support California Community Colleges in developing work-based learning opportunities in cloud computing, zero emissions and supply chain fields.
As two key engines of the state’s workforce development, the Chancellor’s Office and the Labor Agency are committed to working collaboratively to help the state’s workforce reskill and upskill to achieve economic mobility and self-sufficiency.
We applaud Governor Newsom for these significant investments in California’s community college students and our future workforce. We know that rapid economic recovery and pathways to good jobs for all require that we work in close partnership and we will continue to seek additional opportunities to expand our cross-agency cooperation.
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 116 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year. California community colleges provide career education and workforce training; guaranteed transfer to four-year universities; degree and certificate pathways; and basic skills education in English and math. As the state’s engine for social and economic mobility, the California Community Colleges supports the Vision for Success, a strategic plan designed to improve student success outcomes, increase transfer rates and eliminate achievement gaps. For more information, please visit the California Community Colleges website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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