Wolf: community colleges can provide improved access to education, training
This article was originally written by Kevin Flowers and published on GoErie.com on December 12, 2016.
Gov. Tom Wolf said access to affordable and effective postsecondary education and job training should be a priority across Pennsylvania.
Wolf, however, is not ready to endorse the latest push to establish a community college in Erie County until he knows more.
"I'm not ready to weigh in on the discussion, to say 'this particular community college is the answer,'" Wolf told the Erie Times-News Editorial Board on Thursday. "Throughout Pennsylvania, we have an access problem to training and workforce development. And in some
"I don't know enough to weigh in on the specifics of the Erie case," Wolf said. "But we need in general throughout Pennsylvania ... to make sure we can answer the question, 'How are we going to get the (job) skills we need?'"
Erie County on Tuesday is expected to approve a $60,000 allocation toward a feasibility study for a community college in the Erie area.
Empower Erie, a nonprofit led by Erie lawyer Ron
At least four members of the seven-member County Council — Chairman Andre Horton and Council members Fiore Leone, Jay Breneman and Kathy Fatica — say they support the study. Local officials
County government's contribution would supplement $300,000 given by the Erie Community Foundation, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority and the Susan Hirt Hagen Fund for Transformational Philanthropy.
If council eventually votes in favor of creating the college, as well as county sponsorship of the school, the Hagen Fund, foundation and ECGRA have promised an additional $3.7 million in support.
DiNicola said that Empower Erie feels confident the state is supportive of its efforts, and he believes the case can be made that Erie County needs a community college. The region is the largest area of Pennsylvania without direct access to a traditional community college, DiNicola said.