In the first White House Summit on Community Colleges, President Obama was all praise for the community college system, calling them the "the unsung heroes of America's education system." The summit, held Tuesday marked a milestone in the 109-year-long history of the so-called “junior” colleges.
The president further commented that he was counting on two-year colleges to help the US regain its lead in college completion, by helping to generate an additional 5 million college certificates and degrees over the next 10 years.
President of the Prince George Community College, Charlene Dukes comment that "I think this will get us into the national conversation in a much more visible way."
Obama’s address also came with a warning, that the GOP plans to slash education spending will damage community colleges. He likened the GOP plan to "unilaterally disarming our troops right as they head to the front lines." He further asked audiences to think whether China was slashing education funding or not. Obama is seeking to remedy the slide in education completion standards, after the US has fallen from first place to ninth place in just 10 years.
"As far as I'm concerned, America doesn't play for second place, and it certainly doesn't play for ninth,” Obama quipped.
GOP leaders responded that their pledge is not a blanket cut to funding, but just rolls back nonsecurity discretionary spending to levels comparable to 2008. They further commented that the Republicans simply want to undo Obama’s "reckless spending spree."
