Community colleges in Pierce County are engines for COVID-19 pandemic recovery

In February, the United States faced a grim reality: The total number of people dead from COVID-19 reached 500,000.

While we face this devastating loss, we contend with how the virus has struck at the heart of our society, economy and community. It’s exposed racial disparities, exhausted our health care systems, and challenged working parents and school-aged children. It has been hard on everyone.

This spring, we are slowly starting to see the end of this pandemic tunnel. Vaccinations are rolling out across the state and our economy is slowly starting to reopen.

And yet, it won’t be business as usual in Washington. Economic disruptions tend to speed up changes already underway in the job market, and the people who lost their jobs might not be the first in line when those jobs re-open.

More and more job offers are going to people who have a credential past high school, whether it’s a certificate, a two-year degree, a four-year degree or an apprenticeship.

Even seasoned employees need to brush up their skills just to stay marketable. Many jobs now demand higher skills in areas like artificial intelligence, data management, cybersecurity, project management, logistics and software technology.

Long-time employees need to enroll in job-relevant classes to stay on top of their game. In the post-COVID-19 economy, Washingtonians will need more education and training, not less.

That’s why the Legislature needs to support higher education for people of all ages and backgrounds, especially those most impacted by the pandemic: Young adults; people without education or training past high school; people from low-income backgrounds; and people of color.

The economic shock has hit diverse employees, especially those in the service, leisure and hospitality industries. Many were balancing multiple, low-wage jobs before the pandemic; now, many of these positions have been eliminated or are significantly changing.

For employees in struggling industries, a college credential can make the difference between unemployment and struggling to make ends meet, and having a stable, well-paying career.

The good news is that a network of colleges and universities in Pierce County is working to create a healthier, more equitable economy. Tacoma Community College and our fellow public higher education institutions — Pierce College, Bates Technical College, Clover Park Technical College, and UW-Tacoma — are dedicated to serving everyone in our communities.

We serve the laid-off hotel worker, the single mom who wants to become a nurse, the veteran who wants to go into IT and the recent high school graduate who aspires to transfer to a university and become a business entrepreneur.

But our students and colleges can’t do it alone. We need the Legislature’s support. When writing the next state budget, we need lawmakers to safeguard state funding for higher education and even make additional investments for the future of our community.

Budget cuts and unfunded mandates result in fewer classes and services for our students, making it more difficult to finish on-time and enter a career or university.

Finally, the Legislature needs to protect, and even invest in, funding for advising and support programs that remove barriers for students from low-income backgrounds, students of color and students who are the first in their families to go to college.

Community and technical colleges play a crucial role in serving the most marginalized and vulnerable students who need extra support to make it through school.

We ask lawmakers to stand by this important need. The Legislature has a strong history of understanding the importance of community and technical colleges and supporting the needs of our colleges and more importantly our students; we hope this strong support continues.

As Washington turns an economic corner, let’s make sure to sustain the strong momentum in supporting higher education, for the sake of our students, community and future.

Ivan L. Harrell, II is president of Tacoma Community College and chair of the Legislative and Public Information Committee of the Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges.