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Residents of Pennsylvania's Erie County are frustrated over what they see as the politicization of a push for a new community college in the area.
A subcommittee of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education met last week to vote on a recommendation to give the full board. While supporters of the proposed Erie County Community College hoped the board would approve the college after years of planning and advocacy, the board instead voted to delay action and hold a public hearing on the matter within the next six months.
Some blamed Joe Scarnati, the Republican senate president pro tempore for Jefferson County, who has vocally opposed a new community college, according to The Times. Scarnati founded the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College in Warren, and he said in a prepared statement last week that approval of a community college would "duplicate educational services."
Members of the faith community in Erie issued a response earlier this week, saying they were "deeply disturbed" by Scarnati's statements and calling the need for a community college in the area a "moral issue."
The nonprofit Empower Erie, which has received grants to advocate for approval of a community college, says on its website that such a college is necessary due to the county's high unemployment rate, high poverty level and aging manufacturer workforce. Existing opportunities for postsecondary education are expensive or not easily accessible to those who need them, the nonprofit says.
