By Olivia Sanchez for The Hechinger Report.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Ohio News Connection reporting for The Hechinger Report-Public News Service Collaboration

Sometimes the only choice is to evolve. 

That was the case for Lorain County Community College in northeastern Ohio, in the heart of the rust belt, when the surrounding manufacturing industry began to crumble in the 1990’s. The college had been founded in part to train workers for automotive and steel manufacturing jobs, and suddenly leaders had to pivot in order to stay relevant and try to keep people in jobs. They shifted their focus to entrepreneurship. Soon, they realized they didn’t need to abandon manufacturing altogether – they just had to evolve for a new world. 

Marcia Ballinger, Lorain’s president, said they learned from local employers that the jobs in Northeastern Ohio were no longer in the traditional factories that relied on manual labor. Instead, many of the new advanced manufacturing jobs require people to climb into big, white “bunny suits,” which keep the working environment clean and looking more like a scientific lab than a factory. They’re more likely to be working with microchips and circuit boards than the steel and automotive parts they would have been handling just a few decades ago. 

It didn’t happen overnight, but Lorain leaders consulted with 80 regional employers, updated the curriculum to align with industry needs, and ultimately developed bachelor’s, associate, and certificate programs that prepare students to work in various micro-electromechanical systems jobs.

“We are not only helping to build that qualified workforce, but part of our moral imperative is moving students, moving our community up the socioeconomic ladder,” said Ballinger, who has been working at the college since 1991. “It was driven by the community, for the community.”

Lorain County Community College’s microelectromechanical systems programs were identified by the Harvard Project on Workforce in a new book, “America’s Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity,” as one of five examples of community colleges thriving, moving in lockstep with local economy, and evolving for the needs of the community.

By highlighting examples from Lorain, Mississippi Gulf Coast, San Jacinto, Pima and Northern Virginia community colleges, Rachel Lipson, co-editor of the book, hopes it can function as a playbook for leaders across the country who want to better serve their communities. And she hopes these examples show that community colleges are worthy of investment. 

Community colleges, Lipson said, “are not just a tool for people thinking about education, but actually if you care about opportunity in the country and economic opportunity being available to more people, here’s a type of place where you should put your money.”

Experts agree that community colleges have immense potential to boost economic and social mobility and reduce racial inequality in the United States. That’s the hopeful view.

That potential comes from sheer size. Despite large enrollment declines, community colleges still enroll about 41 percent of all undergraduate students nationally, and larger shares of Black and Latino students, low-income students and first-generation students. Yet fewer than half of community college students graduate within even eight years of entry, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. 

Many factors contribute to this. Community college students are often older than students at four-year colleges. On top of their academic load, many students juggle children or other family responsibilities, have jobs, and struggle with food, housing and transportation insecurity. A new survey by the education consulting group EAB found that many community college leaders themselves believe that bureaucratic obstacles and poor customer service may also contribute to student retention problems. 

Right now, community colleges are far from reaching the transformative potential these experts see. 

Robert B. Schwartz, a senior advisor of the Harvard Workforce Project and a co-editor of the book, said that, at their best, community colleges are nimble, market-oriented institutions that have the ability to serve their students and better their communities. But these colleges have to go beyond aligning their program offerings with the current workforce needs, Schwartz said, and work with employers “to help shape regional demand and help shape the direction of regional economies.”

The programs highlighted in the book are shining examples of what community colleges can do to better serve students and communities, he said.

“This is what we hope community colleges can grow to become,” Schwartz said. “We desperately need our two-year institutions to really step up.”

Lisa Larson, head of the Community College Growth Engine at the Education Design Lab, a nonprofit that seeks to improve higher education systems and reduce equity and skills gaps, said that community colleges need to totally reframe their services and mission.

Community colleges should think of their role as setting up, not only lifelong learners, but lifelong successful employees, who “can easily see and seamlessly move through both their education and work experience.”

At Lorain County Community College, leaders have established partners with 30 companies in the advanced manufacturing industry alone in order to better serve students and help employers ensure they will have a steady pipeline of trained workers, Ballinger said. 

In the micro-electromechanical systems programs, students can participate in “earn-and-learn” programs, allowing them to work part-time in a local business and go to school, make money, get job experience, and earn credits toward their degree or certificate. 

Some employers that the college partners with will pay for their workers to study micro-electromechanical systems at Lorain, Ballinger said. Others participate in the college’s “earn-and-learn” program, which allows students to be exposed to different employers, understand the work they will be doing, and still come to school two days a week. 

Many students have to work, so it allows them to get paid for the work they are learning to do, get work experience in the field, and be exposed to different regional employers. 

“That became their employment as well as their education, so that they could blend it together,” Ballinger said. “Connection to the employer, it shouldn’t be thought of as after the fact.”

The four other colleges highlighted in the book are:

• Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which did away with the credit and noncredit distinctions and instead created eight subject-focused schools that include both credit and noncredit courses and academic and career advising for all students by school.


• Northern Virginia Community Colleges, which is taking advantage of rapidly growing information technology and cybersecurity fields and preparing students for those jobs in part by partnering with Amazon Web Services to offer an associate degree in applied science in cloud computing.


• Pima Community College in Arizona, which expanded its workforce development division to give employers and students a central hub for jobs. The division includes special teams to support small business development, innovation and lifelong learning.


• San Jacinto College in Houston, which has a road map to boost students’ economic mobility by encouraging career exploration as soon as a student enrolls, reducing the number of general studies majors and connecting students with mentors who can help them work toward their goals.

Olivia Sanchez wrote this article for The Hechinger Report.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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In a country where Black men make up less than 2% of the teaching workforce, a program in Jacksonville is working to shift the balance by recruiting 1,000 Black male teachers by 2025.

Led by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, the "1,000 by 2025" initiative seeks to increase classroom diversity, offering essential representation for Black students who often lack role models within the education system.

Dante Jennings, director of strategic initiatives for the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, said in addition to research showing net positive results, he believes the effort is crucial to ensuring students see themselves reflected in the classroom.

"Not only is it positive for our Black and Brown students to see themselves and who they're getting taught, inspired, molded by - corrected by, even - in schools as well," Jennings asserted. "All students benefit from having diverse male presence in their buildings."

Since its launch, the initiative has made steady progress. However, Jennings acknowledged significant challenges in recruitment, including low pay and retention issues. As of the latest count in September, more than 700 diverse male educators have joined classrooms, approaching the program's goal.

Meanwhile, discussions on educational equity and representation are gaining momentum nationally. Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced her "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men," which includes expanding loan forgiveness programs for Black male teachers and investing in HBCU-led initiatives aligning closely with Jacksonville's goal to build a sustainable pipeline of educators.

Despite challenges, Jennings noted the program is reassessing and troubleshooting issues to reach its goals, forging collaborations with local universities, including historically Black colleges and universities.

"The teacher vacancy to teacher discrepancy in the workforce versus the student demographics is not unique to Jacksonville," Jennings pointed out. "It is a nationwide issue. So we wanted to kind of position ourselves as a model for what could be done."

Jennings hopes the partnerships will create structured pathways for students in teacher education programs to enter the profession, providing mentorship and financial support. Research shows Black male teachers, like Black male students, often encounter racial biases, including heightened scrutiny and misunderstandings from school administrators and peers, which poses another challenge for recruitment.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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In the race for New Hampshire governor, the future of public education is on the line.

Democrat and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig opposes expanding the state's private school voucher program, while Republican former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte aims to remove the income cap for voucher eligibility.

Megan Tuttle, president of the National Education Association-New Hampshire, said the goal of the voucher program is to dismantle public schools.

"It is taking money, it's diverting money away from the public schools and it's putting it into a separate education system," Tuttle pointed out.

Tuttle noted more than 90% of New Hampshire students attend public schools, while the majority of students with vouchers were already enrolled in private, religious or home schools. The vouchers have siphoned more than $70 million from public school districts over the past four years.

The next governor will also determine the fate of current state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, a staunch supporter of vouchers and a so-called Parental Bill of Rights which limits the topics teachers can discuss in the classroom. Ayotte has supported Edelblut's efforts, while Craig said she would immediately replace him.

Tuttle argued Edelblut's disdain for public education has hurt both teacher retention and recruitment efforts.

"It doesn't help anybody who might want to go into education, because they will be going into a profession where they're going to be attacked," Tuttle asserted. "They're not treated as professionals."

Ayotte said she would reward good teachers by improving pay and benefits but ensure they are not bringing politics or gender ideology into the classroom. Craig said she wants to increase teacher pay along with training and professional development.

A 2023 teacher survey found many are leaving the profession due to low pay and what many consider to be a devaluation of their profession.


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The Greater Albany Education Association has voted to strike in as soon as 10 days if no agreement is reached on a new contract with the Greater Albany Public Schools.

After nine months of bargaining, 92% of nearly 500 union members voted in favor of a strike, which would be the first teacher strike in Albany since 1987.

Dana Lovejoy, president of the union who has been in the district for 19 years, noted Albany teacher salaries are currently the lowest among 35 comparable Oregon districts, which she said affects staff recruitment, retention and classroom safety.

"Thirty-four other districts get paid more than we do," Lovejoy pointed out. "People just genuinely cannot afford to stay in this district."

The district said it is disappointed about the strike potential and it would not be able to meet the pay increases, class size limits and staff retention strategies the union is asking for. The union countered by pointing to the district's $15 million surplus, which it said is much higher than needed.

The school district's current salary offer would move Albany teacher pay up to 32nd of 35 comparable Oregon school districts. Lovejoy noted the district has yet to respond to 10 of the union's proposals. She added the money is there but thinks the district needs to reassess its goals.

"We know that a budget is the district's priorities," Lovejoy observed. "So we believe that they could reprioritize and put students first, followed by the staff who are in front of them."

One more mediation session has been scheduled but Lovejoy stressed the union has requested additional meetings to address class size limits, workload and health care. A strike could begin as soon as Nov. 12.

While Lovejoy hopes a walkout will not be necessary, she emphasized the union will stand firm for the sake of the students.

"I think it's important that our community knows that we are fighting for the schools that their children deserve," Lovejoy added.


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