Central control of colleges (USA)

The governor of Massachusetts has proposed an overhaul of the state’s 15 community colleges, The Boston Globe reports. The reforms would see authority over the institutions centralised, with a single board awarding funding on the basis of student numbers and performance. Governor Deval Patrick highlighted the importance of the colleges in meeting the “skill gap” that he said was stopping the state’s 240,000 unemployed from filling the 120,000 job openings available. Bill Hart, executive director of the Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office, said more detail about the plan was needed: “The [college] presidents want to do whatever they can to strengthen the role community colleges play. If there’s any way they can do things better and more efficiently, they’ll want to do that.”

Source: Times Higher Education http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=418880&c=1