Portland Press Herald, Sept. 6, 2005
Editorial
Sanford adult ed works on remedial math for college
A state-local partnership to qualify dislocated workers for degrees looks likely to pay off big.
Helping displaced and laid-off workers who are seeking to get college credit will be a little bit easier in Sanford, thanks to an adult education program run by the town that gives them access to lower-cost courses in remedial math.
It's an idea that other communities should study and imitate.
Displaced mill and factory workers have programs available to them through the state's seven community colleges, where they can get new skills in a variety of career tracks leading to jobs that are currently in demand in the marketplace.
However, it may have been many years - even many decades - since they have been in a classroom, and their skills are no longer suited to the academic environment.
Even worse, while community college per-credit costs are lower than those in the university system, they still are daunting for unemployed or underemployed workers. As one educator noted, "All the research shows that when people run out of financial aid, they stop going to college."
So, the town of Sanford is offering remedial math to such workers at the rate of $75 per course, to get them up to speed to be able to handle college math. That's only 33 percent of the cost of the same course at a community college.
Sanford's effort is part of a state-wide cooperative effort between locally run adult-ed programs and community colleges. The colleges also hope to open dual enrollment courses, which are now available to high schoolers who work toward degrees while completing their secondary diplomas, to adult-ed enrollees as well.
Maine is one of the few states where community colleges do not oversee adult-ed programs directly, and these cooperative efforts between state- and community-run programs is good news for those who need them to improve their odds of success in life.
Copyright 2005, Portland Press Herald, Used with permission.