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Tom Watkins served as Michigan's State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2001-2005. He has an extensive background in multiple arenas: government - having served as Michigan's State Mental Health Director from 1986-1990 and as an elected member of the Wayne County, Michigan, Charter Commission; business - as founder, owner and CEO of his consulting business, and President and CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County; and nonprofit organizations - either leading them or serving on numerous boards of directors. He is a prolific writer and a sought-out speaker. Tom brings his visionary, non-traditional views to education because of his rich and diverse background in Pre-K-12 education, higher education, business, government, politics, media, and nonprofit leadership.
 
Tom can be reached at tdwatkins@aol.com    
 
1) As a former state superintendent and business leader – why do you express such an interest in community colleges?
 
Community colleges are making a significant difference in the state of Michigan and across the country in helping prepare our students and employees for the hyper-competitive, disruptive, transformational, and technologically‑driven global economy.
 
My support is professional as well as personal. I am a product of Michigan's excellent community college system. My degrees from Michigan State University and Wayne State University are built on the solid education I received at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan.
 
Community colleges are viewed by many as the best value in higher education today. It has been estimated that students can save close to half the cost of a baccalaureate degree by starting at a community college and transferring to a four-year college or university. With low costs, small class sizes and easy-to-transfer credits, a community college can be the solution for which financially strapped students, families and businesses are looking.
 
It is critical in today's tough economic climate that education is provided from the "womb-to the-tomb." Community colleges provide affordable opportunities for people of all ages to continue their education and either improve or acquire skills needed to thrive in today's economy. They add value to the individual and to the communities they serve.
 
2) Should every child/adult get a four-year college degree?
 
It depends on the person's career goals. It has been estimated that 85 percent of the jobs of the future will require more than a high school education and something less than a four‑year college degree. This fact makes our community colleges even more valuable today as they prepare our citizens for jobs of the 21st century. Talent and knowledge are the most valuable commodities in today's global economy. We must do all we can to educate our citizens to world-class standards and ensure their talents and skills remain relevant so they can remain competitive. Community colleges provide an affordable and close to home/work means to do that.
 
3) Across the country and certainly in Michigan, with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, the cost of attending higher education is going through the roof. Tell me, where do you see the value-added in attending a community college?
 
Community colleges provide the best educational and economic investment states can make and people can make in themselves. Community colleges are easily accessible for most people. Across our nation, there are community colleges that can reduce the cost of getting a four-year college degree, jump start a career, help give people a boost up the higher education ladder, provide the skills needed to improve current employment situations or allow them to take a course for fun and to continue a quest for lifelong knowledge.
 
Michigan has 28 community colleges. They have carried a heavy load - and will continue to do so - as Michigan transforms itself from a state where one used to be able to lift for a living to one where everyone will need to think for a living. Knowledge and talent are the 21st century mother lode. As Michigan's economy evolves, many of its citizens are using community colleges as the means to tap into it.
 
Kevin Carey, a research and policy manager at Education Sector, an independent, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. that is devoted to developing innovative solutions to the nation's most pressing educational problems, said this in Washington Monthly Magazine about the value of our nation's community colleges:
 
     * Community colleges now represent a huge slice of the higher education pie: 43 percent of college freshmen begin their education at two-year institutions.
 
     * Community colleges have taken on the toughest job in higher education, teaching lower-income students. Fifty-four percent of community college students receive a Pell Grant (the main federal need-based financial aid program).
 
     * Community colleges will be a linchpin to jump-start our economy. Today's students/workers need to be able to learn continuously, think critically and adapt to a changing economy.
 
Because of their accessibility and affordability, and their ability to provide reasonably priced continuing education, community colleges meet the needs of a significant portion of America's population.
 
4) How do community colleges in Michigan partner with business to assure workers' skills are updated and meet business' needs?
 
Michigan's community colleges provide the setting for investment in human capital and provide the fuel for the economic engine of our state to help make us globally competitive. Our community colleges are partnering with business to add value in a number of ways:
 
     * Training and retraining existing workers. For Michigan to reinvent itself, it is critical for the workforce to continually upgrade its knowledge and skills. Our community colleges are helping by providing on-demand training and working with health care as well as business and industry to provide adaptable and industry-specific worker training. The goals are to make our workforce well-educated, well‑trained, agile and ready to perform at top efficiency.
 
     * No Worker Left Behind Program. Using federal funds, Michigan's governor has wisely packaged a No Worker Left Behind educational support program. It is a life raft for many workers and their families to help bridge the tough economic transition that many of them are facing. This program will help more than 100,000 families by providing up to two years free tuition at any Michigan community college or other approved training program and allow displaced workers to receive training in high-demand skills while receiving unemployment benefits. For more information on the NWLB program go to www.michigna.gov/nwlb <http://www.michigna.gov/nwlb> .
 
Michigan Technical Education Centers. These educational and training centers take the concept of school-to-work to a new level, bringing workforce preparedness skills to employers across the state. The M-Tec Centers are located close to major employers, where they can best meet specific needs, and have local business people serve on their advisory boards. This relationship ensures that the training provided has both academic rigor and real world applicability. It's real world training and skill building - for the real world.
 
People are a business' most valuable resource. Investing in your personnel is a smart strategy to stay ahead and beat your competition, regardless if it is around the corner or around the world. Training and skill building at your local community college just makes good business sense.
 
A highly trained and motivated workforce focused on achieving an organization's goals will beat the competition. Training and skill development are the advantage. 

5) Many view you as a visionary leader who has been an effective and outspoken advocate for public education and community colleges, especially for uplifting the teachers and instructors who work at these public institutions. Does that mean you think the status quo is fine - and there is nothing to change in our system of community colleges?
 
If you believe as I do - that our public schools and community colleges are the true Statue of Liberty of this great country of ours - then our teachers and instructors are the light illuminating the way for us all. I truly value the men and women who give it their all each and every day to teach our nation's future workforce and leaders.
 
Having said that, our world is changing in dramatic ways. Our system of education must not only embrace change, but lead it, or we will be swamped. Community colleges, with the critical role they play in preparing our citizens for the ever-changing world, must always be at the forefront of adapting to change.
 
The viability of our communities, the strength of our economy, the quality of our lives and our place in the world depend on what we do to prepare our citizens for this world. Put bluntly, if we do not keep pace with change or lead it, we will be roadkill as change runs over us. Even the best organizations need to anticipate change and look for ways to take it to the next level. We know, in this fast-paced world, that staying even is falling behind. 
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6) I heard a speech you gave once where you called our public schools and our community colleges the "true Statute of Liberty" of this great country of ours – you referred to the concept in the above question. Can you elaborate on this?
 
I firmly believe that our community colleges, like our neighborhood public schools, are the true Statute of Liberty in this great country of ours. They take the tired, the hungry, the poor, the huddled masses and give them hope and opportunity. Compare my belief to what exists in other countries and you will understand what I mean. I have traveled extensively in China where the desire for higher education is palpable. If Chinese students do not test well and score in the top percentile of students taking the test, they are pushed aside and sent to work in a factory or the fields. Their future opportunities are very limited. Fortunately, America is the land of opportunity. Our community colleges are the grand entranceways to enhance knowledge and skills while giving a boost up the economic ladder of life.
 
Former President Bill Clinton captured the essence and the value of our community colleges when he said, "Our community colleges are the most open, democratic and opportunity-filled institutions in the United States today."
 
If community colleges did not did not exist today, there would be a mad rush to create them. Think about it. Name other institutions in your community that give multiple opportunities to be successful at a reasonable cost. Anyone seeking a quality education at a reasonable cost should consider attending classes at their local community college
 
7) In articles you have written you have been very passionate about knowledge and talent being the hot commodity in the 21st century's disruptive, technological, global economy. Explain why this is so important to Michigan and other states.
 
The Washington Post recently reported that Volkswagen is moving its North American headquarters from Michigan to Virginia so it can attract a skilled young work force. Stefan Jacoby, the newly‑arrived CEO of VW North America, told the Post, "by reducing this organization by 30 percent, you need even more talents, more creative people, more motivated people. Good schools, skilled workers made it an attractive site."
 
Another reminder that talent rules!
 
I have argued that as policy makers review laws and think of creating new ones, they need to measure every decision they are about to make against what their actions are doing to make Michigan and America the talent bank of the world. Are they investing in educating our youth and retraining the existing workforce? Will the policies being set retain the talent that currently resides in my home state of Michigan? Is the state fostering policies and laws that will make Michigan a world-wide talent magnet? Michigan needs to realize that if it is not doing this, our neighboring states and global competitors are. The sooner Michigan comes together as a state, and grasps and acts on these concepts, the sooner Michigan will start to adapt to the world's new economy and begin to thrive.
 
Political leaders across the country are making sensible, strategic policy decisions that will help their citizens, communities, states, regions and nation prosper in this hyper-competitive, technologically-driven, disruptive, transformational world in which we live.
 
As a nation, we need to wake up and come to the realization that, in the 21st century – talent matters.
 
8) You have been in the forefront in terms of building bridges and connections - both academic and economic - between Michigan and China for some time. In fact, I have read that the Executive of Oakland County, Michigan, credits you with the idea of having ALL schools in Oakland County offer Chinese language in their schools. Please tell our readers why you believe this is so critical for our future.
 
We used to compete with the state next door and a few foreign countries. The 21st century will belong to the cities, regions, states and nations that invest in their people. With Russia, India and China entering the world economy we are now competing against 3 billion new capitalists.
 
China has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Some predict their economy will surpass America's economy in the next 10 years. It remains to be seen whether that will happen. But we must be ready, willing and able to work and compete with China on a level playing field.
 
My earliest memory of China was my mom imploring me to "eat your peas, kids in China are starving!" Today the Chinese aren't only eating our peas but are hungry for our jobs and middle class way of life. China's economy has been on steroids since the early 1980's. It has grown at double-digit rate each year for more than two decades while our economy has grown at a rate of 2.5‑3.0 percent during the same period. China is now the second largest auto market in the world. China has lifted more people out of poverty than any other country in human history. It is reported that there are more people learning English in China than there are people in the US.
 
China's economic growth is impacting the global economy. Today we live in a borderless world where ideas and commerce flow across the globe effortlessly. These facts are driven home by the on-going restructuring of the automotive industry and the subsequent loss of more than 250,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs in Michigan during the last few years. These changes are being felt in our schools, government and businesses big and small. There is also a human toll being felt by families across the state that helped put the world on wheels as breadwinners lose old-economy jobs and are not sufficiently skilled to compete in the new economy. Those individuals, like cities, states and nations that are unable to compete, will go the way of the dinosaur.
 
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson understands that our children must be ready to compete - not only with the kids in the school district or state next door – but with the children of the world. He has called for being the first large county in America where Mandarin Chinese will be offered at every school. The Oakland County schools, with the visionary leadership of their school board and superintendent, Dr, Vicki Markavitch, have accepted this challenge and are moving aggressively to make this dream a reality. This educational initiative is critical if Michigan and America are to catch up with the Chinese in teaching foreign languages. Many globalists are predicting that the language acquisition imbalance between the United States and China and other emerging markets could be as huge an impediment to maintaining our economic leadership role in the world as the ever-growing trade imbalance.
 
There is much discussion about concerns that some Americans have with China regarding such issues intellectual property rights, unfair trade, currency manipulation and human rights violations. In this day and age of xenophobia, it would be easy for leaders to play "Peking Duck" and not engage China. That would be short‑sighted and harmful. We need leaders in government, business and academia to help build two-way bridges that will bring the world to our children and, eventually, Chinese business to Michigan and America.
 
We need to embrace globalization to make it work for us -- or surely it will engulf us.
 
9) You wrote a report, "Exploring e-Learning Reforms for Michigan - The New Education (R)evolution," while at Wayne State University. It has received national and international attention and has been translated into Mandarin Chinese. Tell us about this report. Where can our readers find a copy?
 
Copies of the report can be found at the North American Council of Online Learning at: www.nacol.org

My report is about the future. It explores the uses of technology in general, and, e‑learning in particular, to help lead the change into the 21st century. We cannot lead in the 21st century without casting off the anchors of attitude, archaic laws and public polices and beliefs that bind us to the 19th and 20th century education models.
 
Education must adapt to a changing world by liberating educators and students from the traditional industrial model. This model structures learning to a six‑hour day delivered within the confines of the four walls of a classroom and school building.
 
Today's students increasingly expect a learning experience that is relevant, authentic and real. They require skills and knowledge that will enable success in a new world that is global, agile, creative and entrepreneurial. Will they be ready? The answer is "Yes"  - but only if educators and business and community leaders engage their collective imaginations and energy to deliver quality learning that meets the needs of EVERY student on a 24/7 cycle.
 
I have been pleased that a number of my recommendations have been adopted in Michigan, across the United States and around the world. Students in today's schools will confront a rapidly‑changing, disruptive, information and technologically-driven world that will defy predictability. This report provides some clues about how educational organizations can position themselves to lead change in the 21st century.

Many community colleges are taping the potential of technology in general and e-learning specifically to expand their educational reach.
 
10) You have been credited with calling for Michigan and America to become the "brain bank of the world" where everyone comes for deposits and withdrawals. This has resonated with many across the country. Can you elaborate on this?
 
Perhaps nowhere more than in Michigan is it so abundantly clear that the world has changed in drastic ways. Unless our workforce adapts the middle-class lifestyle that we have grown accustomed to will become as extinct as the Tyrannosaurus Rex. In the 21st century, the dominant skills for those who remain competitive in the global economy will be knowledge, creativity, innovation, talent and the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn. The individuals, communities, states and nations that invest in their citizens' human potential so they can tap into global markets will thrive in the future. America, and in particular Michigan, needs to make these investments now.
 
Alvin and Heidi Toffler, the noted futurists, in the 2006 book, Revolutionary Wealth – How It Will Be Created and How It Will Change Our Lives, pose a number of forward‑looking concepts that our leaders would be wise to absorb. The Toffler's point out that those nations across the glove are pushing to build advanced economies.
 
The Toffler's highlight that those regions and nations that will be successful in the future need to grasp a simple fact: "An advanced economy needs an advanced society, for every economy is a product of the society in which it is embedded and is dependent on its key institutions."
 
In a world where knowledge and talent are supreme, what are we doing to create wind under the wings of our key institutions such as our K‑12 schools, apprenticeship and trade school programs, community colleges and other institutions of higher education?
 
If Michigan wishes to lead as it has in the past, it must accelerate its transition from the old "lift for a living" factory economy to the emerging "think for a living" knowledge economy. The collective efforts of leaders across the state must be focused like a laser on attracting and retaining "blue" and "white" collar workers who will create wealth and jobs in the 21st century.
 
The policies and goals of each state, and this nation, should be to have a society that is well educated, agile and readily adaptable to change. Businesses will locate or remain where there is a workforce in which it is worth making investments or deposits so they can make "withdrawals" of their skills.
 
In the 21st century, talent matters.
 
11) Sometimes people view a community college as a second class education Do you believe this to be true?
 
No, not at all.
 
It troubles me that, for far too many people, the thought of attending a community college equates to an inferior education, to something less than moving from high school to a four‑year college or university. While not scientific, I ask servers at restaurants across the country if they are attending college. Inevitably, someone who is attending a community college will reply, "I am JUST going to a community college." That response frustrates me. We have to change the mindset in our country that attending a community college (the former "junior" college) is somehow inferior - it is not.
 
It is estimated that upwards of 40 percent of kids that leave high school to attend a four‑year university drop out after their freshman year. As an alternative, a good portion of those students should attend their local community college. They can get their educational foundation, obtain their certification or associate degree and move into to a successful career, or continue their education and complete their four‑year degree.
 
12) I personally attended a community college - Westchester Community College in Valhalla to be exact - and I found the instructors to be challenging, stimulating; and I believe I got a first-class education. But that was more than 20 years ago. Have things changed since then?
 
Of course things have changed. I believe our community colleges were good when you and I attended them a number of years ago. And they have gotten better with time. I enjoyed getting to know my instructors and the sense that they actually cared about me as a person, that I was not just one of hundreds of nameless, faceless students crammed into a cavernous lecture hall.
 
Recently, I have spent time on a number of campuses of a local community college in Oakland County, Michigan. I was extremely impressed with the challenging course work and how engaged and responsive the students seemed to be. Again, while not scientific, I must have spoken to 100 or more students that make up the rich tapestry of most community colleges. Their ages ranged from 18-70‑plus. Their backgrounds were just as far-ranging - factory workers seeking new skills; laid-off middle aged dads; women looking to re-enter the work force; and fresh, young, recent high school grads of all ethnicities and races. To a person, they were pleased with the quality of education being offered to them.
 
Young Brian said it best, "With the skills and knowledge I am gaining here, well, there is no stopping me now!"
 
13) Currently I find most professors still indicate the community college to be excellent except in one regard - and that is writing. Are the community colleges lagging behind in this one area?
 
If anything, it is our K-12 system that is lagging in regard to preparing students to effectively communicate orally and in writing. Our community colleges are providing opportunities for young and older adults to obtain a college education when many are not starting with the skills one would expect of a student with a high school diploma. Like many, writing was a weakness I had when I graduated from high school. Without the more individualized instruction I received at a community college I am certain I would have flunked out or been in so many remedial courses at a large university that I would have become frustrated and dropped out. This past year, I published more than 200 articles in magazines and newspapers across the country. I attribute my success to the foundation I built at my local community college.
 
14) Are there other things you would like to add?
 
Yes. Thank you and EdNews.org for the opportunity to share my thoughts on some of the most undervalued public institutions in America today - our local community colleges.
 
I would also like to thank Educationnews.org for providing such a valuable service by making it easy for policy wonks and educators to find a vast collection of education articles from around the world on the computer "stoop" when we get up each morning. As I have said throughout this interview, knowledge is critical and you help facilitate the sharing of knowledge each and everyday.

Published October 2, 2007