Gov. Josh Shapiro addresses the crowd at a press event at Reading Area Community College on Feb. 29. The Governor visited RACC to tout his plan to restructure Pennsylvania's public higher education system. (Susan Angstadt – Leading Eagle Special Correspondent)
Gov. Josh Shapiro is calling for a structural redesign of the public higher education system to provide more support in the face of declining enrollment and rising tuition costs.
The governor proposed a blueprint for an overhaul that would consolidate 10 state universities and 15 community colleges under a new governance system. And last week, he visited Reading Area Community College to promote his plans.
During his time at RACC, Shapiro hailed the school as a shining success story. He said that's what other schools in the state should aspire to be.
And that's exactly why Berks County Commission Chairman Christian Leinbach is concerned about the proposal.
Leinbach told the committee Thursday that there are parts of the plan that give pause and need to be addressed before supporting it.
“This is not an attack on the governor, this is not an attack on the program,” he said. “This is a defense of the great community college we have here in Reading. The university is doing great work.”
Leinbach noted that RACC bucks the trend seen at other institutions of higher education. He said the university is the most affordable option in the area.
“And not only is it affordable, but it's also a great education,” he said. “When you talk to staff, teachers, professors, they take pride in their work. And when you talk to students, many say they have no idea where they would be without RACC. say.”
That success is why Leinbach said he has two main concerns about the governor's proposal.
His first concern is that state universities and community colleges are so fundamentally different that it will be difficult to integrate them.
“Community colleges are not traditional institutions of higher education,” he said.
Leinbach pointed out that community colleges are more accurately representative of their communities than state universities because they draw students from nearby areas, while state schools draw students from outside the state. .
“I think this is a huge problem,” he said. “We need to keep community colleges as they are.”
Leinbach's second concern concerns how the new system will be managed.
Schools in the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education, including Kutztown University, already have a single governing body that oversees the entire system. However, each community college is overseen by a local board of directors whose members are appointed by the local sponsor.
Berks County is the sole sponsor of the RACC.
Under the governor's plan, all community colleges and PASHE schools would fall under the new governing body. This means that at community colleges, local input from local boards may be reduced.
Leinbach said the governor's plan outlines a goal of retaining only “elements of local governance” rather than full local control.
“I believe the current proposal would do a significant disservice not only to our schools but also to the students we serve,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, the only reason we have community colleges and community leadership is to serve the unique needs of our students.”
Lineback said he's not alone in feeling this way. He said he reached out to several members of the board that oversees RACC and everyone he spoke to expressed similar concerns.
On a positive note, Leinbach acknowledged that he shared these concerns with Shapiro during a recent visit. The Governor's Office also agreed to meet with commissioners and the RACC Board for a longer discussion of the plan.
“I appreciate that the governor is listening,” he said. “We welcome the opportunity to make it clear that this proposal is not good for Reading Area Community College.”
