Learning never stops

Re “Community college makeover,” Editorial, Jan. 8

As part of the community college budget cutbacks, you support plans to restrict access to seniors and other adults. You overlook the fact that continued education provides a lifeline to high-quality living for seniors, and you overlook the alternative costs to taxpayers for accelerated care that might otherwise be required.

Many retirees are dependent on Social Security or small pensions and savings and cannot afford expensive adult programs. Classes in everything from yoga to writing allow these people to continue to live healthy lives.

We cannot afford not to enhance the lives of our seniors. Perhaps they should be a priority rather than the other way around.

David Landy

Los Angeles

The concern that community colleges will become certification posts is already reality in North Carolina. The state is paying about $1million to help nearly 400 workers develop skills specifically geared to the needs of Caterpillar Inc., which has invested $426 million in a new factory there.

Because the training is for the benefit of Caterpillar alone, the debate is whether the company should pay the entire bill. But it also involves questions about the interests of workers who are often left with a set of narrow skills that do not help them find new jobs.

Although training and education take place in community colleges, they have different purposes. The former deals with techniques, while the latter deals with concepts. Confusing the two is a disservice to students.

Walt Gardner

Los Angeles The writer is the author of Education Week’s Reality Check blog.

Both my daughter and I graduated from UCLA law school, a fine academic institution. But “the times they are a-changin’.”

Instead of restricting enrollment at community colleges, why not encourage greater enrollment by allowing them to issue bachelor’s degrees? Why not divert funding from the elite UC system to the pedestrian community college system?

Robert Y. Nakagawa

Los Angeles