Saturday, May 18, 1996

Academic courses to remain at TSTC

By MICHAEL BRICK
Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - State technical colleges defended teaching academic courses Friday as a House committee followed up on Senate recommendations to overhaul the schools.

During the meeting, state Rep. Irma Rangel, D-Kingsville and chairwoman of the House Higher Education Committee, focused on remedial education at technical colleges, which was criticized by some senators as the responsibility of local community colleges.

"It appears that (Texas State Technical Colleges) is going to continue as it has in the past," Rangel said. "The academic courses are very much related to the (technical) courses (students are) going to be taking."

The state-funded technical colleges and extensions provide specialized technical education. State money funds the technical colleges, in contrast to the local property taxes available to community colleges.

During a Senate Education committee meeting earlier this week, senators recommended partnerships with community colleges to offer remedial academic courses for students who fail portions of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test.

The committee also proposed a major overhaul of technical education programs across the state including changes in their focus on technology and the way the schools are funded.

Texas State Technical College-Sweetwater and extension programs in the other cities are at the heart of a battle over funding for technical education.

Critics say the schools are offering locally-specialized courses and traditional courses that community colleges can provide, with taxpayers across the state footing the bill.

Advocates of the West Texas schools worry that merging with community colleges could hurt their ability to provide training in areas like robotics and electronics. And narrowing the schools to exclusively high-tech programs could eliminate training in fields like office management and auto repair.

Rangel said the partnerships could waste teachers' and students' time because the technical colleges are capable of teaching the courses.

"I don't know if (the partnerships are) going to be necessary," Rangel said. "We don't want to inconvenience the students."

The House committee on Friday heard testimony supporting the schools from interested parties, including TSTC-Sweetwater President Clay Johnson and state Rep. David Counts, D-Knox City.
"We don't want to say we are going to rubber-stamp anything the Senate does without conducting our own investigation," Rangel said.