With a thriving Big Bend Community College and the emerging Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, Grant County is providing students with more options. The skills center will be ready for the upcoming school year and is described online by school officials as a "regional career and technical education partnership."

We are pleased Grant County is offering another option to students in the Moses Lake School District and 11 outlying districts in the Columbia Basin.

The skills center will provide the following programs: advanced manufacturing, culinary arts, computer science, entrepreneurship, life sciences/global health, multi craft pre-apprenticeships, pre-engineering, and professional medical careers.

We hope the offerings will address the shortage of skilled workers in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

According to Gene Sharratt, executive director of the Washington Student Achievement Council, Moses Lake and Grant County have a great two-year community college, with great partnerships. And our area is also continuing to build parity with four-year colleges and universities, he said. (Although they are based in other towns, Central Washington University, Whitworth University and Heritage University offer some classes in Moses Lake on Big Bend's campus.)

Sharratt's organization is tasked with ensuring all Washington adults will have a high school diploma or equivalent and at least 70 percent of Washington adults will have postsecondary education, meaning any training beyond high school, including a two- or four-year degree or other certifications.

Matching jobs with attainment areas is key and the new skills center is a big part of this, he notes.

It is done by connecting the dots between early learning, kindergarten through twelfth-grade and the four-year colleges and universities in our state.

During a recent meeting with the Columbia Basin Herald's editorial board, Sharratt explained Washington state is the 47th in the nation in undergraduate participation because the cost of college is too high, he explains.

In 2007, the state was hit with the recession. It meant the state Legislature wasn't able to subsidize tuition at 70 percent, with parents paying 30 percent because of a revenue shortage.

Seven years later, parents are now paying 70 percent tuition with the state funding 30 percent. Across the board, higher ed funding was cut by 46 percent since 2007.

Sharratt's council is working with the Legislature to bring the "teeter totter" to at least 50/50, he explained, meaning parents are paying half and the state is paying half.

But the big elephant in the room, is how do we sustain that?, Sharratt said.

The answer is working with people in the business and financial sectors.

Another piece in educational affordability and attainment is the role of community and technical colleges, Sharratt explains.

Grant County is an area that isn't directly served by four-year institutions. Instead, the area has Big Bend Community College, which he described as a "great two-year with great partnerships here."

It benefits Grant County to continue to build partnerships between four-year colleges and universities at Big Bend's learning center, two-year colleges, and the kindergarten through twelfth-grade system, he said.

The third piece is the business community because if there's a lack of skilled workers, companies will import them. Communication needs to continue between schools and businesses so students are learning the skills needed to get jobs.

Matching jobs with attainment opportunities is key for Grant County, he noted.

"It will raise income, improve quality of life and keep your kids at home," Sharratt said.

- Editorial Board