MOUNT VERNON — The House Higher Education Committee got an earful today from employers and others who stressed the need for a strong state commitment to produce the educated workforce Washington needs.
That included Bill McSherry from The Boeing Company, who urged lawmakers to promote quality, not just quantity, in the degrees Washington institutions produce.
“It’s not about needing engineers to build airplanes for us,” McSherry said. “It’s about needing really good engineers to build airplanes for us.”
The committee is meeting at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon today in its fourth stop on its Chautauqua Series. The series of meetings across the state is attempting to identify ways to help promote educational attainment at a time that features what Chairman Larry Seaquist called “stunning, radical changes in state funding for higher education.”
The committee already has visited Spokane, Ellensburg and Seattle.