By Katie Knapp
Omaha, NE – Omaha's Metropolitan Community College has been kicked out of the Nebraska Community College Association.
The NCCA voted 10-2 Monday to expel Metro from the Association for not paying its dues. The Association presents the community college funding request to the Unicameral every year. Metro's Board voted against that funding request, calling it unfair.
Metro Board Chairman David Newell says the current funding system is property-tax based instead of education-based. He says that means other community colleges get more funding than Metro does. Newell says Metro has asked for negotiations with the NCCA regarding the funding formula, but those negotiations haven't happened.
Newell says MCC isn't disappointed with the vote. Rather, he says it'll allow Metro to appeal directly to the Legislature for funding. Newell says MCC also isn't worried about legislation proposed by Senator John Harms of Scottsbluff. It would require community colleges to be in the NCCA to receive state funding. If that legislation passed, Metro would lose $23 million.