UNDATED – Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine gave remarks Tuesday at the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) National Legislative Summit and met with eight Virginia community college presidents to discuss the important role of community colleges in helping train students for careers in high-demand fields.

He also talked about his bipartisan JOBS Act, legislation he recently re-introduced to help more Americans get good-paying jobs by allowing students to use federal Pell Grants for the first time to afford high-quality, shorter-term job training programs.

During his remarks at the ACCT National Legislative Summit, Kaine discussed workforce challenges and the value of job training programs, saying, “I learned from my dad and I learned from the Instituto Técnico that we sometimes really don’t value career and technical education the way we should. In community colleges, you do.”

Kaine also spoke about the success of Virginia’s FastForward program in providing job training for Virginia’s students and underscored the need to expand access to job training by passing his JOBS Act. He said, “It is a huge educational issue, but I think it’s also a fundamental equity and justice issue that we don’t allow Pell Grants to be used for high-quality career and technical education… if we get this done, it will be so great for individuals and families and so great for an economy that really needs trained workers right now.”

Following his remarks at ACCT, Kaine met with eight Virginia community college presidents to continue his conversation about workforce challenges and job training. They also discussed community college affordability, financial aid, and the needs of students on campus, including child care and transportation. The community colleges presidents that attended the meeting were: