The lawmaker widely considered to be the architect of Iowa's community college system was honored Thursday at the state Capitol in Des Moines.
State Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, wrote a bill in 1965 that led to today's community colleges. And this year, he's introduced a measure that would provide additional financial aid to community college students.
Kibbie expected to see lots of people associated with the state's community colleges on Thursday when they came to the Capitol to lobby. What he didn't expect was a small ceremony in his honor.
''They honored me as the father of community colleges,'' he said. ''It was kind of a surprise the way it was done. I didn't think it would be all about me.''
The event was organized by the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees.
''We owe a great deal to Sen. Kibbie and this is an excellent opportunity to honor the person who effectively created Iowa's community colleges by floor managing the legislation in 1965,'' Janice Lund, the chairwoman of the association's board, said in a written statement.
During his first term in the Senate, Kibbie moved to create the community college system. At that time Emmetsburg and Estherville both had junior colleges which, like all Iowa junior colleges, were supported by the local school districts. That was a burden for the school districts, in Kibbie's opinion.
''My goal was to broaden the tax base for junior colleges,'' he said in an interview last year.
Former Gov. Harold Hughes was then proposing the creation of four state-owned vocational-technical schools. Kibbie said he met with Hughes many times and they developed a plan for merged area schools to teach arts and sciences as well as vocational technical subjects. Kibbie put that plan in the form of a bill which he then introduced.
Today, the state has 15 community colleges. Kibbie said the schools have far exceeded his expectations.
''They've been a great thing for communities,'' he said.
He added that businesses rely on the colleges to provide them with skilled workers.
The bill Kibbie introduced this year would provide an additional $20 million over five years for student aid to community college students in areas identified as having a shortage of skilled workers. The bill is before the Senate Education Committee, and he hopes that panel will pass it next week.
''I hope this session we can start buying down those tuition costs,'' he said.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net