Dr. Michael McCall’s “Transforming Lives, Transforming Kentucky” statewide tour of community colleges made a stop in Harlan County on Wednesday, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System chief made a convincing argument about the need to maintain funding levels.

McCall, who is concerned the community colleges could face more cuts in the next legislative session, pointed out in a gathering at the Harlan Center that the system continues to be asked to do more with less as enrollment escalates while state funding drops.

Maintaining the current funding base of $214,931,200 is McCall’s goal, and he asked those attending the meeting to be advocates for the system by contacting legislators.

As McCall and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College President Bruce Ayers pointed out in an interview earlier in the day in Cumberland, Southeast and other community colleges play a crucial role in training students for jobs.

With too many Kentuckians, especially in our own county, apparently looking for ways to avoid work, we certainly don’t want to penalize the people willing to put in the time, effort and money to train for a career that will improve their lives and the lives of their families.

In order to end the cycle of poverty in many families, helping students become qualified for a job that will pay a decent wage is crucial, and that is exactly what Southeast and other community colleges do year after year.

When and if legislators look for more cuts, education should be off limits, because Kentuckians will end up paying more later without an educated workforce.

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During a meeting last week to discuss the expansion of U.S. 119 from Harlan to Pineville, state transportation officials warned several times that there wasn’t very much money in the budget for road projects.

It’s no secret that the economy still has a long way to go to get back to normal, but e-mails from the governor’s office about completed road projects taunted me several times in the past week.

“The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on Thursday opened a new section of KY 92 in eastern Whitley County — a 5.5-mile stretch that replaces a steep, twisting section of highway,” read an e-mail on Monday. “The new road features wide shoulders, passing lanes and a 55 mph speed limit.

“The $29 million project was bolstered by $7.7 million in federal stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Stimulus funds paid for paving, striping and guard rail installation.”

Another release from the governor’s office said Gov. Steve Beshear recently celebrated the completion of a widened KY 80 near Murray.

“The $25.6 million project, which will be open to traffic in mid-November, creates a safer roadway for thousands of vehicles that travel each day between Mayfield and Murray. Up to now, the two cities have been linked in large part by KY 121, a two-lane highway that does not meet modern highway design standards. With less traffic, the older route should become safer for residents who will continue to use it for local travel,” according to the press release.

“The project fulfills a commitment made by Gov. Beshear last year — to have all of KY 80 from Mayfield to Aurora, on the shore of Kentucky Lake, widened to four lanes. For budgetary reasons, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had planned to surface just one side of the Coldwater-to-Murray segment — creating, at least temporarily, a two-lane roadway. Gov. Beshear instead directed the cabinet to fund the surfacing of all four lanes.”

Harlan County doesn’t get new roads in good times or bad, but it seems we’re getting the attention of state and federal officials by continuing to badger them through the work of the Harlan County Chamber of Commerce and Harlan County Fiscal Court.

If nothing else, we must be first in line when more money does become available.