It’s been said, and it will surely be said many more times before this recession becomes history, that our worsening municipal and state financial situations offer a rare opportunity to make change.

The observation is surely more than rhetoric, for if nothing changes many cities and towns and the state are headed for trouble. Faced with that prospect, our leaders must make changes that will either reduce the cost of government or dramatically increase the burden on the taxpayer. Those are the extremes and more than likely the course of action will come somewhere in between, with hopefully a greater emphasis on reducing costs than hiking taxes.

But how and where should the scalpel be used?

We would caution the governor and legislative leaders from cutting funding for higher education and, in particular, the Community College of Rhode Island.

CCRI plays a unique role in the state. Unlike other institutions of higher learning, CCRI admission is not based on merit, meaning it often becomes the first step to a higher education for those who scraped by in high school. College remedial courses get these students up to speed and many of them go on to complete degree requirements at four-year institutions.

It is important that CCRI is there for this group of students, but in times of recession another role of the college expands and it is this phenomena that state leaders should consider reinforcing. Already college enrollment at more than 17,000 students is approaching the institution’s all-time high set in 1992. What CCRI is experiencing is a combination of factors resulting from hard times: some students are going to CCRI because they can’t afford the cost of other institutions; some are entering college for a first time in hopes of gaining skills to make them employable and others having lost a job, or unable to find one, are looking to make good use of their time as they search for new careers.

In short, CCRI is expanding just as state leaders are looking for ways to shrink expenses.

This growth, as CCRI President Ray Di Pasquale said at a CCRI Foundation meeting last week, can also play a key role in reversing the downward spiral of recession and sow the seeds for a bountiful recovery. An educated workforce is critical to businesses looking to start here as it is to those operating in the state. We need more jobs in Rhode Island and we can’t afford to lose the ones we have.

Cutting funding to CCRI would limit the college’s ability to meet the demand and even worse, could delay a recovery.