Nanette Asimov:

California should create a public college entirely online to help millions of working adults gain the skills they need to work in the new economy and raise their pay, Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday as part of the $132 billion state budget he proposed for 2018-19.

Brown, who has long urged the California State University and University of California to rely more on online courses to reduce costs and raise graduation rates — and has often been frustrated in the process — has now turned to a method he believes will be more successful: a community college dedicated to helping adults without a college degree improve their job prospects that would even enable students to take classes t