Erie Times News Reprint...“Vote ‘yes’ for Erie community college”
REPRINTED FROM THE ERIE TIMES NEWS
State Sen. Jane Earll has secured a significant, steady stream of funding from table games revenue for an Erie community college.
The Erie Community Foundation has created a $1 million endowment for capital and operating costs for the proposed college.
Scott Enterprise, PHB/Reddog Industries and Custom Engineering Co. have donated an additional $30,000 to the endowment fund, demonstrating that Erie businesses support the college. More philanthropists will surely step forward. GE transportation, our largest employer, says the college is key to its future.
With help from a pro-bono accountant experienced in auditing community college finances, Rethink Erie has crafted a detailed business plan showing that tuition, gaming money and state reimbursements will cover the costs of the college, which would operate in leased facilities.
The Greater Erie Board of Realtors will award an annual community college scholarship, because there is a direct link between education and earning power. Those who earn more become homeowners, and that’s good for Erie’s economy and stability.
And young people themselves have pleaded for another higher education option.
“I am a high school senior, so I know how it feels to want a community college. It’s hard for some people to go away to school because of lack of money, “ Zakiya Jackson, a student at Perseus House Leadership Center, wrote in a recent letter to the editor. “Here in northwestern Pennsylvania, we have no community college, and Erie is the poorest major city in the state,” Rebecca Lenox, a Gannon University sophomore, wrote in a recent Op-Ed column. “Are those two facts related: I don’t know, but it sure looks like without a community college, the economy here will continue to suffer.” Lenox is on the right track.
“Compared to Pennsylvania and the rest of the United States, the gap between both Erie County education attainment rates and per capita incomes is increasing at an alarming rate. This cannot continue and must be reversed,” Mike Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, said when he unveiled the foundation’s $1 million endowment.
A community college can help reverse the trends which have led to us becoming less educated and poorer than Pennsylvania and the nation.
Erie County Executive Barry Grossman says gaming revenue, endowment money, tuition, scholarships and state and federal grants will pay for the college; taxes won’t be raised, he pledges.
When it meets this afternoon, Erie County Council’s Finance Committee should agree to sponsor the community college application and the full County Council should follow suit on Tuesday.
County Council must seize this opportunity to invest in Erie’s future. Vote “yes,” council members.
