Monthly Archive for December, 2006

Regardless of your opinion of their take on the issue, like Marty Seifert’s empty talk of considering a freeze with increased MnSCU accountability or Pawlenty’s PR-heavy education plan, it’s nice to see a dedicated group of students getting organized with their message on an important issue.

Student Debt Sucks.

I do disagree with Sen. Pogemiller, although I realize he’s taking a more moderate stance in this comment on Pawlenty’s proposal:

I don’t think it’s fundamentally fair. We should focus on having stable and modestly increasing tuition

I would like our elected officials to focus on consistently decreasing college tuition. In fact, I would like Minnesota to be an example to the country by making college progressively free, or at least extremely affordable.

We’re doing something right - lots of students in Minnesota go on to college, and lots of them graduate. The problem is the same philosophically to mortgaging our country to China and Saudi Arabia to pay for a misguided, mismanaged war. We should refuse to stand idly by while the increased cost of living is shoved right on down the ladder to the next generation of revenue-generators, public and private innovators, and job creators, saddling them with enormous debt right out of the professional box. Moreover, if we were to raise taxes and make college free, such an investment in the future of Minnesota’s knowledge economy would undoubtedly yield huge financial dividends down the road.

In short, I’m happy to pay for a better Minnesota - and there is no better investment for the public than education.

WSSS release after the jump…

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