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Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen


12.14.2006

 

Talkin' about the next generation

The Next Generation Commission, which was handed a monumental task to figure out how to help Vermonters afford college, get trained for the right jobs and stay in Vermont so they can support the rest of us in our senior years, has filed its report.

Thousands of people will undoubtedly think upon their own lives and conclude that the commission didn't consider the fact that their son/daughter/neighbor moved out of Vermont because of rent/job prospects/lack of seafood but would come back if only the state would bring in more jobs/higher mountains/more opera.

They have, however, heard a lot of stories. They've made recommendations about how to offer financial help for higher ed, how to help those not going to college and how to get kids thinking about careers earlier in their lives.

It's available online here. Do the recommendations get at the stated problem?

The next question is what will happen to the recommendations.

Will the governor and Legislature agree to put the money toward scholarships and workforce development?

Is there a way to solve the problem of one piece of government not working closely enough with another?

Read it and weigh in.

- Terri Hallenbeck

Comments:
The biggest question is, how do we keep young Vermonters from leaving the state to go to college? With some of the highest instate tuitions in the country, we should be addressing affordability by providing more state support for our colleges. A reassessment of priorities in Montpalier is long overdue. I know we can't afford to do everything the politicians would like to, but supporting higher education is one of the most basic functions of a state, one which we have abdicated for decades. Instead of just throwing up their hands and saying we can't be better than 49th in the nation for public support of higher, as Sen. Jim Condos did at a candidate forum this fall, maybe we need leaders who say we can and we will do better.
 
I don't think that young Vermonters should stay in Vermont to go to College.

They should see the world -- find out what life is like in other places -- get some real world experience.

After that, they should come back -- but they'll need good paying jobs !!
 
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