Strickland: College must be ‘birthright’
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)
The Valley needs a
‘community college,’ but the governor wouldn’t commit to have YSU operate it.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — If Gov. Ted Strickland has his way, higher education would be a “birthright” for every Ohioan.
“Finishing the 12th grade shouldn’t be enough,” said Strickland during a 75-minute interview Monday with The Vindicator.
Strickland couldn’t put a price on his ambitious goal. But he ultimately wants tuition at state colleges and universities to be affordable for everyone who graduates from high school.
Strickland, a Democrat formerly of Lisbon, said tuition should be based on a student’s ability to pay. If the state is to progress, it must have a better educated work force, particularly in the fields of technology and nursing, he said.
As part of that plan, Strickland said the state passed legislation he proposed that allows students from families with annual incomes of less than $25,000 to attend community colleges at no cost.
The state Legislature added $100 million in funding for such students and froze tuition at state universities and colleges for the next two years. (Strickland had asked for a one-year freeze, but the Republican-controlled state Legislature added a second year.) Before that, the average tuition increase was 9 percent annually for the past decade, he said.
Strickland also wants more students to look at community colleges as an option to obtain degrees.
The governor said he is “committed to a community college” in the Mahoning Valley.
Youngstown State University officials want the school to be designated by the state as the lead institution to develop and operate a local community college.
Strickland wouldn’t commit to that, saying YSU’s proposal was one possibility.
“Everything is on the table,” he said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Strickland promoted his energy plan, saying it would keep electricity costs in check and require electric companies to have at least 25 percent of their power come from renewable and advanced energy by 2025.
Officials with FirstEnergy, which supplies electricity to the Mahoning Valley, agree with the governor’s objective to develop those energy resources, but say some of his plan, such as using wind energy, would increase its costs. They also disagree with Strickland’s statements that discontinuing the state’s regulation over electricity, which is to take effect Jan. 1, 2009, would cause significant rate increases.
Strickland said the state is “very, very viable in terms of wind” energy, particularly in the northwest.
The state Senate passed Strickland’s bill, but it’s currently in committee in the House.
When asked what he’s specifically done in his 10-plus months as governor to help the Mahoning Valley, Strickland said it’s difficult to answer. But he said policies he’s implemented benefit those in the Valley.
Besides the tuition freeze and increase in college aid, Strickland pointed to:
UIncreasing the number of poor children eligible for free Medicaid coverage and allowing certain middle-class families to buy into the insurance program for a lower premium.
UGranting tax cuts that average $400 a homeowner for senior citizens and the disabled.
UExpanding prenatal care to more women.
“There’s more that needs to be done,” he said.
For example, the state must take action to stop the high number of home foreclosures, particularly by predatory lenders, he said. Mortgage companies aren’t working with the state on this effort so tougher legislation may be needed, Strickland said.
Also, those who foreclose on a house should be required to immediately secure, monitor and maintain the structure, he said. If they refuse, the state should be permitted to take action and declare the properties a public nuisance. A vacant home is an invitation for crime, he said.
skolnick@vindy.com