RethinkErie

On Thursday evening, you will have your chance to weigh in on whether Erie County needs a community college and, if so, how it should be financed.

Erie County Council will hold a public meeting at 5 p.m. at Blasco Library's Hirt Auditorium.

We expect you'll ask many questions about the price tag for the proposed college as well as its purpose. As always, we support the public's right to ask and receive answers about the cost of government. Citizens are rightly concerned about a possible increase in government spending at a time when Erie County and Pennsylvania governments face a budget crunch and when individual households struggle to make ends meet.

Still, we urge you to keep an open mind about the community college and to think about the potential benefits of such an investment in education here.

A community college would supplement, not supersede, existing educational programs in the region, including trade schools. Rethink Erie, the group involved in researching the need for a community college, has stressed that the college would not duplicate programs already offered here.

The college would serve students who aren't yet ready for a four-year program. It would also offer two-year degrees and certificates geared for jobs in the community. The curriculum would also be adaptable to the needs of local businesses, so it could train students for waiting jobs.

We need to remember that Erie is the only region in the state that does not have a community college. Pennsylvania's 14 community colleges aren't situated in isolated parts of the state; they are located in areas that, like Erie, also are fortunate enough to have excellent four-year colleges with long traditions. Because
Pennsylvania tax dollars help to support those 14 institutions, we might well ask why Erie has left itself out of the distribution of those funds.

According to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, 34.7 percent of students are enrolled in general transfer studies, moving on to places like Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, Geneva College, Mount Aloysius College and Gwynedd-Mercy College. Wouldn't it be a bonus to make sure students are academically prepared to move from a local community college to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Penn State Behrend, Allegheny College, Gannon University and Mercyhurst College?

The current recession has sapped many of us. We understand that it's hard to imagine a brighter future if you've been laid off or have fallen behind on your mortgage or you've watched your child's college education fund dwindle.
But the economy moves in cycles. People are starting to invest again in the stock market.