On February 7, 2017, my school had the honor to welcome the Governor of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo to our campus as he spoke about a topic that affects every one of us; Education. There were other government officials such as the mayor of Buffalo and the Executive of Erie County showing their support. The topic of this rally was making college possible and affordable. The question is how. According to Cuomo, it's simple. The program is called the Excelsior Scholarship. Families that live in New York that make up to $100,000 annually will be given free tuition to any state(SUNY) or city (CUNY) school. In 2018, families making $110,000 will receive the free tuition and increasing in 2019 to $125,000. As Senator Bernie Sanders stated "What Governor Cuomo is proposing is a revolutionary idea for higher education. It's an idea that's going to reverberate not only throughout the state of New York, but throughout this country".
In reality, we need higher education to succeed in this world. Before Cuomo began to speak, we heard from the Executive of Erie County, Mark C. Poloncarz. He shared the story of his father, and how only graduating high school, that was enough. He had jobs lined up for him. Sadly, its not like that in todays time. Polonarz mentioned how his tuition was only $1500! Cuomo began his rally stating that he has met many students that had to drop out of college because the financial burden was too much. Later stating that the average debt for students is $29,000. Cuomo is here to help students and families overcome that burden.
Education revolves around the change in the economy. Cuomo stated that because the economy was changing, more individuals have to have a college degree. We need to adjust our ways to the economy. A question that we need to ask is if we have the workforce with the skills. There are thousands of jobs that are unfilled because there are no individuals with the skills to fill them. According to Cuomo, it is estimated in 2024, half of all jobs will require a college diploma. The nation needs to wake up and realize the hard truth.
Cuomo began to praise how once, our nation was number one in terms with college educated workforce. Today, sadly we are number 11. New York State once was number one with college educated workforce. States that surround New York such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont have by percentage a higher educated workforce. It's simple math, the State with the highest educated workforce, is the state that will attract most businesses. Meaning, everyone has to go to college!.
People must be thinking, well isn't this going to be expensive? The answer is no. We cannot afford NOT to do it according to Cuomo, because then the economy "will pass you by" This project will cost $163 million. The education budget in New York is $30 billion. Im no math major but that is about 2%. It's a small amount that will be put into good use. Now what about private schools? The average tuition of a private school is $34,000. By providing free tuition to state and city schools, it will make it more competitive, causing the private schools to decrease the tuition.
Cuomo concluded by stating something that is true. This country was built on one belief, a belief that you can be whatever you want to be. If you worked hard and are successful, great!. They want us to do well and are willing on investing on us to do well. Individuals question if that dream still works. Parents question how they are going to pay for college for their children. They question if their children are going to have a better life than they had. That's what the "America Dream" was. That each generation is going to do better than the one prior. What made the dream work in the past? The education system. An education system that you can become what you want. You can become the Governor, the Mayor, or the County Executive. "If we want to keep that dream alive... you have to say that the dream lives." Any dream can become a reality.
