EDITORIAL: Free two-year college worthy of consideration

According to CIA and United Nations data on K-12 education, we spend the most per child of any nation.

But most of the countries ahead of us in educational achievement have lower-cost public universities than the U.S.

President Obama wants the federal government to work with states to waive the first two years of community college tuition for many students.

In partnership, the federal and state governments would cover full-time and half-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade-point average and “make steady progress toward completing a program,” according to the White House fact sheet.

Free community college tuition was implemented last year in Tennessee by the state’s Republican governor. Increasing the number of Tennesseans with workforce skills is his No. 1 priority.

In Tennessee, as in Indiana, about two out of every three adults don’t have any kind of college degree. Indiana ranks No. 41 in the U.S. in adults with college degrees.

Tennessee is primarily funding its program with lottery money.

Indiana already has a shortfall in funding for its 21st Century Scholars program, a needs- and performance-based program providing students with the chance to earn a four-year scholarship to an Indiana college or university.

Students enroll in middle school and commit to maintain academic success while remaining drug- and alcohol-free, and completing college-preparation activities. We believe the 21st Century Scholars program deserves ongoing state support, but that program and free two-year community college are only part of the solution for increasing workforce readiness.

To help students prepare for and obtain workforce readiness, we must address:

• Lack of exposure to books, good conversation and constructive play prior to starting school.

• Poor diet. For example, too much fast food “harms children’s test scores,” according to several studies.

• Lack of support for hard-working K-12 educators.

• Shortage of guidance counselors.

• Shortage of mentors.

• The need to work while going to school.

Indiana averages an 88.6 percent graduation rate. In our four-county area, schools that exceeded the state average were DeKalb, 92.2 percent; Lakeland, 91.8 percent; Garrett, 91.6 percent; Eastside, 91.1 percent; Westview, 90.7 percent; and Fremont 89.7 percent.

When the Big Goal Collaborative’s High School Graduation Action Team surveyed the region’s high school principals regarding graduation rates, the top five issues identified as the reasons students don’t graduate were attendance, challenging home life, behavioral issues, failing grades and difficulty reading.

The Indiana Youth Institute has studied factors affecting graduation rates and found poverty, safety, stability at home and school and positive role models have major impact.

A workforce with higher skills is essential if we are to survive and thrive. We must work together to design and fund a cost-effective strategy for reaching it.