[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 40 (Friday, March 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E508-E509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               IN SUPPORT OF FEDERAL FUNDING FOR EDUCATION

                                 ______


                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, March 3, 1995
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, much of the current budget debate centers on 
America's children--we all want to ensure our young people can achieve 
the American dream. Experience has shown that investing in education is 
one of the surest ways to achieve this important national goal. 
Increased levels of education translate into higher wages for 
individuals and a more productive workforce. In 1993, the median weekly 
wages of a high school graduate exceeded those of someone without a 
diploma 
[[Page E509]] by almost 30 percent, and the payoff for a college degree 
was even higher. Despite these findings demonstrating the value of 
education, the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, 
and Education under the Republican leadership has recently approved a 
bill to rescind over $1.7 billion in education funding for fiscal year 
1995. Many of these cuts will affect our Nation's most vulnerable 
youth: the poor, the homeless, and those with disabilities. If we truly 
value our young people and our future, we must support Federal funding 
for education. I would like to bring to the attention of my colleagues 
the following letter of Jay Noren, chancellor of Minnesota State 
colleges and universities, to the Minneapolis Star Tribune which 
discusses the benefits to individuals and society of investing in 
education.
           [From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb. 28, 1995]

       Funding Education Rewards the Entire Stat in the Long Run

                             (By Jay Noren)
       When Gov. Arne Carlson submits supplemental budget to the 
     Legislature today, he has an opportunity to look beyond the 
     immediate political horizon and demonstrate not only state 
     but national leadership by investing in education.
       Preliminary reports anticipate additional state revenue 
     available in the next biennium, more than expected when the 
     governor made his preliminary budget recommendations on Jan. 
     24.
       This will be the time for the governor and legislators to 
     focus on how state dollars can best be invested for the long-
     range good of Minnesota and its people. Education is 
     precisely that investment. The investment funds should come 
     from two sources:
       The additional revenue should be earmarked for education.
       The governor and legislators should reconsider the proposed 
     25 percent increase in spending for prisons and the 16.9 
     percent increase in health and human services, and invest a 
     portion of that increase in education.
       Clearly prisons and human services are worthy recipients of 
     public funding. But these sectors have received 138 percent 
     and 175 percent increases respectively since 1987, while 
     higher education has received only a 36 percent increase, not 
     enough to cover inflation and enrollment growth.
       People are Minnesota's best natural resource. People who 
     are trained and educated are a value-added form of that 
     natural resource.
       The governor's preliminary budget continued a 10-year 
     trend, putting an ever-larger proportion of the state budget 
     into criminal justice and health and human services, while 
     putting an ever-smaller proportion into education.
       Higher education--the state's technical colleges, community 
     colleges, state universities, the University of Minnesota and 
     student financial aid--would get 11.8 percent of the state 
     budget under the governor's plan. In the mid-'90s, higher 
     education got 15.5 percent.
       Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
        (MnSCU) is the ``home-town'' higher education system that 
     provides technical and academic education in every corner 
     of Minnesota. The preliminary budget fell $94 million 
     short of maintaining current programs.
       That shortfall will result in layoffs and huge tuition 
     increases requiring students to pay more and get less--the 
     equivalent of denying college to 14,000 students.
       The University of Minnesota needs an increase in its base 
     funding rather than the one-time money recommended in the 
     earlier budget--funding that will disappear in two years, 
     creating an even larger crisis in 1997.
       K-12 education needs funding to face large current 
     increases in pupils which will continue for the next 10 to 15 
     years (enrollment that is also now beginning to affect higher 
     education).
       The governor said it right in his Jan. 24 message when he 
     said the state's budget for the next two years should: make 
     government accountable and affordable; support children and 
     families; prepare young people for work; create jobs and 
     sustain economic vitality, and build stable communities.
       An investment in education directly addresses all five 
     points:
       Colleges and universities will be accountable. The July 1, 
     1995, merger of Minnesota higher education institutions is 
     the most far-reaching restructuring of higher education in 
     Minnesota history--and it has the potential for immense 
     rewards for students, for employers and for the state. We 
     have defined measurable goals and we are committed to 
     reviewing every program, every building and every expenditure 
     in our new system.
       In the next two years we will reduce 20 colleges to 10 
     consolidated colleges. Each of these consolidated colleges 
     will operate more efficiently with fewer administrators and 
     better services to students.
       We will reduce the central administration staff by 20 
     percent from the size of the three merging system offices.
       We will undertake intensive evaluation of all educational 
     programs not only to identify duplicate and ineffective 
     programs but also to highlight centers of excellence that 
     serve students best. Centers of excellence will receive 
     additional resources largely from the reinvestment of savings 
     gained from reducing and eliminating ineffective programs.
       An investment in education supports children and families. 
     An investment in education helps 5-year-olds in kindergarten 
     and it helps 45-year-olds who need training or retaining for 
     jobs. Unassailable statistics show that education correlates 
     directly with income. People with an associate degree earn 
     more than those with a high school diploma. People with a 
     bachelor's degree or a master's earn still more. The ability 
     to earn a decent income is the best stabilizing force for any 
     family.
       Prepare young people for work. We couldn't agree more with 
     the governor's priority. That's what education does--it 
     prepares people for work and responsible citizenship.
       Create jobs and sustain economic vitality. Minnesota's 
     towns and cities are full of
      businesses and factories started by graduates of our 
     colleges and universities. Those businesses and factories 
     employ our graduates. Clearly the thriving communities in 
     Minnesota are those which either have--or are within easy 
     reach of--a college or university. The 62 college and 
     university campuses produce most of Minnesota's educated 
     and hard-working employees, as well as most of our 
     entrepreneurs, who create the businesses employing our 
     citizens. The University of Minnesota campuses similarly 
     fuel the economy and make unique contributions through 
     research and graduate education which translate into new 
     products, new businesses and solutions to human problems 
     throughout the world.
       As we move into an era with more older people, more 
     children and fewer workers, state revenues and public 
     programs for our citizens (including human services and crime 
     prevention) will continually erode unless our workers succeed 
     in earning more money. Do we want those workers to be 
     struggling in minimum-wage jobs? Or do we want them trained 
     and educated for high-income jobs in industries that are able 
     to compete globally? Investment in education will increase 
     personal income and return state tax revenues needed to pay 
     for Minnesota's other public programs essential to quality 
     living.
       Build stable communities. Efficient, energetic colleges and 
     universities are a stabilizing force in their communities. 
     Weakened colleges and universities, fighting to stay alive in 
     the face of severe budget cuts, will cause serious community 
     instability.
       Minnesota became a great state by passionate preservation 
     of its values and traditions. One of its most central 
     traditions has been a strong public K-12 and higher-education 
     system, open and accessible to all.
       Gov. Carlson rightly asks education to accept change and to 
     adapt itself to the immediate needs of the late '90s and the 
     21st century. We are eager to accept that challenge. But we 
     cannot meet that challenge if primary and secondary schools, 
     colleges and universities must use their energy for intensive 
     care of critically ill schools and campuses rather than 
     vital, healthy efforts to enhance students' fitness through 
     accessible and innovative education.
       Minnesota young people of today and tomorrow have fewer 
     self-improvement opportunities through education than the 
     opportunities provided to the current generation of business 
     leaders, legislators, teachers and public servants. We must 
     give them the educational choices we all enjoyed in our 
     earlier years. It is a tradition that our parents and 
     grandparents nourished, and we must continue the educational 
     sustenance for Minnesota's future quality of life. The crisis 
     in education funding has arrived. Only visionary leadership--
     from educators, the Legislature and the governor--can prevent 
     crisis in society at large. In this legislative session we 
     must fund adequate educational investment and demand 
     accountability for the principal outcome--preservation of 
     Minnesota's economic and social strength.
     

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