Unfettered Letters

Employers invest in education

Hearing that college costs are rising faster than family income comes as no surprise to families in the Kansas City area (12/3, A-1, “College burden piled on families; Report shows larger chunks of Kansas and Missouri family incomes are paying for tuition” ). This is concerning, as we face an economic crisis from which we will only recover through the growth of new industries needing skilled workers.

While government can do more to offset the cost of education for working adults, we can also work in partnership with employers and workers who are interested in going back to school.

Missouri and Kansas are doing this through OneKC WIRED’s pilot of Lifelong Learning Accounts. With LiLAs, a worker’s investment in his or her own education is matched by the employer — helping us put postsecondary education and training in reach of more workers in order to build a stronger regional economy.

For more information about LiLAs, visit MyLiLaNow.com

Suzy Makalous
Director, lifelong learning, OneKC WIRED
Kansas City

Rising costs of college

The Star’s recent article reporting that both Kansas and Missouri are receiving an F in college affordability is no surprise (12/3, A-1. “College burden piled on families”). But don’t expect things to get better.

The recent call for a possible 15 to 25 percent cut in the higher education budget is going to devastate public higher education and make college even less affordable. This after Missouri colleges and universities have already drastically cut spending after recent cuts in state funding.

How is it that in tough financial times we have tax dollars to spend on tax breaks and bailouts for big corporations, yet can’t fund higher education so that it’s affordable? How is it that we reward the people who created the economic crisis while hurting the very people who are already in pain?

One of the reasons is that many lawmakers believe that higher education is a private good and they would want nothing better than to see public education privatized. Then only the children of the well off will be going to college. That’s not the way forward.

Scott Laurent
Kansas City

Kauffman Scholars program

Kauffman Scholars officials should see to it that the children they are already educating are legal citizens (11/6, Local, “Scholars program trips over hot topic”). No matter how complicated entering this country legally is, hundreds of thousands have done it. Why should these families have an advantage over those who have followed legal avenues?

By the way, my own father and two siblings supported families and contributed to society despite being orphaned and having only eighth-grade educations. How many other laws should we ignore because we have different views?

Juanita Mise
Olathe

Kauffman Scholars program

The Kauffman Foundation needs to rectify immediately the error it has made by denying students college financial assistance because they are undocumented (11/6, Local, “Scholars program trips over hot topic”).

Which is better for our community: well-educated young people who will come back to their community and return that investment by working in the community, or disillusioned young people who instead learn that adults can’t be trusted to follow through with their promises?

These students have worked long and hard, focused on the future dream of a college education. To deny this is to take the heart out of a program that has successfully engaged and encouraged low-income youths in their education.

The decision to break this promise will affect future students for years to come and undo much of the good the program has achieved.

Pamela Crandall
Leawood

We owe immigrants nothing

Regarding Tim Suttle’s letter (10/1, “Kobach’s callous tactics”), this is an excellent example of the entitlement mentality of today’s culture. Undocumented workers are here illegally. We don’t owe them an education, health care, or any other form of social welfare. This is not a socialist country.

It’s very simple. Immigrate here legally, obey the law, and pull your weight. This is the real “foundation” of our country, Mr. Suttle!

David Youmans
Merriam

Illegal aliens don’t deserve tuition break

Why doesn’t Tim Suttle champion the cause to send poor Americans to college (10/1, Letters)? Send the — as he said —undocumented immigrants (meaning illegal) back from where they came.

Russ Henderson
Overland Park

I was encouraged by Kris Kobach’s successful efforts to convince the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Sacramento that California’s tuition law violated a federal law that prohibits illegal aliens from receiving post-secondary education benefits that are not extended to U.S. citizens. American students initiated this lawsuit because they did not want illegal aliens to receive a tuition break that American students were being denied by the state of California.

On 10/1 Tim Suttle wrote that “one of the hallmarks of any great country (is): Care and concern for the poor and for the alien.” This country does have care and concern for legal immigrants. I am the grandson of one.

Illegal aliens violate federal immigration law and several state laws. They continue to displace millions of American workers. Federal and state governments must start enforcing the law to protect American jobs and our economic security.

Frank Nedrow
Shawnee

The real education problem

The Presidential candidates keep saying, “Make college more affordable!” The real education problem is not putting more kids though college. The real problem facing us is keeping the kids in high school. Statistics from long studies show a not-surprising link between high school dropouts and lives of crime, poverty and social liability.  Another study shows that kids who experience preschool usually complete high school. Someone has said, “Our future lies in the hands of the 3-year-olds.” Our politicians are trying to climb a flight of stairs starting from the top step.

It is not working. Our prisons are bulging. Drug crime is rampant.

Harley L. Sprague
Gladstone

GI Bill and college costs

As a college student and veteran, I know how important education benefits are to our service men and women returning home from overseas. Unfortunately, Sen. McCain is failing to show leadership on this issue. Veterans deserve to be represented by leaders who will recognize their sacrifice to our nation.

The cost of attending college has increased at a much faster rate than what Congress has authorized for annual increases for education benefits in the past. A large coalition of bipartisan legislators has proposed a reasonable increase for the GI Bill to close this gap.

This increase will pay for itself in the long run by creating more educated workers who can support themselves and their families.

Jon Ethington
President, Kansas City Young Democrats
Overland Park

Paying for college

Kansas Board of Regents member Dan Lykins (2/23, Letters) wants the Legislature to chip in more money so that “people like you and me” don’t have to pay as much for the cost of higher education. Where does he think the Legislature gets its money? There is not magic “state” money or “federal” money. The only money the government has it takes from “people like you and me.”

In reality, he wants people — some who can’t afford to have their kids go to college — to designate more of their taxes for support of some other kid’s college education. It seems fair to me that the people getting the benefit from higher education should pay for the bulk of it.

George Thomas
Stanley

Tuition in Kansas

As a member of the Kansas Board of Regents since 2005, I am concerned about tuition increases at our schools (2/14, Local, “College tuition increases in Kansas left to schools”). Regent schools pay their bills with money received from the state Legislature, tuition and donations.

Twenty years ago, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas received 52 percent of their budgets from the Legislature. Today that figure is only 26 percent.

Regent schools have tried to make up this huge budget loss by getting people like you and me to donate to their schools. Donations have increased but not enough to offset the big loss from the Legislature.

I will do all I can to keep tuition costs down, but the students and their schools need more help from the Kansas Legislature.

Dan Lykins
Topeka