Rep. Gayle Kingery: Education is an investment

Gayle Kingery (Representative from Poplar Bluffs) was quoted during a rally of students last year saying “Education is expensive, but it's a good investment for you, for your future, and it's wise for us to invest in you for our future because you are the future."

Missouri has been caught up with the sale of MOHELA loans (higher ed.), and a battle has ensued between those who think the sale was a good idea, and those who foresaw disaster. The difference in how we fund college education and how we fund K-12 has always been baffling to me. Our legislators commit every year to making college affordable—and nationally, it’s a huge component of the current presidential debates: no one who wants to go to college should be denied that American Dream because they don’t have the money to pay for it. We make state money available for state universities and colleges, but we also have a network of scholarships for any and every type of student. Some are for a particular degree, others for disabled students and still more for community involvement or redheads. My private college’s financial aid package, funded mainly by alumni, made my family’s out-of-pocket expenses cheaper than a community college.

We see college as a stepping stone to success, and no matter what career or college you choose, there are funds available from all kinds of institutions to offset the cost. And while college is more expensive than ever and critics abound, I still see it as a very American opportunity. Missouri legislators are working hard to make sure no one is left behind because their family doesn’t make enough to pay for rising college costs.

So why isn’t the same true for K-12? I think we can hardly say college is more important that K-12, but we apply different principles to the funding. Missouri is scared to death of offering a competition-based model to public school, even though it works for colleges where public colleges still get hefty state support and private foundations offset the cost of private or religious colleges.

Rep. Kingery and others have a chance to give opportunities to special needs students in Missouri by voting for Bryce’s Law that would create a tax credit scholarship program for students with an IEP to transfer to a private school that can meet their needs. The opportunities we afford our K-12 students should be no different than what we afford college students, because they are contingent upon one another. With the early intervention this scholarship program could afford families who need more services but cannot pay for them, we will be giving many students the chance to go to college, hold a job, live independently and succeed. It IS wise to invest in our future, and this is how we do it.