The Barometer Online

What? Education in America (and in Oregon) is hurting? Thank you for shedding light on this issue! In all seriousness, our K-12 education system DOES need help. But guess what? A lot of people are working to make sure that K-12 is funded! They have cute 1st graders to fill up the capital building and a powerful union to represent the teachers' interests.

What do we have? We have a bunch of top-ramen-eating college students that have trouble mustering up gas money to get to Salem, and we have..... you! As a COLLEGE NEWSPAPER you have an outstanding opportunity to use your platform to expose the plight of college students and the dire need to fund higher education here in Oregon. Maybe higher ed has it better than K-12 in some states, but here in Oregon, that just isn't the case. Oregon ranks 46th in the U.S. in terms of funding for colleges and universities.

Please, I beg you, please use your platform to address the needs of college students. Now, more than ever before, we need support for higher education. In a changing world, a high school diploma just will not cut it.

I am not advocating for higher education over K-12; we need both! Next time, do some research, and shed some light on the misplaced priorities of our state legislature. For instance: The State of Oregon spends the same amount of money to house 11,000 prisoners, largely due to Measure 11, as it does to educate over 200,000 students in colleges and universities.