Dan Desrochers, who is running for Erie County Council on the Republican side in District 4, has posted a few new YouTube videos on his campaign website. One of the first topics he’s addressing is the community college. He says:
I oppose the proposed Community College for several reasons, most of all the money it will take to fund this new project. At time when the county is trying to convince workers to take a 40 day unpaid ‘layoff’ and is cutting services, like closing the Library on the busiest day of the week Erie County has no business spending money on something that Erie County has an abundance of: fine institutions of higher learning.
At a time when businesses are laying off workers, where are the new graduates of the Community College supposed to work? We should work on increasing employment so that the people already graduating locally can find jobs.
Erie County already has the second highest college student population of any city in PA. only a town called STATE COLLEGE has more students per capita than Erie. The Community College is yet another ‘if you build it they will come’ project that will cost Erie County taxpayers and businesses at a time when they can afford least.
I also oppose it because it is not the government’s job to create a new college. Plenty of great schools exist that weren’t created by the government. If elected I will work diligently to oppose this redundant project.
We’re interested to know what the other candidates running think about the community college.
I agree wholeheartedly with Dan on this issue. The report given by the Clements Group was entirely unpersuasive. There are enough local educational institutions in the area to meet Erie County and the surrounding county's needs.
If there is an issue regarding cost prohibiting attendance by lower income individuals, then why not institute a scholarship program to address financial needs and/or work with area colleges and technical schools to fill in the gaps for fields of study not available. That would make much more financial sense than setting up a brand new community college.
Erie County Community College = Boondoggle.
I also agree with Dan on this issue. Not only am I convinced that there is no need for a community college in Erie, I also know first hand how wasteful public institutions of higher educations can be. Private colleges and universities are run like a business. They understand that they have to compete to stay healthy. Anyone that looks at the local private colleges and universities and says “they are too expensive” doesn't understand that the only reason the public colleges are less expensive is because they are subsidized by public tax payer dollars. As was stated, we should give those tax payer dollars to low income individuals and let them decide where they want to go to college.
So with the “scholarship” you propose? Would people looking to return to school to take a few refresher classes, but cannot afford them, be eligible for this?
On the down side you cannot take a “few” refresher classes at the technical schools, they want you to take their who program.