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MO-GOV: Kenny Hulshof Gets Bit By Campaign Stupids

By: Brian Simpson (Diary)  |  September 12th, 2008 at 09:37 AM  | 

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof (current U.S. House of Representative from MO-09) unveiled his education plan today.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof said Missouri has a problem. The state ranks 47th in expenditures for higher education. Hulshof said that is unacceptable and that if elected he would funnel more money to the state’s colleges and universities as well as increase scholarships to needy students.

~snip~

The plan calls for the creation of the Missouri Prosperity Initiative, which will emphasize biotechnology, engineering, math and chemistry. The $5 million initiative would provide funding for schools that could obtain a two-to-one match from either the private sector of philanthropic organizations. Within that initiative, a Missouri Eminent Scholar Endowment Fund would be created for colleges to lure professors who could bring research dollars to their campus.

Hulshof plans to increase funding for the state’s colleges and universities through a new funding formula. The formula would begin in Fiscal Year 2011. It would increase funding to higher education by the rate of inflation, plus two percent.

Color me crazy, but am I the only one that cringes when I hear the words “increase” and “funding” in the same sentence when talking about education? Why, oh why Kenny, do we want to continue to throw money at this problem when it hasn’t worked? Isn’t it time we found a better solution? Why not try cutting funding? Maybe then the colleges will have to compete for students’ and parents’ money, not taxpayers.

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COMMENTS

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  • bs

    Don’t you get it, Brian? Promising money is the #1 way to get votes. The uneducated masses equate funding with improvement. The left has been masterful in embedding that in the mush-filled heads of the electorate. It’s an easy answer, and one that the Left won’t try to refute.

  • simpson316

    I’m just sick of it. And I’m only 28. I’ve got way too many years of listening to this junk spew out of politicians’ mouths.

  • Nick_Haynes

    that the state adds on colleges and universities at a higher price tag than they should. They then also look towards the higher education budget whenever there’s a budget shortfall in any other area.

    Normally, I would agree with you in terms of funding and what not. However, we have 13 4-year institutions and 12 2-year college/community colleges in Missouri. We are funding them at just a smidge over $1 billion. Sounds like a lot, but then you figure in that MO schools charge the highest among comparable schools for in-state tuition, while charging the lowest for non-resident tuition. Add in the cost of running certain research facilities (they may sound unnecessary, but those are much of the backbone of how we teach research to the next generation), and I would say it should be clear that we need to focus on ensuring that tuition prices don’t spiral out of control.

    I’m not sure if I like Hulshof’s plan or not. I could think of a few ideas that could increase funding while decreasing the amount of funds invested by the state. But, like it or not, Hulshof is at least tackling an issue that needs to be tackled.