SALEM — Gov. Ted Kulongoski
rallied Oregon Student Association
representatives and other students Thursday around his plan to more than double the size of the Oregon
Opportunity Grant fund.
Kulongoski spoke to a group of about 150 students in front of the state Capitol and invited about 20 OSA representatives from Oregon colleges to a question-and-answer session in his office about his plans for the Opportunity Grant and higher education.
Under the governor’s proposed budget for the 2005-07 biennium,
the funding allocated to the Oregon Opportunity Grant would be expanded to $91.6 million, a 111.1 percent increase from the 2003-05 level. The grant is intended to assist students in the lowest income bracket. Whether the increase will be approved by the state Legislature as it sets the state budget is yet to be seen.
“This is just a small step, the first small step to a long-term investment that we’re going to make out of this building over the next 20 to 40 or 50 years in higher education,” Kulongoski said in the question-and-answer session prior to the rally. “We are going to have a mission to create the best educated citizenry of any state in this country.”
“We’ve got to do a better job for you guys,” state House Rep. Peter Buckley, a Democrat, said at the rally. “You guys have been carrying the weight for much too long with increases in tuition and programs being cut back. It’s time to turn it around.”
“The governor’s proposed increase in the Oregon Opportunity Grant is going to open the door to access for so many Oregon students,” OSA Chairman and ASUO President Adam Petkun said to the crowd.
Sometimes in life you get an opportunity to do something because you have been given the opportunity
by someone else to get where you’re at,” Kulongoski said to the crowd.
“I believe that education is the great equalizer in our society. This is
how people, regardless of race or ethnicity or sexual orientation or any other issue — if you give people the opportunity to have an education, they can contribute to this state and to our future and be an active partner in our society. This
is where opportunity starts, by
investing in education.”
Kulongoski spoke of his own humble beginnings and the opportunity granted to him by the GI Bill to go to college.
“I grew up in an orphanage,”
Kulongoski said. He mentioned the time he spent serving in the Marine Corps, working in a steel mill and as a bartender, where he met his wife, who talked him into going to college.
“I had the opportunity, and I did end up going to college and on to law school on the GI Bill,” he said. “Somebody gave me a chance. That’s what this is all about. Giving you the opportunity to have the same chance that I had.”
“I am committed to this, not
for politics or for any other reason other than it is best for Oregon,” the governor added. “This state has a very sad track record in investing in post-secondary education, and it has to change.”
Petkun, who helped lead the event, was pleased that the
governor was taking an interest in higher education.
“I think anytime you have the
opportunity to talk to the governor about the issues that are important to you, you’re in a good place,” said Petkun in an interview. “We’re just so happy to have the governor’s
ear on our issues, and I think
he’s making the right decision by making an investment.”
“The governor’s recognition of this dilemma and his willingness to work toward a solution make it possible for many low-income students who would be unable to obtain college enrollment to do so,” LCC Student Body President and OSA Vice Chairman Tony McCown said at the rally. McCown is a recipient of the Opportunity Grant.
McCown said in an interview that it was difficult for him to get the Opportunity Grant because he had been working full time before going to school, but didn’t want to do so while attending college.
McCown’s wife, Theya, attends
the University.
“The fact that it’s 55 percent of poverty level (to qualify for the grant) means that a family of two would have to make a maximum of $10,000 per year in order to qualify,” he said. “Last year was really hard on the two of us because we had both decided to go back to school full time, but we weren’t
receiving the grant money.”
Kulongoski emphasized the importance of higher education on the state’s future.
“We’re trying to provide people with skills to compete in a global economy,” Kulongoski said during the question-and-answer session. “If you see what China, India, Japan and other countries are putting into post-secondary education, … we’re going to get left.”
“It is clear as to what’s going on in the world. Our success as a state rests upon us in this building giving you the opportunity to build the future for Oregon,” he said to the students at the rally. “One of these days, if anybody tries to (take the grant money away), you come back in force with all your friends.
“If this building takes it away from you, shame on all of us.”
