Seven years.
That’s how long
Utah has to reach Gov. Gary Harbert’s goal of having post-secondary degrees or
training in the hands of two-thirds of the state’s adult population.
But some educations
advocates believe that can’t happen unless the state Legislature puts more
money into both K-12 schools and high education. So this week at Utah State
University students are being encouraged by members of the student government
to sign a petition sponsored by the Education First group in support of greater
funding.
Utah State's
student body president, Christian Thrapp, intends to gather names at the
university and join his school’s list with those of other schools throughout
the state. Thrapp and some individual university departments sent emails to
students this week seeking support for the petition.
“Our numbers are
added to the state total and sent to the Legislature,” Thrapp said. “I hope to
get 3,000 signatures, but 5,000 would be great. Students should be concerned.”
“Having 66
percent of adults with higher education will help maintain Utah’s economy,”
said Brandon Monson, Education First’s media relations representative. “We want
our economy to grow through obtaining better education.”
According to
Monson and Education First, Utah public colleges and universities have
experienced a 40 percent increase in enrollment in the last decade without any
additional state funding. Education First would like to see the cost of
education lowered as a result of state support.
“Money is a big
issue for almost everyone,” said Noah Thackery, a chemistry major at Utah
State. “People have jobs but not enough money. Sometimes they end up dropping
out because of that.”
Monson called
the petitions a “by students for students” effort. “The Education First group
is there to offer support and resources to student body governments,” he said.
“We are the ones that have the direct contact with the Legislature and we will
deliver the petition.”
“Knowledge is exponential,” Thackery said. “When
parents receive higher education, it creates a domino effect for their
children. The more educated and intelligent a population, the better.”
Bradley
Thatcher, Zach Waxler, Jordan Groff and Caesarea Kritz contributed to this
article.
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