In the midst of our Bernie fever, let is not forget that there is at least one other serious contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Hillary just introduced part of her plan to make college more affordable. It has some commonalities with ideas that I have suggested in the past.
As part of Hillary Clinton’s college affordability plan, or New College Compact, she announced she will expand the number of AmeriCorps members to 250,000 on Thursday. There are currently a little over 75,000 AmeriCorps members, and the number hasn’t increased for years.
For members who finish two years of full-time AmeriCorps service and complete a year of public service, they will be able to receive more than $23,000 through the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award compared to the current maximum award of $11,550. The awards would also be made tax-free.
Shirley Sagawa, a senior visiting fellow at the Center for American Progress who played a crucial role in drafting the legislation that created the CNCS in 1994, said Clinton’s plan will make it much easier for college students to participate in AmeriCorps.
“AmeriCorps has always been intended as a way to offset the cost of college and its certainly not operating at scale and the fact that the education award is taxable has made it not as valuable as it might be so I think the Clinton plan addressing these challenges in a really important way,” Sagawa said.
Sagawa said that it has made a difference for a lot of students who either want to make connections in their chosen career early or high school students who don’t know what they want to do yet and hope to find the answer at AmeriCorps…
Inserted from <Think Progress>
I do liked the idea, but it does not go far enough. I would have government completely fund college and graduate degrees in return for serving the needy while earing a living wage for a period do years determined by the length of free education. For example, a medical doctor might receive a completely free education in their specialty, but would agree to work on a Reservation or in an inner city clinic for ten years.
I guess HillaryCation is a lot like ObamaCare. It’s not what we want, but, if it becomes an alternative to nothing, lets take it and build on it later.
15 Responses to “Clinton and AmeriCorps”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
A disproportionate number of Americorps serve as teachers in high poverty schools who have no real interest in teaching and do not facilitate the level of learning of someone who chose teaching (they are cheaper hires). That is not something I'd want to see expanded to the detriment of students even more.
I agree. That needs fixing!
I suppose it's better than nothing but if other countries can offer free college tuition, so can ours. I still say we need to bring back the CCC and the WPA. They could also be used as training programs for those seeking to learn a trade instead of a college education
I agree with you.
You could be quoting me.
JL certainly has a point. Of course I am for taking what we can get and building on it. But going backwards must be watched out for and opposed.
Thanks Joanne..so often incomplete proposals with negative impacts never get priority to get fixed–like No Child Left Behind. I think Hillary should be made to fix this problem as a part of her proposal not later.
I agree. Fix now, Build-on later.
Agreed, TomCat, Hillary's plans are better than nothing, but I still think Bernie"s are much better.
We have to build from somewhere, just as the ACA is not perfect this would not be either. However, it would improve lives for many and that is a great start.
It could be better, yes! But we gotta start somewhere! Hillary’s idea is kind of a rip-off of Bernie’s, but as long as everybody in our side is for this, we have a FANTASTIC chance of CHANGE!
I had never heard of this before but bless google to fill me in. Clinton would, it appears, enlarge the programme started under Bill Clinton. The question, in my mind, is it enough to ensure that young people get a quality education without accumulating massive debt?
On the other hand, according to his website, Bernie sees "Making tuition free at public colleges and universities throughout America. Everyone in this country who studies hard should be able to go to college regardless of income." https://berniesanders.com/issues/income-and-wealth-inequality/
I would favour Bernie's approach, but Hillary's could also work. Of course, one key piece in the puzzle is having Democrats in control of the House and the Senate.
Bingo!
Thanks all. I was unaware of t5he flaw JL pointed out and agree that needs to be fixed before implementation. I still prefer BernieCation.
Thanks TC