Kingsley Guy | COLUMNIST
February 22, 2009
Difficult economic times force people to use better judgment in deploying available resources. That's no less true for lawmakers than it is for private individuals and businesses.
"What's the cost versus the benefit of funding a program? How can dollars be leveraged to achieve a solid return on investment? What are the hidden costs of not spending money?"
These are questions members of the Florida Legislature need to ask during the next two months as they allocate a shrinking number of tax dollars to government departments and agencies.
Of all the organizations the Legislature funds, none are more important in helping the state get out of its economic troubles than Florida's 28 community colleges. Unfortunately, they're often viewed by legislators as the stepchildren of the public educational system. For the last two years, they've been brutalized by budget cuts, and they're on the chopping block again.
The cuts come at a time of rising demand for community college services. With the unemployment ranks increasing, thousands of people are looking to them for job re-training so they can get back to work. Others view community colleges as an affordable alternative to state universities and private colleges. Enrollment is up as much as 10 percent at some community colleges, but tax support is diminishing.
The positive return on investment in the colleges, however, is irrefutable.
In 2006, Florida TaxWatch took a thorough look at community colleges.
Among other things, TaxWatch found: A community college graduate with an Associate in Science degree will make $480,000 more on average during his or her lifetime than a person with only a high school diploma; every dollar in public funding spent at a community college results in more than $13 in increased state output; the public investment in community colleges is repaid in less than six years by revenue coming back to the state due to the increased worker output.
It's possible for the colleges' foundations to leverage public dollars to increase money available for scholarships, construction and job-training efforts. For years, the Dr. Philip Benjamin Matching Grant Program provided up to a dollar-for-dollar match for private contributions.
Nancy Botero, executive director of the Broward College Foundation, found the matching grant program to be an important tool in convincing people to donate. "It's a huge incentive," she said. "People really like to know that their gifts are being leveraged so they will make an even bigger impact."
When a state program can turn one dollar into as much as two for something as vital as education, you'd think the Legislature would jump at the opportunity to support it. Unfortunately, the Legislature suspended the matching grant program last year and has balked at funding it this year.
This motivated Botero to lead an effort among her colleagues to convince the Legislature to change its mind. She's received nearly unanimous support among community college foundation boards in petitioning the Legislature to reinstate the matching grants. The colleges' Council of Presidents also want to see this happen, and they deserve the backing of lawmakers and the governor.
"We're in the investment business," Botero said. "We're asking people to make an investment in human beings."
That's an investment that will result in the development of productive and motivated Floridians who, in the long run, will fill state coffers with tax dollars rather than drain them.
Commentary by retired Editorial Page Editor Kingsley Guy appears on alternate Sundays. Readers may e-mail him at harborlite3@bellsouth.net.
This article originally appeared in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, February 22, 2009.
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