Free Education For All Who Wants To Go To College - US Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo
Democratic
Gov. Gina Raimondo said she is pushing to make Rhode Island the first
state to guarantee free access for every student who wants to go to
college. The idea of expanding free public education beyond high school
catapulted into the national discourse during Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders' Democratic presidential campaign, and is now being considered
seriously by states including New York.
"As
a country we have to start asking ourselves, 'Isn't it the right thing
to do now?'" Raimondo said in an interview Friday. "What's the magic of
12th grade? Once upon a time, that's what you needed to get a job. Those
days are long gone and vanishing quicker every day."
At a
cost she described as a $30 million "drop in the bucket" of Rhode
Island's $9 billion budget, Raimondo's proposal would give in-state
residents two years of free tuition at public colleges. Details were
released Thursday when Raimondo submitted her annual spending plan to
state lawmakers. It would need approval from the legislature, which has
the nation's second-largest Democratic majority.
Republican leaders are calling it another costly entitlement.
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