I was rather disturbed by the news that St. Rose would close. I’ve admired many things St. Rose did, and a friend’s daughter lived with us while studying there. And it’s our neighborhood. Although we’ve lived in two different places, we’ve always been in walking distance from the college. Who will close and what will the neighborhood be like after St. Rose?
It’s also part of a larger problem. New York’s educational system has been strapped. Some colleges are closing. Others are downsizing. Students will have to look elsewhere, change career plans, or look out-of-state, probably reducing how many students study in New York.
Most students get their first significant jobs at school or shortly after, make contacts and settle down near where they studied, to the benefit of the local economy.
Like tax and other breaks for the wealthy, a student’s education can be used anywhere in the world. If too many leave, there are ways to keep more of them. The military does it with service commitments. They’ll pay for your education, ROTC included, if you commit to a few years. I believe the federal government has given benefits to doctors to join the Public Health Service for a period of time. Other programs have supported doctors serving in underserved or out-of-the-way communities. States could condition educational benefits on working in or for the state for a few years. That would expand business, jobs and the state tax base. Difficult times do not need to be a death sentence for schools and the communities that depend on them. If students leave, we may still benefit from what they do elsewhere. But it’s better for us if they live, work, pay taxes, and build businesses here.
We are fortunate to have many fine schools in the area. Schools like the nanotech center and RPI are incubators of companies that mean a lot to New Yorkers for jobs, business and a successful environment for more. St. Rose trained many teachers. Others train essential workers who create a better environment for existing and new business. Such schools are anchors of our communities, as much as major corporate or industrial facilities.
Ricocheting budgets discombobulate students, faculty, school reputations and their ability to support the local economy. A good educational system is a keystone for the business environment. We need to keep it strong.
Bills do have to be paid. But retrenchment of educational institutions has both short and long-term consequences. The bigger the closure, the harder to replace, leaving an economic void in payroll, taxes and resources for other entities. So it’s important to examine the alternatives.
Some people almost always conclude there’s no money for whatever needs to be done. In a sense there’s never enough – money’s never just laying around. But saving money can be penny wise and pound foolish – businesses and cities can easily end up much poorer if they do not make the effort to invest.
I’m not ignoring the calculations that need to be made. Too many politicians calculate the number of people a program can serve, assume that number in the program and then calculate the consequences based on rosy projections. I’m not suggesting such self-serving nonsense. But well-designed programs might well pay for themselves in the long run, the cost of interest included, and New York would be the better for it.
The moral of the story is that schools are worth the effort and that states, governments, can do things that private enterprises cannot, partly because of – OMG can you say the T-word on radio – taxes!
Steve Gottlieb’s latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics. He is the Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School, served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, on the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.