Andy's Blog

Americans believe that everyone has an opportunity to make good. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, argues that between 1979 & 2000, the real income of households in the lowest 5th (the bottom 20% of earners) grew by 6.4%, while that of households in the top fifth grew by 70% (as reported in the Economist Magazine, “Ever higher society, ever harder to ascend.” January 1, 2005). Opportunity, then, in one of the most prosperous periods of American history, has left the lower class behind.

Minnesotans have an opportunity to change that - if we act quickly. We must convince our state legislature that funding higher education is a worthy cause. With a massive structural deficit looming (approximately 700 hundred thousand to 1.5 billion, depending upon who you ask), higher education appears to be a target for some who think universities to be no more than cost centers. The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce respects the role of higher education in our community and the impacts it makes on our statewide economy. As such, we took action last summer to publicly call for increased funding for both public universities and student aid.

To be honest, we are not all together altruistic. Approximately 5,000 Twin Ports’ jobs are directly related to higher education. Further, our member companies are starting to feel the effects of retiring baby-boomers. But these reasons do not fully comprise the need to expand the venues of higher education. Clearly, if the bottom fifth of our wage earners continue to see paltry growth in their wages, we as a society will pay a much higher price to meet their needs for health care, housing, and basic needs. In the long haul, those costs will far exceed any increased costs that we may incur by fully funding higher education in the short term.

Let’s face it: we need more educated workers, ranging from those who might be employed at the power company to medical workers. Higher education can help us provide those workers, and, as a result, we might even help the lower 20% of wage earners improve their lot in life. We’ll all be better off if they do.