(There's a lot to remember today, and leading into tomorrow, about where we are as a nation. What kind of culture to do we celebrate? What characteristics of our own politics do we ignore? And when it comes to memorials and holidays, what is it that we look at? Today, I think it's a little less about the man as we saw him, and a little more about the man as he saw the world. To that end, I welcome this guest post about public service and issues from John Sharp, and ask that everyone think about the policies put forth here, and how those policies can play a part of our culture. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
Today we mark the 80 eventful years since the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. in then-segregated Atlanta. It's a fitting moment to rekindle the spirit of public service that he embodied. As a new administration takes office in Washington, a new Speaker takes the gavel in Austin, and a new hope for partnership takes hold around the world, the time is especially right to reignite his faith in the power of education and the courage of his commitment to economic justice.
We can champion those two priorities of Dr. King's with a new initiative to pay the college tuition of any young person who gives one year of his or her time working at a neighborhood school, a community hospital, a housing program, an environmental clean-up operation, or another approved public service project.
This isn't a new idea, of course. President Bill Clinton created Americorps (http://www.americorps.org/) in 1993 to engage volunteers in direct service activities. Before that, President John Kennedy inspired a generation of Peace Corps recruits to fan out across the globe. Earlier still, President Franklin Roosevelt put the unemployed to work on everything from building bridges to promoting the arts as a means of lifting America out of the poverty of the Great Depression.
But we need to promote public service now more than ever in the midst of the current financial collapse and historic shakeup of the global economy - a new G.I. Bill that pulls together the energy of those previous efforts with the can-do innovation that can be found in every Texas college and community. Today's challenge is to prepare for the competition coming from China, India, and other emerging economies.
That means strengthening our educational and economic infrastructure to keep us ahead of the technology that serves as the foundation of our future progress and prosperity. We need to raise our game in education especially, starting with universal pre-K programs and basic elementary school skills so that we can do a better job of feeding our universities, which are still the best in the world. If we raise the number of American workers with high-school diplomas and college degrees, we will also raise incomes across the board.
It means shoring up our economic and cultural foundations, too. The U.S. lags behind leading Asian nations in high-speed broadband connections, even though my friend Al Gore may have invented the Internet right here in America. Cell phone technology also trails Japan, Korea, and much of Europe, where more reliable networks are facilitating new jobs and cutting edge services.
Given the enormous costs of the current financial crisis, a G.I Bill for public service won't be easy to fund. But we can't afford to wait too long. Jump-starting the neglected area of environmental clean-up, for example, will cause a massive increase in demand for scientists and technicians to help China implement its state goal of purifying its water and air.
One thing most college graduates have in common is parents who talked to us from an early age about studying hard for a university education. It was an expected goal. But too many parents these days don't talk about college with their children because they're not sure they'll ever be able to afford it. With this college program, every child in America will know from birth that college is an affordable goal if they're willing to do a little public service in return.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose vision of change we celebrate today, knew that public service is the heart and soul of our communities. Let's rekindle his spirit and make sure everyone can participate in our national recovery.
John Sharp, the former Texas Comptroller, is a financial expert and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
John Sharp for U.S. Senate:
http://www.johnsharp.com
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sharp_(Texas_politician)
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Sharp-for-US-Senate/43158723538
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