Over a hundred young people gathered to watch the State of the Union at Olympia in a Can. Later, Maggie (left) participated in a panel discussion about higher education.
1) Obama stated his commitment to making community colleges across the country more affordable
2) the Bus held Olympia in a Can (part 1 of 3)!
The first three weeks of the legislative session have been a whirlwind of topics: the budget, pre-kindergarten, the budget, race to the top, umm the budget, new revenue sources, and did I mention that people are concerned about Washington’s budget? Not so much a ‘whirlwind of topics’ … maybe more of a black hole, actually.
Amidst the furor over our 2.6 billion dollar deficit, Washington students must know one thing. State need-grants and work study money for two and four year students are on the chopping block.
This was the hot topic last night at Grey Gallery and Lounge, where over 100 young people convened with the Bus, LEV, WSA, and UAW Local 4121 to hear and discuss how this session will affect campuses across Washington.
A few, key facts:
Washington State has over 83,000 college students receiving some form of need-based grant or work study money.
83,000 is more than a sold out Seahawks game at Qwest Field and roughly 2/3rds of all students across the state!
Cutting the state-need grant would entirely eliminate funding for 12,300 students and reduce (by more than half) the awards for 57,000 other students.
Nobody likes the idea of students taking out private loans to pay for their education-except the banks.
Check out Washington Student Association’s calendar for days of action in February and stay posted to League of Education Voters’ student Facebook page for updates on how young people can stay involved in this year’s legislative session.
Thank you so much for coming out Maggie and LEV!
We can’t wait to see you again for the third installment of Olympia in a Can on February 24th! (at grey gallery on capitol hill).