13th District Congressional Candidates: College Education
By: Matthew Fuchs
Updated: October 31, 2012
In the race for the 13th Congressional District seat, Republican Rodney Davis is facing Democrat David gill.
Our question -- recent reports question whether a traditional four-year college is the best fit for most students.
Should more be done to come up with alternatives and if so, what should be done?
Rodney Davis:
Community colleges sometimes offer some training programs that after a year or two and a certificate, you can go into some small manufacturers and have a really good paying job. I was in Champaign recently speaking with a manufacturer who manufactures parts for flight simulators. He told me he would take every single parkland community college graduate out of their manufacturing program if they would be willing to work for him.
There's just not enough people choosing to go into the program, and they have good-paying jobs starting out at $50,000 a year.
David Gill:
I think alternatives would be appropriate. Again, it's a question of what our priorities are - I think it's a global economy now; that's very plain and clear. And I think that other countries are investing themselves in education far more than we are, and again, have the people in Washington D.C. who actually care about their fellow men and women.
