BCTC students meet with state legislators

A group of Bluegrass Community and Technical College students from Winchester had an opportunity to meet one-on-one with state legislators Thursday in Frankfort.

While there, the 16 students also had an opportunity to tour the Capitol and sit in on a meeting of the Senate Education Committee — as well as a session of the Kentucky House of Representatives.
While those things were interesting, most of the students said they made the trip just to get a chance to speak to state Sen. R.J. Palmer, D-28, and state Rep. Donna Mayfield, R-73, and to get answers to questions concerning BCTC and their education.

With continued tuition increases on the minds of students everywhere, it was no surprise that the first question directed to Palmer by student Denny Esteppe was whether upcoming budget cuts to higher education meant another tuition hike.

Palmer said that while the general assembly didn’t set tuition, it did have an impact on it because the general assembly set support spending.

“I would anticipate that there is going to be a reduction in everything, including higher education,” Palmer said. “Now what that translates to, as far as your increase in tuition, I don’t know, and don’t have any control over that.”

Palmer said he felt like the state was at a “critical stage” where continued cuts were making higher education unattainable for some Kentuckians, and he hoped that a solution to the problem could be found soon.

“We’ve cut spending nine times in the last three years to the tune of about $1 billion dollars, so we are living within our means,” Palmer said. “The problem is we don’t have a tax structure that is elastic and progressive enough to grow to keep up with the needs we have.

“We are getting to a critical point where we’re making it more challenging for people to access higher education, and I think that is counter-intuitive to what we want to be doing. Fixing this is being discussed, and has been discussed for a long time. I’m hopeful that we are sincere about it this time.”

Tuition wasn’t the only thing on the students’ minds though. Freshman Sandra Grimes asked Palmer about the state’s efforts to govern for-profit schools, and shared her experience dealing with National College.

Grimes said she received an associates degree from National College, but when she tried to enroll at Eastern Kentucky University last year to get her bachelor’s degree, she was told that none of her classes would transfer.

Grimes said students attending National College were never told before enrolling that the classes would not transfer, so she was shocked when she couldn’t enroll at EKU.

Legislators were working on getting for-profit schools under the oversight of the Council on Higher Education with legislation approved last year, Palmer said, but they were still trying to close several loopholes in that legislation.

“We addressed that issue last year and I think we made some progress. Is it perfect? No. But I think we have made some progress and we want to make things more uniform and I think it is a step in the right direction,” Palmer said.

Grimes also had an opportunity to speak at length with BCTC President Augusta Julian, who met the students at the Capitol, and said she appreciated her concern.

“I’ve been really frustrated because I felt like National College was too big to take on. I appreciate Dr. Julian for listening to me,” Grimes said. “When I found out that nothing would transfer, and I would have to start over, I was really disappointed. I’m 44 years old and I don’t have a lot of time for do-overs, and it is expensive to have to pay for the same classes twice.”

Both Palmer and Mayfield praised the BCTC Winchester campus and the classes and opportunities it is providing for not only Clark County students, but those in surrounding counties as well.

Mayfield also answered student questions concerning proposed legislation she co-sponsored concerning drug testing for welfare recipients, and said it would help stop abuse of the system by some.

“I am the first person to give someone help when they need it. That’s how I was brought up and that’s what I believe in,” Mayfield said. “I think people are tired of seeing tax dollars going directions that we don’t benefit from. Without sounding unsympathetic, I know that people need help, but a lot of people are taking advantage of that money — money that can help other people who really need it.”

Mayfield’s daughter is a BCTC student at the Winchester campus. She said it was nice to have a facility at home that was much less expensive than the larger regional schools, provided the same quality educational opportunities and prepared students for transferring to other schools to finish their four-year degrees.

This was the third year that BCTC has sponsored trips for students from its different campuses to go to Frankfort and meet with legislators.

Contact Bob Flynn at bflynn@winchestersun.com.