A Republican congressman with a background in the community college system says he wishes President Obama would work with him to develop a better plan than the administration’s proposal for universally free community college.
Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama expressed his dismay this week that the proposal wasn’t more targeted for specific skills and industries.
“You would think that he would have reached out by now to people like me who have a background on it,” Byrne told the New York Times. “None of that has happened.”
The congressman says he’s not exactly avoiding the administration.
“It’s not like I’m hiding,” Byrne said. “Everyone knows who I am and my background.”
Obama announced in January a new proposal to “lower the cost of community college — to zero.”
The plan, which would cost about $80 billion over ten years, would benefit roughly nine million students, and include a requirement that students maintain a 2.5 grade point average to keep their eligibility for the program.
Obama initially proposed paying for the program by taxing “529” college savings plans, but backed off the idea this week, calling the effort “not worth it.”
Nonetheless, Republican congressmen say they’re being ignored by the White House.
Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who flew with Obama to the president’s kickoff of the proposal, said he was shut out of the process by administration staff.
“They let us know what they were planning; they didn’t ask for advice on developing a proposal,” Alexander told the Times. “I would have suggested a different approach.”
