Investing in education

Here's a milestone that should not be passed without celebration.

With little fanfare, class registrations for spring at John Jay Center for Learning topped the 500 mark for the first time in history.

John Jay also had a record number of students with 325 taking classes. Of those, 190 were returning students.

Those are truly remarkable figures for any rural community in America.

And they are especially important in light of a recent report from Conexus Indiana, which issued its 2010 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card.

According to that report card, Indiana rates a C-minus for the quality of its workforce.

The state is 31st in the percentage of its workforce with a high school diploma or better.

Indiana ranks 42nd of 50 states in the percentage of college-educated workers available.

At a time when global economic competition has never been tougher, a C-minus isn't going to cut it.

That's why the John Jay figures are so heartening. A problem exists, but it's being worked on.

Meanwhile, county government - which has played a key leadership role at John Jay since the learning center's inception - is being urged by its well-paid beancounter to consider cutting support for John Jay in the future. How's that for being penny-wise and pound foolish?

Maybe the county's financial consultant should enroll in some remedial education. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]