Though we might wish for an opportunity to vote only on the funds needed for renovations and upgrades, this is the package we have been given by the Legislature. And if their student projections are accurate, the new facilities will be needed to ensure that all Tar Heel high school graduates have an opportunity to realize their potential. Not everyone who leads a successful life was a top student in high school. Passage of this bond will help keep our strong public universities from becoming exclusive clubs with too-rigid admission standards. Moving closer to home, a vote for the higher education bond is a vote for the expansion of Jackson County's economic base.
More students mean more faculty positions, and more faculty positions mean more staff positions.
That's the way it works. A college education will ready our Jackson County students for the better jobs that will come through the growth of Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College - and keep them in the mountains. And their future. We think they're worth it. The opinions expressed on this page are those of the Sylva Herald Editorial Committee.