PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION DAY

WHEREAS, economists are predicting a shortage of an educated workforce in the decades ahead; and

WHEREAS, there has been a decline in the number of minority students entering institutions of higher education; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing need to increase opportunities for life-long learning for the adult population; and

WHEREAS, higher education, which has traditionally been a vehicle for meeting these needs, now finds itself confronting a serious erosion of funding and public support, as well as a declining number of students choosing college teaching as a career:

RESOLVED, that the AFT lobby the U.S. Congress for the creation of a national Public Higher Education Day in order to recognize the contributions public higher education makes to the nation's economy and the welfare of its citizens; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT contact the appropriate federal, state and local bodies in order to ensure that appropriate programs be held throughout the country to highlight Public Higher Education Day.