MALDEN -- Gov. Mel Carnahan was in the Bootheel Friday to laud the efforts of the Bootheel Education Consortium, a cooperative venture of Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College.
Carnahan attended the BEC's annual fundraising banquet at Malden.
Southeast President Kala Stroup thanked Carnahan for his commitment to the consortium, which received line-item budget funding this year for the first time since the school's inception in 1987.
"I am committed to education, and I am committed to higher education and pushing for higher achievement," said Carnahan. "Education has been a priority all of my life.
"Now that I am governor, I can make it a priority for Missouri."
Aside from the line-item funding for BEC, Carnahan said his administration also has increased funding for student grants and loans, which "makes education possible for some of those who could not have gone to college."
At the banquet, Carnahan criticized Hancock II, a proposed constitutional amendment that would bolster the state's Hancock Amendment that requires a vote of the people for state tax increases.
If approved, Hancock II would lower funding of elementary and secondary education, he said. Also, the measure would yield substantial cut backs in funding for corrections and mental health and health care programs.
"You will see that these areas are those in which we need help, not cuts," Carnahan said. "If you have aspirations for this region, and if you have aspirations for the state, I doubt you want to sign the petition or vote for it."
Missouri Auditor Bob Holden also spoke at the banquet. He praised Carnahan's commitment to education in Missouri.
"For the first time in a decade, we have a governor who not only talks about education, but is willing to put some money behind it," Holden said.
Reported by Tim Gage, Southeast Missouri News Service
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