Newspaper: Another bad idea by Rendell

The Pottstown Mercury is the latest newspaper to pan Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to legalize video poker machines as a way to raise money to help Pennsylvania residents pay for college tuition.

From an editorial in today's edition:

Making college more affordable over the long term is an important goal in Pennsylvania, but using gambling to make that happen is problematic, particularly at a time when the average citizen is struggling to survive. Legalizing an additional form of gambling is not a solution; it's an introduction of a new problem.

In November, the state Education Department said in a report that Pennsylvania has the nation's sixth-highest public college education cost: $532 more than the national average. Students on average graduate with more than $19,000 in debt, higher than students in many other states.

The Rendell administration should look for ways to incentivize colleges to reduce those costs rather than introduce a way to help some students pay the inflated bills.

Legalizing more gambling is not the best means of making college affordable, and leaving out a large chunk of Pennsylvania's undergraduates makes the idea even more of a loser.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.