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The Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation should be applauded for its decision to provide seed money for an adult education program in Logansport.
At a meeting last week, the foundation’s board of directors unanimously agreed to use funds from LEDF’s “Opportunity Fund” to start a year-round GED program no later than Sept. 20. Officials believe the nearly $27,000 in that fund will be enough to keep the program afloat for about three months until the organization wins reimbursement through Workforce Development Region 4’s Regional Educational Alliance for Learning, or 4REAL. Funding for the program will ultimately come from the federal Title II program. LEDF has already lined up nearly $82,000 to run the program, and Skip Kuker, the foundation’s president, says more funding is available.
The school will be housed along with the Logansport campus of Trine University and an alternative program for high school dropouts in the city-owned Eastgate Plaza shopping center that was oncehome to the local campus of Ivy Tech Community College. Plans call for the adult education program to use 2,300 square feet of space in exchange for rent of $250 a month. Obviously, that’s below market, but the price reflects the city’s commitment to making this program work.
To understand why adult education is such a priority, all you have to do is check the statistics: Eighteen percent of Cass County residents 25 or older lack a high school diploma or GED. That equates to about 4,800 people, or 10 percent of the county’s total population. More than 1,200 county residents have less than a ninth grade education.
Efforts to address that need took a hit last spring when Logansport Community Schools revealed plans to shut down the program at Landmark Adult Learning Center, but even before that announcement came, LEDF had announced that raising the local education level would be among its priorities.
To its credit, the organization has followed through on that promise, and it has put together a program we hope will help the community in turning out a better educated work force. We congratulate those who have had a hand in putting this effort together, and we wish them well in the endeavor.
