GovernmentExecutive.com

A national public service academy, on par with the nation's military service academies, can develop a cadre of talented civilian leaders and inject prestige back into public institutions. That is the theory being promoted by two enterprising young government outsiders.

Chris Myers Asch and Shawn Raymond, both in their early 30s, already have built a successful nonprofit to encourage college attendance in the poverty-stricken Mississippi Delta. Now they want Congress to fund free higher education for civil servants. So far, they have garnered interest from about 10 senators, from both sides of the aisle, some of whom are pushing to write legislation for the proposal now instead of waiting until next year as planned.

"Public institutions are to be laughed at or mocked or gutted," Asch said. "We need to change that."

After Hurricane Katrina "showed the consequences of ignoring public institutions," Asch said, he began waking up at dawn at his home in Mississippi to write a proposal for the U.S. Public Service Academy.

Soon, Asch conscripted his wife's uncle, Dennis Ross, former special envoy for Middle East peace, and a professor he studied with at Duke University, Peter Wood, to start a board of advisers. And he brought Raymond, co-founder of Mississippi's Sunflower County Freedom Project, into the fold.

At the core of the proposal are these ideas: The 5,000-person undergraduate academy would be funded mostly by Congress at a cost of $205 million a year. Incoming freshmen would be nominated by members of Congress, in a process much like that at the military academies. A certain number of spots would be allocated to each state.

Students would be required to study abroad and to complete internships with nonprofit and military organizations as well as undergo a summer of emergency response training.

After graduation, students would repay the country for their free education by spending five years in public service, which Asch and Raymond define to include everything from teaching to becoming a park ranger, police officer or border agent, for either nonprofits or the government.

"We want to make this a unifying issue, the post-9/11 generation's institutional response," Asch said. "Get young people to commit themselves to the larger struggles of this nation."

The proposal even pitches a specific location -- the Walter Reed Army Medical Center's campus in northwest Washington, D.C., which is to be closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations.

The duo and supporters already have met with staff in the offices of Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Olympia Snowe, R-Maine; Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; George Voinovich, R-Ohio; Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; and Patty Murray, D-Wash. Asch said some staffers are beginning work on a formal legislative proposal, but declined to provide details because he does not want it to appear as a one-party issue. He and Raymond are insistent that the academy be a bipartisan undertaking.

But meeting with congressional staffers is a long cry from getting millions of dollars appropriated by Congress in tight budget times.

"It is a huge uphill battle," Asch acknowledged. "But great ideas can win. And yeah, sure, two [men] from rural Mississippi can come up with an idea and it can win."

Now Asch and Raymond are collecting signatures from high school and college students -- one million by December is their goal -- as evidence for skeptical lawmakers of youthful grass-roots support for the academy.

COMMENTS

• Two comments. First, Taxpayer must really be rich, if he's giving millions of his taxpayer dollars! Come on, really. Second, why exactly don't we need the military academies? If you were ever in the military, you understand the need for well-trained officers. Regarding the civilian concept, what ever happened to the domestic “peace corps” idea, with perhaps a bonus for military service? All young men/women should be obligated to serve our country in some fashion. No more volunteer (mercenary) armed forces. Let the young contribute something more than their presence in this world. GovExec.com reader Posted September 23, 2006 11:08 AM
• I concur completely. This would dovetail beautifully with NSPS program purposes (actually, developing the new leadership ethic that is necessary to allow it to succeed) and attempts to replenish the retiring, baby boomer workforce. Could it be that we are defaulting to the military services in times of domestic crisis because they have purpose-trained leadership? I suggest that a civilian academy would be a far better investment that simply competing on campuses, alongside many attractive employers, for new college grads. Don't just hire bodies. Cultivate a profession. Dick Field, M.P.A. Contract Specialist GovExec.com reader Posted July 10, 2006 12:39 PM
• The idea of sending people to an academy to develop an educated workforce is sound. But, the government has had different education initiatives before. The bureaucrats consistently managed to throw a wrench into the machine. They would underfund the program or they wouldn't pay for certain classes that students needed to get their degrees. Then, there are those "wonderful" in house classes that usually waste a lot of time teaching obsolete methods. The academy could be a great thing. But, how will they get qualified instructors? Will they teach real courses or will the training be slanted toward government think instead of free thinking? Military style academies teach students to do things the military way. But, they don't necessarily encourage their students to think outside the box. Part of why the government is in such a mess is because federal managers have stifled free thinking and creativity within the federal workforce. Who wants to spend years in college only to be made a paper pusher? Who wants to be told that even though the government wants educated people, they don't want the faulty system repaired or improved? At least the military makes heroes. What will the federal academy make? Robert M. Posted July 10, 2006 12:58 PM