2009 Governor’s race: Creigh Deeds talks education Martinsville

Oscar Scales is from Martinsville and like so many others, was laid off recently.

“I decided while I was off and looking for employment, let’s see if I can find a job or develop another skill. It’s never too late to learn.“

So at age 56, he decided to go back to school at Patrick Henry Community College to be a Massage Therapist.

Scales says community college is reasonable but is still tough on the people of Martinsville, where the unemployment rate is the highest in the state at 20 percent.

That’s where gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds comes in. Monday, he unveiled his “Better School, Better Jobs,“ plan to a classroom of Patrick Henry Community College students.

“The whole idea is to make college education more affordable and more accessible for more Virginians.

He intends to do this by guaranteeing loans of up to 45-hundred dollars for community college students and 15-thousand dollars for 4-year college students.

“The more education one has, the more one’s income is over their lifetime.

Other points in his plan include offering a “Loan Forgiveness Plan” where teachers are forgiven for 1 year of loans for every 3 years of work in high need areas. Deeds would also create a “Virginia Promise Fund” which would serve as a rainy day fund to help with tuition costs. Another point of his plan is to offer “Job Training Grants” which would help laid off workers learn new job skills.

“If we build the smartest workforce in the world, then we can bring the smartest jobs to Virginia. I’m convinced of that.“

Scales plans to be apart of that workforce in career he never considered until six months ago.