Service Vote interns shout out the Academy:

The three of us interns agree that this is a great idea. It will serve as an alternative to people who may not be interested in serving in the military. Young people want and can serve our country in a variety of ways. Not all of us posses the skills or interest to join the military, the Academy will allow us to still serve our country. Would you be for this type of alternative service to the country?

Why does blogger Sherman Dorn support the Academy?

As I wrote above, I can’t argue that TFA recruits are going to be as bad as a rotating door of subs, and TFA might help change the discussion about public service and the public sphere. That possibility is also why I support the U.S. Public Service Academy proposal. But there’s a catch: that potential use of public service programs does not obviate the programs’ responsibilities to the clients/patrons of the target system, which in the case of TFA are the students.

The Public Service Blog mentions the Academy as an example of how to engage young people in the process of solving the impending public sector employment crisis:

I see three major strategies:

1. You offer a heck of a lot of incentive. This seems to be something that’s been the go-to solution for government agencies themselves. As a top-level strategy, it tries to create mass appeal for government jobs that will reach all demographics. Offering excellent benefits and retirement plans has garnered some success for this plan.

2. You get young people interested. This seems to be the solution that organizations such as the US Public Service Academy are taking.

3. You get current workers interested in hanging around. You create exciting government jobs that have a real pull, and you take long-time federal employees who are becoming frustrated with their current jobs, and create new, exciting ones.

Visit these blogs and leave your comments there as well as below…

In response to the “Majority Mag” blog:

With a brother just graduated from college, I am clearly able to identify with the problems graduates have. Most students graduate college with a debt of around $20,000. With the US Public Service Academy, graduates would be able to pursue a career in their interests of public service without having to worry about paying off their debts. Debt is a dead weight on students who have dedicated four years to becoming educated and earning a degree. Why not allow those same students the ability to serve our country without the fear of financial retribution? They’d be able to excel in two primary categories of student development – competence and character — without the extra weight. They would then pay off that tuition by dedicating five years of commitment to public service, at a local, state, or national level. Students at the US Public Service Academy would be liberated of tuition and be given an opportunity to become a future leader in public service.

After graduating from the USPSA, students will have a Bachelor of Arts of Bachelor of Science degree. If students want to continue onto graduate school, they’ll be given the opportunity to go each year in return for an extra two years of public service for each year added onto the 5 years already assigned to them. Overall, students will be able to get a top education while doing what they want to do – both during and after college. What could be better than that?

Kesha Ram, Democratic nominee for Vermont House of Representatives, strongly endorsed the Public Service Academy Act, an initiative to create a civilian counterpart to the military academies.

“The youth of today are our public servants, entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, doctors, and nurses of tomorrow,” Ram said. “That’s why I’m behind this cause. That’s why I’m the first candidate or public official in Vermont to endorse. My generation has so much potential for public service and the Academy is a way to realize that potential.”

The Public Service Academy Act was introduced in March 2007 by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) in the Senate and Rep. James Moran (D-VA) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) in the House of Representatives. The bill currently has 19 Senate co-sponsors and 96 House co-sponsors. It also has earned the endorsement of numerous organizations, including City Year, the National Peace Corps Association, and the U.S. Student Association, as well as prominent individuals such as Madeleine Albright, Lee Hamilton, and three former superintendents of West Point.

The Public Service Academy Act will establish America’s first national public college devoted to developing civilian leaders. The Public Service Academy would be a federally-subsidized four-year college modeled on the military service academies. More than 5,000 students would get an intensive undergraduate education focused on service and leadership development. Following graduation, they would be required to serve for five years in education, health care, emergency management, or other public service fields at the local, state, and national levels.

Ram herself has demonstrated an unbelievable capacity for service. Just last year she was one of 65 students to be named a Harry S. Truman Scholar, an award given to exemplary, young public servants.

“I have always felt a need to serve my community,” Ram said. “I have been blessed with so many opportunities and I believe that to whom much is given much is expected. Vermont has given me a world-class college education. I want to give back and keep giving back.”

The Academy is the brainchild of two Teach for America/AmeriCorps alumni, Chris Myers Asch and Shawn Raymond. They have spearheaded a grassroots movement in support of the idea.

“The Academy will transform the way young Americans perceive, prepare for, and pursue public service,” said Asch. “It will reinvigorate our sense of public service and revitalize our public sector. We are proud that a rising star like Kesha stepped up to be our first endorser from Vermont.”