OhMyGov.com…

Against a backdrop of uniformed soldiers in Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago, Sen. Obama told the audience that national service “will be a central cause of my presidency.” But what exactly does he mean by “service?”

Chastened by critics of his past speeches on the subject, Obama carefully included military service alongside non-military endeavors. With the exception of his call to expand the Foreign Service, however, his plan appears to ignore an essential element of non-military service: working in government.

Volunteering and short-term service stints, such as the Peace Corps, Teach For America, and AmeriCorps (I am a Teach For America/AmeriCorps alumnus), are popular and powerful ways to encourage talented young people to tackle some of our nation’s vexing problems. They are not, however, a substitute for a strong, functional government.

It may be more lucrative to pursue private sector jobs and more charitable to go into non-profit, but we neglect our public sector at our own peril. The major challenges we face in the twenty-first century - from education and law enforcement to emergency response and foreign affairs - will take place in the public sector. We need strong public institutions and public servants to tackle those challenges. We should want - no, we should demand - that our best and brightest are at the helm of those institutions, and we should expect our presidential candidates to use their platforms to encourage our top young people to see government service as a noble calling.

John McCain, to his credit, has encouraged young Americans to work in government as one way to embrace “a cause greater than yourself.” Yet neither McCain nor Obama have endorsed a grassroots initiative that offers the most promising way to attract a new generation into the public sector: the U.S. Public Service Academy.

The Public Service Academy will be the civilian counterpart to our five military academies, offering more than 5,000 students an intensive undergraduate education focused on leadership development and public service. Like their military academy peers, Academy students will receive a free college education in return for a commitment to serve for five years by working in public institutions in education, law enforcement, emergency response, and other essential fields at the local, state, and national levels.

Obama may not speak against a backdrop of gray-suited bureaucrats any time soon, but if service is going to be a central cause of his presidency, then we should expect him to address our government service as well. He could begin by embracing the U.S. Public Service Academy bill - which now has 21 senators and 108 representatives behind it.

From the campaign trail in Colorado Springs, CO, Senator Barack Obama is calling on Americans to become active public servants during what he hopes to be an Obama Administration.  We here at the Academy are thrilled that Obama is showing the leadership necessary to inspire, promote and demand public service.  However, what the country also needs are trained civilian leaders to organize, manage, and direct these civil servants and volunteers in areas of need like education, emergency management, foreign service, and all manner of local, state and federal government administration.  And that is just what the US Public Service Academy will provide!

The blogosphere is lighting up in conversation today about Obama’s main talking points which are:

• Encourage national service to address the great challenges of our time, including combating climate change, extending health care, improving our schools and strengthening America overseas by showing the world the best of our nation.
• Expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots and double the size of the Peace Corps.
• Integrate service-learning into our schools and universities to enable students to graduate college with as many as 17 weeks of service experience under their belts.
• Provide new service opportunities for working Americans and retirees.
• Expand service initiatives that engage disadvantaged young people and advance their education.
• Expand the capacity of nonprofits to innovate and expand successful programs across the country.
• Enable more Americans to serve in the armed forces.

It seems to this former teacher that these ideas are excellent, but somewhat broad and a bit vague.  How can we pull it off?  With trained civilian leadership, that is how, and that is what the Academy will provide.  It is time to support the Academy Senator Obama!

Paul C. Light, the author of “A Government Ill Executed” and a professor at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post today pointing out the problems facing the public sector workforce, namely retirement, poor organization, redundancy, low-pay, poor morale… the list seemed to go on and on.  Mr. Light specifically points out that new government employees (many will be recent college grads),  “understandably wonder whether government service would give them a chance to make a difference and acquire the skills they need in an unforgiving economy.”  (Harvard grads were featured earlier this week contemplating how to put their excellent educations to work in public service, while rejecting the pull of hefty paychecks.)  Mr. Light also reminds us of “the the glory days of the 1960s and ’70s, when the call to service was bright.”

Most notably however, was the shout out he gave to Senators John McCain and Barack Obama “to strike a legislative deal to start repairing government.”  Well, we can help them with that: the best legislative deal going is S. 960, the bill to create the US Public Service Academy, the first national public college devoted to developing civilian leaders. The Public Service Academy will be a federally-subsidized four-year college modeled on the military service academies. More than 5,000 students will get an intensive undergraduate education focused on service and leadership development. Following graduation, they will 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.