FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 30, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
‘Mayor Pete’ comes to LIC to talk presidential bid
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
During an appearance at Long Island
City’s LaGuardia Community College
on May 22, presidential candidate Pete
Buttigieg off ered his perspectives on
national issues that could benefi t New
Yorkers.
Buttigeig championed universal healthcare,
implementing grants to ease the
burden of student loans and overhauling
the public education system in America.
Although the mayor of South Bend,
Indiana only governs a town of 100,000
in a red state, Buttigieg sees nothing to
lose in progressive views.
“No matter what I do, they’re going to
call us crazy socialists, so I might as well
do it,” he explained.
Using Obamacare as an example, which
he described as “conservative” policy,
Buttigieg claimed to do anything with
healthcare may result in being called far
left -wing voice.
For bringing relief to Americans who
owe sometimes up to six fi gures in student
loans, Buttigieg does not see the crisis
as advanced enough to call for cancellation
of debt. Instead, he would open up
access to grants in a big way and make
public education less expensive.
“I’m leery about how you do that
in a way that’s fair to the people who
have been struggling for a long time or
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg talks about his 2020 candidacy for president at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City on May 22.
have just paid student loan debt off ,”
Buttigieg said. “We need to make sure
healthcare is aff ordable and accessible for
everybody.”
Buttigieg sees education not only has
something that needs to be accessible
to all, but as system that needs an overhaul
aft er over a century on essentially
the same template. Critical thinking and
emotional intelligence are going to be
more important than simple knowledge
in the future, he said.
“Step one: get a secretary of education
that believes in all kids getting an education,”
Buttigieg said. “Th ere’s no question
that there’s a lot of stuff we could do to
modernize education. Th e workforce is
changing and our relationship to knowledge
is changing. A lot of educational
practices were designed in the 19th century
мPhoto: Mark Hallum/QNS
to teach college. But now, more and
more knowledge is at our fi ngers.”
Buttigieg also advocated for teacher
pay raises.
Buttigieg was in Long Island City for
what Congressman Gregory Meeks called
the fi rst in a series of “Queens Fireside
Chats” with 2020 presidential candidates,
and led this fi rst discussion with NY1
anchor Cheryl Wills.
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