Sen. Mikulski backs civilian service academy

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., has added her support to the U.S. Public Service Academy Act, which wants to establish an undergraduate school to train new public leaders.

The institution would be modeled on such military schools as West Point and the Naval Academy and would require graduates to spend five years working in public service positions. Mikulski said in a statement that the academy is much needed in a country challenged by terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

“But through the hard work and selfless efforts of countless public servants — firefighters and police officers, AmeriCorps members and health workers — our country has remained resilient,” Mikulski said in a statement. “As a former social worker, I am proud to see a new generation emerging with an even stronger dedication to patriotic public service. A national Public Service Academy will help cultivate and strengthen this spirit of looking out for one another."

But an associate professor in the University of Maryland School of Public Policy said he questioned the creation of a government academy to teach fields already covered by public and private institutions.

“If there were an interest in having such a school, then why centralize it? Why not just increase the funding of the versions that already exist in every state?” asked Robert Sprinkle. “That would avoid the problem of having a federal academy necessarily meeting federal, state and local government needs.”

Mikulski’s support joins that of fellow Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

The school would be free to students and paid for through public-private partnerships. Students at the school would choose from areas of study including economics, education, environment, foreign policy, health care, law enforcement, public infrastructure and technology. After graduation, the academy graduate would spend five years working in their chosen field.

But, Sprinkle said, the civil service job market is competitive.

“There’s no guarantee that there will be a job available or that it will be a good match.”

ejacobson@dcexaminer.com

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