Why New York Cares

America’s longest war is finally ending. That means that our brothers, sisters, children, friends and neighbors who have been fighting overseas for 13 long years are coming home for good. These men and women, who have made sacrifices for all of us and our way of life, constitute the largest group of returning combat veterans since World War II. So while we are welcoming these individuals back with open arms and yellow ribbons, it is only right that at the same time we acknowledge those sacrifices. 

One of the best ways we can do so is by remembering the lessons of World War II’s G.I. Bill and adapting them to our more technological age. Only two years after World War II ended, roughly 50 percent of enrollees in colleges and universities were returning veterans on the G.I. Bill. Those nontraditional students took the leadership and motivation lessons they learned fighting for our way of life and applied them to school. They subsequently turned into the class of business and societal leaders who created the largest peacetime economic and social expansion in world history. 

We have learned from that lesson and put a robust new G.I. Bill in place for returning active service members. However, there is something equally important we have yet to do. We have to provide our veterans with the opportunities that offer an easy platform to springboard their educational pursuits. 

In today’s armed forces, service members receive extensive training and return home with skills and experiences that are the equivalent of several years of college, technical schools or university instruction. 

Yet we do not have a statewide plan for aiding our returning heroes to restart or jump-start their education careers. That is why I introduced the New York College Aid for Returning Empire State Service members (NY CARES) bill this past legislative session. 

The NY CARES plan has four very simple principles at its core. First, every returning New York service member will qualify for college credits in the state’s statutory colleges and private institutions for the specialized course work, skills and experience they have gained during their deployment(s) overseas. Second, the state will create a website that makes it possible for qualifying service members to determine before admission which institution(s) in New York will best fit the experience, skills and training they bring home with them. Third, NY CARES will require the state to create “bridge courses” and a counseling program that will ease our service members’ transition back to civilian—and particularly college—life. Finally, in cases where a New York service member has made the ultimate sacrifice, his or her surviving spouse and children will receive a tuition award equal to the cost of an undergraduate education. 

There is an old saying: The reward for a job well done is another job. Our service members did indeed do well the job of protecting our rights and freedom abroad. Therefore, I am proposing that we give them another job—in fact, a series of the type of jobs and careers for which one is fitted by excelling in college. These are jobs that will fit our veterans’ leadership skills and demonstrate how much we respect and thank them for their sacrifice on our behalf. 

While the NY CARES Act did not pass this year, I will work with the bill’s Assembly sponsor, Assemblyman Félix Ortiz, to make sure we can pass this common-sense and well-deserved plan into law in the 2015–16 budget, or if the Legislature returns to session this year. 

I am excited about the opportunity to usher this bill to becoming law, and in so doing show our servicemen and women that New York CARES. 

State Sen. Kevin Parker represents the 21st Senatorial District in Brooklyn.