"U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will announce her plans to help make the U.S. higher education system more affordable, accessible and consumer-friendly" this afternoon at the National Press Club
says a press release posted to the Ed website on Friday.
According to the NPR special this morning as I drove into work collages and universities are too expensive but the only solution in the Bush White House is according to Spelling:
"Too many Americans just aren't getting the education that they need. There are disturbing signs that many students who do earn degrees have not actually mastered the reading, writing and thinking skills we expect of college graduates."
careful... I have a feeling that while we were getting hosed by our colleges and universities for every dime we have that the government just screwed us with our pants on
Interestingly, according to this report none of the bullet points concluded by the commission lead to the logical assertive statement that we should require any kind of accountability to ascertain whether or not a student has actually learned in college.
The fact is - NONE of the points listed in the findings have anything to do with learning while in school. Rather they list the top problems with higher education as:
* College access, particularly for low-income and minority students, is limited by inadequate academic preparation, a lack of information and persistent financial barriers;
* The current financial aid system is confusing, complex and inefficient, and is therefore frequently unable to direct aid to the students who need it most; and
* There is a shortage of clear, comprehensive, and accessible information about the colleges and universities themselves, including comparative data about cost and performance.
This seems to be exactly the same thing we've been talking about for ages. And with the consistent wage disparity in this country the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting more poor and the middle class - often the largest group of parents sending their kids to college - is now being squeezed into lower income brackets with high costs of such things like gas prices, Bush's trickle-down taxes, as well as their own personal debt from credit cards, student loans, home loans, and car loans all of which were being pushed for the last 5 years encouraging people to buy and live beyond their means.
And today if a kid CAN go to college - he/she has to work 2 jobs while he/she is in school. The only kids that can go to school and actually focus on school and being involved in things like student government, non-profits, greek organizations, etc.. are kids whos parents can afford to care for their lifestyle while they are doing this for 4 years. I don't know about ya'll but the one semester I took 20 hours but didn't work I made better grades than the semester I took 9 hours and had three jobs.... Something's a foot me thinks
Today - kids suffer. Because the dream of a higher education is beyond their reach - and the once attainable dream of the BEST school of higher education is now impossible.
When I was in high school we didn't learn about scholarships for college until about 2 months prior to my college graduation and that was simply because I took some random class to fulfill a you-have-to-be-in-class requirement. I never created a resume until my senior year in high school and it was in a drama class so it was a theatre resume not a professional one. I never even knew I was supposed to apply for college until the last few months of high school - after the normal application deadline had well passed.
How Clinton Made my Education Possible and Bush Killed My Dreams
While Clinton was in office he signed into law a bill in 2000 that allowed my grandpa to work while still pulling in his Social Security. For that reason - I was able to stay in school at the University of my choosing - because my grandpa helped me pay for things after I got as many loans from the feds I could.
The Clinton Speech on the day he signed the bill included this excerpt:
"Well, I'm about to sign a bill which removes the Social Security earnings limit, so people who want to work in their later years can do so and still draw their Social Security. I think that's a good thing to do. But we also have to recognize that we're going to have to make some changes in order for Social Security to mean, in the 21st century, what it has meant to the 20th century."
And Bush... well.....
Just in time for Christmas in 2004 (one year from my graduation and just following his 2nd Presidential Win CNN reported:
"A change in eligibility for Pell Grants to be announced Thursday by the Department of Education would cut some 90,000 students from the rolls of recipients and affect more than 1 million others, an education advocate says.
"In addition to those who will lose their grants completely, "we estimate about 1.3 million students will see reductions in their grants from $100 to $300 per year," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, a trade association representing 2,000 public and private colleges and universities.
"The 5 million recipients each get about $2,500 per year in Pell grants, he said." CNN
What are the effects??
Some historically black colleges see declining enrollment
Report: Most states flunk in college affordability
Army needs more linguists
Washington Cites Shortage of Linguists for Key Security Jobs
Why? Its All About Money
All I knew when I was applying for college just a week after I graduated from high school - was that I wanted to get as far away as I reasonably could so I could establish my own life and my own identity. And I wanted a school slightly better than the schools available in my state but cheaper than private schools.
I opted for a public university 300 miles away from my family. A 5 hour drive - perfect in the event of a crisis - but well into a different state so I wasn't easily accessible for "drop by's" etc. . What I encountered was the most difficult state to gain residency in among most states in the US. The University lead me to believe that if I lived and worked within the state for 365 days that I would become a resident. So I did. No such luck. Even after I lived in the state and worked in the state for 5 years I was never able to gain residency because the whole reason I came to the state in the first place was to go to school - despite the promise of the 365 day rule.
Pay to Play
When I learned that my GPA was high enough that I could graduate with honors within my field of study (not high honors from the University... gpa wasn't that high) I was told all I had to do was take a seminar and write a final paper/project that would essentially be the precursor to what was assumed would be my master's work. Trouble was - the seminar was 2 hours credit at the university and with out of state tuition graduating with honors would mean an additional $1,000 that I couldn't get in grants, scholarships, and didn't want to take out another loan for.
And in the end, while I worked hard to stay within the state that I chose for University because I LOVED the collage town and I love the state and I want very much to live and work there - I can't..
Why?
Because I can't afford to take a lower paying job typical of what is offered in the state and pay off my huge pile of student debt.
Worse - I can't take the jobs I want the jobs that excite me the most - because I can't afford them. Instead I must sell my soul to a more corporate environment until I am debt free enough to live on the pay that my dream jobs would offer me.
Don't even get me started on health care benefits and the possibility of dental insurance and vision coverage.
THIS is the dream for Corporate America - the nightmare for the good-hearted small businesses and non-profits of the world.
Regardless, something tells me that the Education Secretary is missing the point when she says that we should know what we are getting ourselves into when we're paying this much for education. While I agree that it would be nice to know those things you can't lay a blanket test upon each department to ensure kids are learning what they signed up to learn.
Basically Spelling is trying to solve the problem of "MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE" by saying - "Well, lets see if the fire inspectors examining and testing the sight will determine how to put it out."
Maybe the problem is that Mrs. Spelling graduated from the
University of Houston with a bachelor's degree in political science. Spelling Bio
rather than graduating with a degree in education or administration and being a teacher, administrator, instructor, or even a teaching assistant of any kind. That's ok though.... She formed a commission, right?
Either way - Bush killed my dreams because now I'm in debt, I can't work for whoever I want to work for (dreamed I'd work for) because they can't afford me, I can't go to law school much less study abroad at the Hague because I can't afford to go to school and not work at the same time, and I didn't get to graduate with any kind of honors or distinction because it wasn't financially possible.
Want REAL Solutions to Education? Vote for a Democrat or a Progressive