I'm in Washington DC this week. We have had many speakers from the Department of Ed and other federal entities. We are now hearing a speaker talk about Obama's 2020 plan. What is this?
In one generation after the "space race" we slipped from 1st to 12th in the world in college graduation rates. Currently we are 9th and there has been miniscule change in the last 10 years. The White House goal is to once again be 1st in the world in college graduation rates by 2020.
A nice dream that I wish I could believe in and be inspired by.
Reality...
funding dropping precipitously...widespread suspicion and hostility toward public education (and educators, and public employees)...no will to pay taxes for the civic responsibility of educating citizens...costs of education passed from public to the students (even in the low cost options like community college)...
All this talk about how we can teach better and get better outcomes with current technology. Yet, community colleges around the state are cutting offerings for summer and fall. UC and CSU are also limiting enrollments due to extreme budget cuts. And these problems are not unique to California.
Add to all this that Obama is now in active campaign mode. If he doesn't get re-elected will his initiatives continue? Doubt it. Will he be re-elected? Doubt it.
End of uplifting Wednesday morning post from DC!
3 comments:
Another interesting comment by the speaker:
$160 M cut from appropriations to Department of Education
Sure...why not...that's a great way to how important higher ed is to our country.
So who do you think will be our next President, Trump
or Palin? If so, I guess the masses didn't learn from Bush2, Bush1, or Reagan each of which skyrocketed the deficit.
It's too depressing to think about! Caught both of them on TV here in the hotel. One more reason I think not watching TV is a good thing...
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