Higher Education

Politicians And Interference With University Education: Totally Wrong And Inappropriate!

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A disturbing trend which has emerged lately among Republicans is to promote the idea that higher education should be in the business of promoting certain fields of study, certain majors, because there are more job opportunities in some areas of the curriculum.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has been speaking about this, and now House Majority Leader Eric Cantor did the same in a speech about “rebranding” the Republican Party.

The idea that politicians should be promoting any interference in the pursuit of education, the advancement of knowledge, and the encouragement of an open mind that might question the established ideas of a ruling class, is totally horrifying and unacceptable!

Yes, there may be more jobs in computer science, medicine, nursing, and accounting. But over time, every field of study has become oversupplied, and a college education is not just designed to promote certain job skills or trades. If one wants that, they can go to a technical institute or vocational school, and there is nothing wrong with that.

But a university or college education is designed to promote THINKING, ANALYSIS and TOLERANCE, and to be exposed to knowledge that otherwise might never be explored!

To discourage those who are interested in English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Foreign Languages, Art, Music, and other liberal arts fields is to deny the development of an intellectual class, which can interpret and evaluate information, and be motivated by more than just materialism. And students who have majored in these and similar areas are often the best employees, because they have developed higher intellectual skills! There is no guarantee in today’s world that anyone will remain in the same field of work, no matter what one majors in while in a college or university.

We all need to make a living, and yes, some people in certain fields will make more money, but the goal of life should be to be happy, contented, enjoy one’s life work, and to assume that everyone who goes into “desirable” higher paying fields is happy or successful, is to live in a delusion!

All fields of knowledge are desirable, and exposure to as many as possible is a good thing, and politicians should stop any interference in the funding or advocacy of certain areas over others.

Anyone who gains a college or university education may not appreciate the exposure to many fields of knowledge in the short run, but as the years go by, one realizes the benefits of exposure to fields of knowledge, often not appreciated until many years later!

So Rick Scott, Eric Cantor, and anyone else considering interfering in higher education, back off!

Fact Of Life: Education Beyond High School Is Essential And Also Fulfilling In Other Ways Than Just Employment!

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There has been a lot of talk recently about the burden college graduates face in paying off college debt.

There has also been the growth of an anti-intellectual backlash by those who are not educated, and resent the power and influence of educated people.

But the reality is that educated people tend to find it easier to become employed, stay employed, and make a much higher income over a lifetime, by any statistic one uses.

New government figures prove that education gives a person seeking employment many more opportunities for fulfilling work, and with less likelihood of being laid off, and if so, easier to find another job.

This is not equivalent of the past, when many people without any education could obtain a good manufacturing job and support a family.

But it is not only the economics of education that is significant, but also the fact of the “liberation” of one’s mind from myth and ignorance, as a college education promotes higher skills, including ability to analyze, evaluate, and interpret information; as well as encourage tolerance of others, and a desire to learn and improve one’s social and intellectual being.

A learned population is far better than an ignorant population, and it engenders an increased sense of satisfaction and happiness as well.

So the answer is to pursue higher education as the ticket to success long term, and open mindedness throughout one’s life, making one a better person, a better husband or wife, a better dad or mom, a better friend, a better human being!

Rick Santorum Critical Of Public Education And Higher Education As Promoting Indoctrination

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Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has now criticized public education and higher education as promoting indoctrination in what he considers liberal, secular, humanistic thought and learning.

Santorum touted the advantages of home schooling, which all of his children have experienced, as the way to counteract public education and promote parental values.

He complains that higher education institutions advocate challenges to religious values, and are out to propagandize liberal, secular values and concepts.

It is clear that Santorum does not see organized religion as indoctrination, promoting obedience and acceptance without open analysis, evaluation, and interpretation. He is disturbed that many young people move away from organized religion as they get older, and blames it on the secular humanism which challenges men and women to THINK, to come to conclusions, to JUDGE, to refuse to accept dogma, whether religious, political, or any other type of learning.

Santorum would rather have people accept religion without challenge, reject a worldly view, accept authority of all kinds without question, and keep women in a subservient role, as all religions promote.

The answer is that IF someone wishes to follow what Santorum advocates, then send your children to religiously based schools and universities, or keep them engaged in home schooling below the college level. But if one chooses to isolate his or her children from contact with others of a different religion, race, or ethnicity, those children are losing a valuable opportunity to learn about the real world out there. And if they do not learn to think, to evaluate, to analyze, to interpret information and challenge established institutions, then they are not able to accept the responsibilities of adulthood in a full sense!

Above all, separation of church and state, when it comes to public schools and public colleges and universities, must be maintained, as we are not a theocracy.

Religion is appropriate in churches and synagogues, but not in public education, and religion should not be taught in public schools or forced at the college and university level, unless one chooses independently to study it as a subject of inquiry.

This does not mean that religion as part of history should not be introduced and taught, but no indoctrination or advocacy can be allowed, despite the desires and wishes of Rick Santorum!

The Further Decline Of Florida Education Under Rick Scott And A GOP Legislature

Ronald 1 Comment

Florida is the fourth largest state in population, and will surpass New York in the next decade.

But Florida is operating educationally as a “third world nation”, with constant cuts in education at all levels.

After cutting $1.3 billion in educational funding in the present fiscal year, suddenly Governor Rick Scott, saddled by the lowest public opinion poll support of any Governor in America, came out this year for restoring about $1 billion of the funding lost this past year for education below the college and university level.

But higher education, the passport to the middle class for millions of young people in the state, is being asked to take even further cuts which will cripple the state university and state college system.

State spending is at 2003 levels and there has been a 24 percent cut in funding of higher education since 2008.

Some schools are being asked to take a cut that is draconian, including the University of South Florida in Tampa and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and community colleges, now considered state colleges because they offer some bachelors degree programs, are also being harmed, and yet Governor Scott and his party want no or small tuition increases which will decimate the curriculum, and will cause massive layoff of personnel and cuts in services.

Every state is facing crisis in higher education, but Florida is near the bottom of all measurements of academic performance and achievement, and can ill afford the shabby treatment it is being forced to take.

It is shortsighted and fails to consider the future of Florida economically, as without the ability of young people to acquire an education, the long range economic future of Florida is doomed, and this comes as Florida becomes, more than ever, a state with large percentages of minorities, who have no way to advance socially and economically without state commitment to education.

Anyone with any common sense who has children will come to the conclusion to escape the “Sunshine” state if the opportunities for their children continue to be limited, and Florida will languish as one of the most backward states, an image one would think the state would wish to overcome, but not with the conservative, short sighted, and uncaring domination of the Republicans and Governor Rick Scott over the future of the state.

Congressman Ron Paul And College Student Loans: Denial Of Educational Opportunity!

Ronald 1 Comment

Libertarian and Republican Presidential candidate, Texas Congressman Ron Paul always draws interest when he makes his statements and announces his platform, because it is so contradictory to that of all the other GOP candidates.

He is much loved by many young people, including college students, who have a utopian view of having very little government in the complex world of the 21st century.

However, with his new suggestion that college student loans be ended over a period of time, along with the Department of Education itself, many young people and other Americans who are enamored with him might have second thoughts.

His comment that anyone who wants an education will be able to get one is preposterous on its face, as realize how many poor whites and minorities go into the military precisely for the chance to get a low cost education, something that should not be a factor in volunteering to put oneself in harm’s way!

While many students may graduate with high levels of debt, to eliminate the government promoting education is a guarantee of FEWER college graduates, which even with the tough realities of unemployment problems today, is still the best way to promote job success and increased standard of living long term!

What Paul is doing is condemning millions of people not so fortunate to have wealthy parents, and facing the problems of constant struggle to survive, to have no way out of poverty or the struggling lower middle class!

That is only to be condemned as heartless, uncaring, narrow minded, and elitist, and certainly, Senator Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, with a father who was a doctor in his younger years, did not face that kind of personal struggle, which might have prevented him from his career as an eye doctor before seeking public office!

This is more than enough reason to eliminate Ron Paul as a serious Presidential candidate, although it is certain that the GOP electorate will do that effectively in the early caucuses and primaries!

Florida Governor Rick Scott And Education Goals: War On The Social Sciences And Humanities!

Ronald 2 Comments

Florida Governor Rick Scott and other Republicans in the state legislature have declared “war” on the Social Sciences and Humanities areas of the college curriculum, claiming that they wish to emphasize areas of knowledge, including science and technology majors, which are easier fields to promote job growth in the state.

Since when is it the role of politicians to dictate fields of study for students, as if that is the only purpose of education and learning? Scott’s suggestion to work against anthropology as a major, and other legislators’ attempts to undermine psychology and political science fields, is only the beginning of the promotion of mind control by people who do not give a damn about the purposes of higher education!

One should pursue his or her dreams and interests in colleges and universities, as the purpose of education is to open up one’s mind to new ideas, and the ultimate reality is that, as Steve Jobs said in his Stanford University commencement speech in 2005, that pursuit of one’s interests has a role in making one happy, that one must love what he or she does to be productive!

Times may be difficult now, but to work to destroy or de-emphasize whole fields of learning is anti intellectual and anti education to the extreme! Not everyone is motivated to go into the areas of science or technology, and society needs a mix of people with all kinds of interests and passions!

Education is not just based on job needs, and politicians should not have the power or authority to dictate budget cuts, which should be left to faculty and administrators at the institutions!

Universities that would gut whole programs because of the issue of money or immediate employment would be a travesty of the whole concept of education, which is to prepare for LIFE, not just employment!

The Wrong Message Being Sent About Education In America!

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One would think that most Americans would believe that education is the ticket to success in America, that it is the major means of social and economic mobility.

But at a time when we face an education system that has been inadequate to deal with the future of our children, what is occurring is that we are seeing states slashing budgets on what is basically the future of the nation!

Texas will begin the new school year without textbooks for its students, while we are also, all over the nation, seeing schools shut down, summer schools being eliminated or cut back, shorter school years being put into effect, number of school days being cut from five to four in many areas, and teachers and staff being treated by government as the “enemy”, and being faced with having to pay for benefits guaranteed by labor contracts, and often being forced to take pay cuts or furloughs from work!

We are going to see a decline in numbers of young people wishing to go into education as a field, and many veteran teachers will be leaving over the next few years, disgusted with the mistreatment they suffer, and the lack of respect for education demonstrated by state legislatures, city councils, and school boards, with many members of school boards particularly having no clue as to what education is all about!

The greatest loss will be the likelihood of a growing dropout rate by students, and the gaps they will suffer in their education, making them ill equipped to deal with the future, to be good parents, and to be the leaders dealing with the problems that this nation will face with a rapidly aging population.

If we fail to educate our young properly, and encourage the best and the brightest to enter the field of education, the long range prognosis of the country is in great jeopardy!

Debate Over Value Of College Education Rages!

Ronald 1 Comment

This is a difficult year for graduates of colleges and universities all across America, with the high unemployment rate, and arguably the worst economic outlook that we have seen in many decades.

Not only are college graduates faced with a daunting challenge to find work that is relevant to their degrees. It is also the issue of finding any work at all.

But additionally, there is the growing debt faced by college graduates and graduate students, which can be the equivalent of a mortgage on a house, and set back the future of a graduate, and even more of couples who wish to marry, but face a dual debt of both to pay off, making it hard to see a future in the middle class.

So many have speculated that a college degree is not worth it, that learning a skilled trade is better, and that the value of a college education is overrated.

The answer to these assertions is to state that it is a terrible burden that college graduates face, but in the long run, it has been shown that they do earn higher salaries and have greater satisfaction in their work lives.

Additionally, having a college education allows someone to learn lots of things that expand one’s horizons, create new interests and hobbies, which are important for a full life.

Socially, one learns how to analyze, evaluate, debate, solve problems, and learn how to disagree agreeably during a college experience.

Having an education exposes people to others who are different and makes one more tolerant and open minded, not so quick to pass judgment based on hysteria or emotion.

Education is the way to promote a free society, and democracy, and fulfills the Jeffersonian idea of an America where over time, social and economic mobility are possible.

It is hard to imagine anyone who has been exposed to college who would argue that he or she gained nothing from the experience, and there are many intangibles that cannot be seen or understood at the time, but enrich our lives long term.

So to tell a young person, or even an older person, NOT to pursue higher education, is a fallacy and a fraud that undermines the long term future of individuals and American society!

The Assault On Education By Republican Governors And Legislatures: Florida A Prime Example!

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An unbelievable assault on education iand the teaching profession is underway in many states controlled by Republican Governors and legislatures.

It is well known that New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin are among the leaders on this assault, but we must now add to the list the Sunshine State, Florida!

Easily the most backward of the states mentioned when it comes to financing and educational results, the Republican legislature and Governor Rick Scott, who was unknown a year ago other than for Medicare fraud, have declared war on education funding and on the teaching profession at all levels!

The legislature has decided to blame the educators for the fact of poor test results in the public schools, and their aim ultimately is to destroy the public schools and promote privatizing of education, including spending inadequate taxpayer money on charter schools, which have so far failed to produce any better results with children.

The reality is that the only way to improve education is the promotion of family responsibility in the education of their offspring. The old saying is that “you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink!” Ultimately, no matter how good a teacher, if the students do not do their homework and take school seriously, the test results on standardized tests cannot magically be good!

But instead, what the Florida legislature and Governor Scott are doing is to cut over $3 billion in funding, while lowering taxes on property owners and corporations, and to hold the teachers totally responsible for good results on testing without any funding to back it up!

Public school teachers are seeing tenure destroyed, losing all the security that teachers had, which helped to make up for the poor salaries. They are being required to take a pay cut to pay for their retirement and health care, and seeing sick leave taken away from them unless they use it, so they cannot get payouts when retired if they avoid using sick leave. The DROP system, in effect since 1998, whereby they and all state employees could save their first five years of retirement money while continuing to work, therefore gaining a lump sum when they finally retire, is being ended for new applicants by June 30, 2011. Everyone will be on one year contracts with no guarantees of keeping their jobs.

Administrators will be able to use nepotism; favoritism; pettiness and personal vendetta; cronyism; age discrimination; racial discrimination; eliminating more expensive employees for younger, less expensive ones; and the ability to dismiss any teacher without just cause! If parents complain about a teacher, the easiest thing is to dismiss them, making teacher retention political, a total disgrace in the profession of education!

And the same treatment is also being dished out to college professors at the state universities and community colleges, showing total lack of respect for scholars and teachers with Masters degrees and Ph. Ds, who already do not make the salaries of lawyers, doctors, and other professionals, but educate all of them, put in years of effort to accomplish their advanced degrees, and now are being treated like “interchangeable parts”, who are to be treated as if they are just ordinary civil servants despite them having the most educational accomplishments of all state employees!

Professors with tenure will now be dismissed without just cause because they have a mouth and speak up on political issues or challenge administrators and their policies! If enough students complain that a professor is too tough on grading standards, that could make him or her a liability in the minds of college administrators, many who went into adminini8stration because they cannot teach anywhere as effectively as many professors! Academic freedom is under attack, and it is certain that many top notch professors at the state universities will leave because of the tremendous decline in work conditions!

Why would any young person wish to sacrifice years of study to become a public school teacher, or even more, a college professor, when there is little respect and dignity paid to him or her for dedicating his or her life to educating our younger generation?

People forget that the truth is those who CAN teach, and those who CAN’T administer teachers! No one has ever been able to show that administrators are anywhere as brainy and intelligent as the people they supervise! Remember the Peter Principle, that says people rise to the level of their INCOMPETENCY!

And now, even more outrageous, is that the Florida Retirement System participants, all of them, including not only teachers and professors, but also police officers, fire fighters, librarians, social workers, nurses, prison guards, and everyone else is to discover that the state legislature is about to declare that once one retires from the Florida Retirement System, they are NEVER to be welcomed back as part time employees in retirement, despite their years of knowledge, experience, expertise, and talents! This is totally insane, and is discrimination against the elderly who wish to work, and will be told they are not welcome back in any capacity!

Regarding teaching, it will create a shortage of substitute teachers at the public school level, and a tremendous shortcoming of adjunct professors at the college and university level, since the only adjuncts available in the long run will be those who are young and new at teaching on the college level, and who are unable to find full time teaching positions! The colleges NEED adjuncts to keep costs down, and if they must hire more full time instructors, it will cost far more than hiring part time professors who are retired and wish to work in their profession beyond their full time jobs!

The Florida legislature, more than two thirds Republican, and our outlaw felon Governor Rick Scott are involved in what can be considered criminal activity against the people of Florida, and the damage they have wrought and will continue to do will put Florida truly into the status of a third world nation!

The Gap Between College Education Needed And The Response Of College Age Population, Particularly Males: Danger Sign For The Future Economic Growth Of America! :(

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With the unemployment rate rising from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent, over 15 million people out of work, and over 6 million out of work for a long term, the nation is faced with the reality that college graduates or higher earn far more than others, and have a very low unemployment rate in this horrible economy!

At the same time, African Americans and Hispanics, and those with less than a high school diploma, or even those who finish high school but achieve no higher level of education, are faced with an extremely high unemployment rate and little hope of a real employment opportunity anytime soon!

In the midst of this crisis, we are finding a larger number of high school students no longer aspire to college education, and that this is particularly noticeable among males, who now comprise far less than a majority of college level students!

Women are becoming more educated, and gaining better pay than in the past, and have a lower unemployment rate than men, and this is also adding up to fewer marriages, with women no longer feeling the need to marry because they can support themselves, and less resistance to the idea of having children out of wedlock!

As Time Magazine stated in a recent issue, women don’t need to marry for money, and neither men nor women need to marry for sexual relations, so marriage is a declining institution, as well as the goal of many young people, and particularly males, to gain a college education, which would improve their chances of keeping a job and avoiding unemployment!

This is a social problem that plagues America and will adversely affect its long range future, unless we can convince young people of the importance of education in their lives!