Why Johnny can't find South America despite his schooling

[Say_What]

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In America, the government-controlled education system produces some
of the least educated high school graduates of any industrialized nation on earth.

The rot has extended far into higher education. Iowa prides itself on
its schools and its highly educated citizenry. Yet even here, most UNI
seniors who graduated in the top half of their high school class are
confused by 6th grade math. Most don't know how many degrees a
triangle has on a flat surface, let alone a curved one. Some don't
even know what a degree is. Others think Turkey is a country in South
America.

Some have even stated that Africa is a "county" in South America. In
light of this, where do you think an article entitled "Modern and
postmodern racism in Europe: Dialogic approach and anti-racist
pedagogues" would be found? Well, of course, it was found in the same
place as the article entitled, "Improving collaboration between
educators and their lawyers."

Both were published in one of America's top education journals. A
quick scan of the articles published in the last five years in this
elite repository found five on politics, including one warning schools
how conservative business philosophies would destroy true democracy,
13 on racial issues, seven on gender, and another 14 on social class,
diversity, and equity issues.

<http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2003/12/01/columnists/clayson/fbc8f77d52c5cccb86256dec0056fcd7.txt>

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. The author's reference to the "government-controlled" educational system

is a red flag for me.

He conveniently ignores the fact that it's local governments, in the form of school boards, that have more say than anyone on the state or federal level about what actually goes on in the classroom. The state may mandate the teaching of geography, for example, but it's the schoolboard that decides to purchase dumbed-down textbooks or to allow the baseball coach to teach geography because "anyone can do it."

My ninth grade civics class was taught by a coach who had us read the chapter in the book over and over (and these were tattered, fifteen-year-old textbooks that stayed in the room and which had been marked up with years of grafitti and crudely captioned and altered illustrations.) We took a test at the end of the week and never discussed anything. Meanwhile, the coach sat at his desk, reading Sports Illustrated with his lips moving, and yelling if anyone talked.

As appalling as the situation was, it was not the fault of either the state or federall government, but of the principal and the local school board, who allowed this man to get paid for doing nothing.

It's no coincidence that wealthy communities and college towns have the best school systems. The parents demand nothing less.

[Say_What]

2. NEA Statement of Principles on Federal Funding for Higher Education

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As Congress debates higher education funding and the latest data on rising tuition and fees at U.S. colleges and universities are released this week, millions of Americans are being hammered by a perfect storm of a stagnant economy, soaring college costs, and aid reductions due to federal and state cutbacks.

The economic downturn has left many young people and families with fewer resources to pay for a four-year college degree just as costs skyrocket and public and private assistance become more difficult for them to obtain. With almost all states struggling through the worst fiscal crisis since World War II, state universities and community colleges are receiving less and less help from policymakers. As a result, tuition and fees rose rapidly this year, with students at some institutions seeing hikes as high as 20, 30, or even 40 percent. At the same time, many universities and private foundations are cutting back on scholarships to needy students, leading greater numbers of them to take out more and more loans, work full- or part-time jobs, postpone their education, or abandon their dreams altogether.

President Bush and Congress have made this crisis worse. With a maximum of just over $4,000 and an average value of $2,400, Pell Grants no longer provide nearly enough assistance to working families to pay for college costs. Yet the Bush administration is not proposing any increase in the maximum Pell Grant award but is revamping the Pell Grant funding formula so that 84,000 middle-class families are no longer eligible.

The Bush administration and Congress also doled out trillions of dollars in tax breaks over the past three years mostly to corporations and the wealthiest individuals, which siphoned billions of dollars out of state revenues available for higher education and other critical needs. Now they are pushing forward a $87 billion aid package for Iraq—at a time when the entire annual federal budget for education barely tops $50 billion-while freezing funding for higher education.

http://www.nea.org/he/fiscalcrisis/neastmt.html

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The Perfect Storm in Higher Education

The enrollment gap in higher education is widening for minority groups--particularly for Hispanics and African-Americans. According to a new Education Commission of the States (ECS) report, "Closing the College Participation Gap: A National Study," if this gap were to close, there would be a 59 percent increase as opposed to an estimated 13 percent increase in student enrollment by 2015. The report cites the need to increase access for underrepresented populations, including the 48 percent of Hispanics 25 years and older who do not have a high school diploma. In an age when postsecondary education is becoming a necessity, ECS is attempting to aid policymakers and state leaders in increasing access for people who want a college education.

Although ECS calls on the United States to serve a greater number of students, unfortunately the commission does not offer specific policy options for states facing large deficits. Ted Sanders, ECS President acknowledges that there is a "perfect storm" brewing in higher education. An increasing demand for higher education is being met by higher tuitions as states cut education funding.

Internationally the United States ranks a dismal 13 out of 32 industrialized nations on educational measures, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This is a significant drop from its first place ranking just 10 years ago.

http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/ECS.html