James McCusker, Everett Herald - The president's college tuition plan... has the capacity for real mischief that could do lasting damage to higher education in our country...
The first problem is that it puts the federal government in charge of higher education in our country. Its management would be indirect, through budget control, but it would be no less decisive. Budget control, about which the federal government clearly knows nothing, will give Washington, D.C., the ability to reshape colleges and universities by resetting priorities -- without being responsible for the outcome.
According to the White House, "To keep tuition from spiraling too high," the government will "shift aid away from colleges that fail to keep net tuition down, and toward those colleges and universities that do their fair share to keep tuition affordable, provide good value and serve needy students well."
Anyone ever touched by a federal program recognizes this as a minefield of vaguely defined terms. What exactly is a college or university's "fair share?" What does "affordable" tuition mean when so many students already depend on loans to pay for their education? Who will decide if a college or university is serving needy students well, and on what basis will the decision be made?
The president's plan has drawn some criticism, mostly from state universities that are struggling to adjust to their new economic realities. Many of them, including those in Washington state, are being cut loose by their legislatures because states lack the funds to continue subsidizing tuition.
University of Washington President Mike Young is very concerned about the president's program and fears that its effects would hurt the very students that it is supposed to help. If the availability of student loans is cut, it will reduce lower-income students' access to higher education – especially at the institutions that are trying to stay competitive with national and global schools....
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1 comments:
There is absolutely no reason why the best education in the world to be had anywhere can't be free of charge, free to all, unlimited, and on line. Any state or large city in any country in the world can take giant steps to make it so, starting now, and they could save huge amounts of taxpayer money in the bargain.
1. Prepare international relational open databases of millions of test questions and answers. That does not mean more or less multiple choice, although great progress is being made in the design of even that sort of test.
Copyright laws should be changed to disallow copyrights on tests, and corporations should be forbidden copyright ownership by constitutional amendment.
2. Local school boards and states must set standards and requirements.
3. Secure testing kiosks should be in
every school and library, and other public places. Tests should be made up on demand by the computer, 24-7. The candidate must furnish his own keyboard or other wired device. All activity in or near the room must be recorded.
The only traditional classrooms which deserve to survive are first grade, where one learns how to use the system.
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