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Re: An opine on US education

By: Down And Out Man in ALEA | Recommend this post (0)
Thu, 27 Sep 12 5:58 PM | 48 view(s)
Boardmark this board | The Trust Matrix 		Msg. 10352 of 54959
(This msg. is a reply to 10346 by tkc)
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Good post, tkc. Agree with most everything you said.

On a related note (Higher Ed) -

I'm apparently a bit younger than you, and college cost me about $11 per credit hour when I started.

I took advantage of my parent's offer to let me stay in their basement bedroom rent free, if I attended the nearby University, got a job, and paid my own school costs. I worked the entire duration (full time) and graduated with a good sized chunk of dough in the bank.

Said Univ was one of the handful of our state universities, perfectly good enough, but not one of our top two in "prestige".

Several friends, also afforded similar opportunities by their parents, chose instead to go off to the prestigious schools. Dorm fees, etc. No jobs, or menial part time jobs. Lots of parties and fun. They graduated with "big" school debts that burdened them for some time.

It's all about choices. And to this day I have little patience for those that complain about running up huge debt to attend a highly expensive, prestigious school when they have much cheaper, but adequate choices available.

I heard last night we have something like a trillion bucks in college loan debt now. And increasing at a high rate. My fear is that they're going to "forgive" this debt, once again penalizing the frugal folks that made good choices of individual responsibility and PAID their own money.

We're directly subsidizing higher ed much less now, so the financial burden can be higher than in "our day". All the more reason to make financially sensible choices. I don't shed tears for somebody that takes on a hundred fifty thousand dollars school debt to attend a prestigious school and get a degree that won't provide them a job commensurate with the cost.

But they'll end up forgiving much of such school debts, before all is said and done.

We definitely need to reform a lot of things to make higher ed available to more folks. But throwing unlimited money at colleges ain't the ticket. There's definitely some truth to the statement that it just serves to drive up tuition.

Oh well, back to the sidelines.

D&O


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The above is a reply to the following message:
An opine on US education
By: tkc in ALEA
Thu, 27 Sep 12 7:17 AM 		Msg. 10346 of 54959

90% of my 1959 graduation class when to college. I worked my way through. Tuition for my last semester at an ivy league school was $875. Today too many place the onus on poor teachers for lack of proficiency. They blame that on low teacher pay; suggesting that low pay doesn't attract good teachers. I think that's a bunch of hooey. First of all teachers in my state are largely the graduates of taxpayer highly subsidized State teachers' colleges which is relatively very inexpensive. They'er attracted to the work hours, health and retirement benefits. 180 school days less 14 sick days/yr at maybe 7 hours/day w/ tenure, a pension, 403B and primo health insurance. Secondly, all teachers are required to have an MS in Ed prior to tenure and are required to pass proficiency in their area of expertise. Additionally while pursuing their MS they are paid extra for each hour they pass (not once) but throughout their career. I must add that the school of choice for most of our area's teachers to earn their MS is one of the finest schools in the country (year after year).

So what's my point? Way too many kids graduate (or drop out) from our school district (not the same I graduated from) w/o the basic tools to succeed let alone go to college. It's not the teachers! It's not low pay that discourages quality teachers. It's parents that don't require competency; that don't react to poor performance, accept mediocrity or less. And IMO that has less to do w/ economic standing than love, interest and parenting skills. Ain't it a shame!

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