Week 7: Education

Firstly, I wanted to share one of my favorite videos on education of all time, it's a TED talk by Ken Robinson, and it is VERY worthwhile. It discusses the paradigms of education and how new research shows that not every student fits the current model of education (!). It's a really eye-opening little piece that helped me get the issue in perspective (plus great video design).

O'Neill Ch. 6
I personally believe that education, like healthcare, needs its full support guaranteed by the government so we can all enjoy the benefit of stable education. A good education cannot be measured, as can good heath not be, and it is important for our nation's future and security that we don't continue to throw away the human capital we have by making the education system so confusing and unstable. Let's fund our schools by how many students there are and ensure that fringe groups aren't essentially setting the curriculum standard. Don't worry America, we can do this and still have freedom, but we need to use COMMON SENSE and THOUGHTFUL DELIBERATION when dealing with education.
Education Trust Subprime Report
It's disgusting what people in this country are allowed to do to prey on the poor, the confused, and the uneducated. This is another horrifying report where we see that yet again the unfettered capitalism that is so preached destroys lives, and the only thing the govt. wants to do is take away the funding for many students. I think it could be a good idea in this case even, but the best idea is to shut these scams down and make sure no other vulnerable people get caught up in this. It's despicable.
Fed Up at the University of Phoenix
The example of the University of Phoenix is another in the long list of examples of reasons why we cannot put certain schema in a for-profit context. It simply doesn't work to have an industry with an intangible product (education, health, etc) run in a for-profit system. The parameters of a for-profit system are incompatible with these sorts of qualitative services. Expansion, financial growth, and linear profit are not products of more health or of better education. The University of Phoenix has a marketing department designed to grab up students who don't realize that they are getting into a scam, and that's the biggest shame.

For Profit Education Quality
I for one am pleased at the idea that the US Govt. is looking into the repayment rates and really questioning these schools, but is it really a good idea to cut off funding for any school rather than to cut off the school itself? When I was graduating from the UO the FIRST time, I was arguing that I only had put 36 credits into my major, surely I wasn't ready to graduate! But no, in order to "preserve UO academic integrity" my case was reviewed, and I was shuffled out because the Fed. Govt. had put a cap on financial aid at the point that you reach the technical minimum amount of credits to graduate. Sure I want the US to step in, and I want education quality to get better, but we CANNOT afford to keep putting a bandaid on every problem by swooping in at the end in token gesture. If you want students to go to schools, make sure that bad schools can't call themselves schools. If you want students to not stay in college forever, make sure that they get individual council about their college plan, and don't oust students who demonstrate dedication and academic aptitude. It's insane to me that this country continues to try and fix problems at the end, rather than the source. BOOOOOOO, HISSSSS!

For Profit Schools
When we get right down to it, the assumptions that are made in exploring the benefits of for-profit schools are simply fallacious and utopian in their scope. You're trying to tell me that "For-profit schools have incentives to be efficient and to eliminate unnecessary expenses." Really? I can't see how that works. Increasing profits, such as ALUMNI DONATIONS often hinges on things like the Jacqua Borg Cube (Borg cube pictured) and the SWEET new stadium that could have paid the wages of every professor for years. How about the idea that "for-profit schools are encouraged to offer quality educational programs and produce successful results," does that hold up? Perhaps some, of course, but many others would look at classes as a secondary function and just grab as much cash as possible (AHEM UofP) because "results" aren't profitable. You can't make money out of "results" as much as you can out of "swindling." In the same category is the idea that for-profits will "experiment." No. They. Won't. There isn't any money to be made in failure, and the large majority wouldn't be able to do this. The few that do, so be it, but most will not make the risk. Again, this isn't where money is pouring in from. And SURE they'll be more responsive to clientele. Yeah, get back to me on how responsive HUGE COMPANIES have to be to their clientele. The answer is "minimally." What the customer is going to want, especially in education, is "more and better." This is not profitable, so the for-profits are going to roll out their "less and deal with it" plan, and since you're halfway into a degree before you realize it, it's hard to have a say.

To conclude? What are we doing?!!?? How can we be allowing our future generations to be so poorly planned for and respected. If every person got the training they need to be the best they could be, we could be on top of the world as far as human capital goes. We have all the resources, all the best options, tons of money, and instead we're dickering about teacher's rights in Wisconsin and Ohio, etc. It's madness like this that DRIVES SENSIBLE PEOPLE AWAY FROM TEACHING. The era of "Those who can't do, teach," and the "evolution's ONLY a THEORY" folks need to end. We have a bad outlook for our future, and I hate to think that this is all we have to offer our children.