President Obama has proposed making two years of community college tuition-free for all. That’s an excellent plan. Too many young people are priced out of any higher educAtion, and this removes affordability as an obstacle. Community colleges were originally underwritten by state and local governments to expand access, so this plan restores the original purpose of the community college. My hope would be that this plan would not only open the doors of higher education to many students, but would undercut predatory for-profit online “universities.”
This was reported in Politico.com this morning:
“By Caitlin Emma
With help from Eliza Collins and Allie Grasgreen
COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR EVERYONE: President Barack Obama is headed to Pellissippi State Community College in Tennessee today, where he’ll propose making two years of community college free “for everybody who’s willing to work for it.” But he’ll need the approval of Congress to make it happen. So far, the plan doesn’t have a price tag – at least not officially; all White House officials will say is it’s “significant.” If all 50 states participate, the proposal could benefit 9 million students each year and save them an average of $3,800 in tuition. (David Leonhardt of The New York Times estimated the cost could reach $15 billion annually: http://nyti.ms/1Kr23Ey) But administration officials insist it’s “a proposal with bipartisan appeal.” The plan is inspired by – but not identical to – the Tennessee Promise, the brainchild of Republican Gov. Bill Haslam. More from Allie Grasgreen: http://politi.co/1FwnNPd Watch Obama speak in Knoxville at 1:20 p.m. ET: http://1.usa.gov/IKgGYn
– Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was quick to state his support Thursday night, framing community colleges as “a more affordable, higher quality alternative to for-profit colleges.”
– But there are potential drawbacks, said Don Heller, dean of Michigan State University’s College of Education. Take California, he said, where many students enroll at community colleges because they aren’t admitted to the University of California. “Should we really be giving those kids free tuition when their families can pay?” Heller asked. Further, he said, why not just offer two years’ worth of tuition at any institution? “By focusing this on just community college students, are we going to lose out on some students that could benefit by going and starting at a four-year university?”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
California fails its college students! http://www.examiner.com/article/california-fails-its-college-students
“Further, he said, why not just offer two years’ worth of tuition at any institution?”
Um, because most private colleges are vastly more expensive that community colleges?
I like the idea and the phrase “if they are willing to work for it”. Just like food stamps should be given, if one is willing to work for it. There is “no free lunch” and if the gov’t is going to subsidize your tuition, or food, then one should be willing to work for it. “If one is not willing to work, then one should not eat”.
So, how will this work be offered, like FDR New Deal, where students from YCC groups (like the ones that built many national park infrastructures)? Can we mobilize groups of students to repair our transportation infrastructure, go out and help set up and work at community gardens (so that local poor communities have a better source of fresh produce). etc..?
I think it is a great way to empower the next generation and give them meaningful work and volunteer experience, helping make our communities better places.
In Finland, ALL higher education is tuition-free, including graduate studies. Education, they say, is a basic human right and no one should pay for it
Yes, and in socialist states people pay much higher taxes to provide such services. I’m all for “equaling the playing field” by higher taxes in order to provide more basic services. Though, one may ask, how does one “pay back” the state for the “free” education, by being diligent and responsible and working productively for their lifetime, and being taxed at a higher rate for that lifetime, in order to keep the system running?
How does the state deal with lethargy and apathy, when people get the free education but then make no attempt to become productive members of the system? Just like communism destroys the goals, and rewards, of personal diligence, responsible work and entrepreneurship (because what is the use of excellence if everything is the States and the lazy are treated the same as the diligent?).
Again, there is no free lunch. Capitalism leads to an “inherent” inequality of wealth-hoarding (leading to all the social injustices that come with that) and communism/socialism to an “inherent” inequality where lazy and diligent are treated the same. Where is the balance?
The way to find a balance is to invest in your youth, instead of trying to profit from them. In this country some people are still carrying student loan debt into retirement. Investing in young people for two years of education will benefit the economy as a greater number of young people will become more productive at higher wages. The student loan burden weighs the economy down since people with debt buy fewer goods and services. As far as those that will “game the system,” you will always find a few people in that category, but mostly it will provide more opportunities to working class and poor students.
Yes, and I like it and agree, but this assumes there will be lots of “higher wage” jobs waiting for all these graduates when they finish. Yet, if the job market is already full (ie. only 25% of law school graduates find work in their field right out of college), then all of this “free” education will go to waste and the State will never get back, in returns, the investment it made.
It seems like the market will determine if this plan is really viable; for, if what you state does not happen, then the State cannot collect tax revenue from all these “high income earners” and the State will go bankrupt in the pursuit of “free” education.
“…then all of this “free” education will go to waste and the State will never get back, in returns, the investment it made.” – Rick Lapworth
I believe that an education never goes to waste. The best return of investment is that I live in a society populated by educated people, who are able to question and to think for themselves, who can not be lead around by their noses and will not jump off cliffs like lemmings.
Of course, as with everything Obama does, the devil is in the detail. “If they’re willing to work for it” is a loaded phrase which can mean many different things. As with welfare “reform” it could very well end up making the legislation effectively meaningless if the work requirements are so stringent that many otherwise eligible people wouldn’t be able to take advantage.
There is no such thing as free. Someone has to pay for it. Probably people like you and me.
Mr. Paolacci–There is a lot of “free” in this unequal society. For example, the corporate owners of Madison Square Garden in Manhattan have not paid any taxes for 30 years, benefits of a state-sponsored write-off. The corporate owners of Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and Barclay’s Arena also received public subsidies to free them of taxes. Private owners of charter schools in New York City are also required by law to provide very expensive free real estate to these private charters. The billion-dollar coal industry was just freed from costly disposal of its mountains of toxic coal ash because the corporate-friendly EPA ruled that poisonous coal ash is the same as household waste and can be disposed as such. What did you say, Mr. Paolacci, that there is no such thing as free?
Correction: Should read, “Taxpayers of NYC are required by State Law to provide free space to private charters in a city where real estate is astronomically expensive.”
Very good point, Ira. Here in Michigan school taxes for Detroit Public Schools are being diverted to help pay for the Red Wings new arena. Mike Illitch (owner of the Wings & Tigers & Little Caesars Pizza) is hailed as a savior of Detroit because he has kept his business interests anchored there, however he has received PLENTY of public money as an incentive to do so.
First, what Ira Shor said.
Second, investing in people has its payoffs, including financial ones, which can potentially recoup whatever money is spent on the program. If done well (and I’ll be the first to admit that’s a big if), the program can lead to gainful, maybe even higher level employment for a lot of people who might otherwise be on some form of public assistance or even in jail/prison at public expense. Many people who were “draining” money from the system might become tax-paying citizens adding to the system.
I could also go on about the benefit to society of more people being allowed access to developing their skills, interests, talents, etc. and becoming happier and more fulfilled, but you probably don’t believe in any of that nonsense anyway. There is no society, amiright?
In St. Louis….the daughter of John Danforth is opening a new KIPP school…..it has a 15 member board, which is twice as many members as the powerless elected board and the appointed board of the 25,000 student district combined…….one of the members is a Danforth….a couple of them are not in the financial industry…..they are negotiating FREE RENT from both boards….in exchange for the district’s right to use the (hopefully) good stats of their students to include for state evaluation…..Missouri cannot make the headlines here…..but…..what is in store is devastating. This little cherry-picking a charter full of cherry-picked students in an effort to survive the state’s teacher bashing through monkeying around with accreditation is just a tiny bit of what has to done when you are dealing with a Godly bunch like the Danforths.
“If they are willing to work for it”??? Really. The problem is that comm coll students are already working too long, 20-40hrs/wk on low-wage jobs which wear them out with commuting and job tasks that interfere with their college studies. The insinuation that they must learn to “work for it!!” is an insulting, inaccurate distortion of the real life among working-class students. Many already work full-time jobs and are raising families as well. The comm coll is sadly not “the best 4 yrs of your life,” an iconic framework associated with residential 4-yr private and elite public campuses. As Diane suggests above, tuition to college should be free, period, as a public good and as a democratic right. Modest family income should not be an obstacle to education as it is now.
So few comm coll students graduate in 3-6 yrs b/c they have to work 20-40 hrs/wk to pay bills and tuition. We have no idea what our 9 million comm coll students along with millions of working-class students in public 4yr colleges would accomplish if they had the great luxury of free time to study, small classes, close and continual counseling and mentoring, campuses to express pride, confidence, and aspiration instead of cinderblock buildings surrounded by chain-link fences. These lower-income students come to college from overcrowded high schools with too many students in each class and too few resources to develop their intelligence and literacy. Inequality in society constructs them into the students at the bottom of the school and college hierarchy.
Yes, the “willing to work for it” line is really something to worry about, especially given neoliberal history.
I’m glad you understand. It took me 2 extra years to graduate because I was working part- and then full-time. I was always embarrassed to admit that, instead I should have been boasting what an accomplishment that was. But tuition was much more reasonable then. It is not possible now.
Great Idea BUT!!!! Community Colleges are already FULL UP. And States are not increasing funding to expand them. Will the current GOP Congress fund paying States to expand their Community College systems. Hiring more profs. Adding classrooms, desks etc. Is this realistic, good as it would be?
As an escapee from adjunct hell, I must also ask–will more full-time instructor positions(community college teachers are not professors–“professor” is an earned title that takes years of hard work and lots of luck to acquire) be created to accommodate the influx of students? I taught as a lecturer and adjunct with a PhD for ten years before “giving up” to teach high school. At least I have benefits, a livable wage, and a pension plan now; well, currently I have those. Wait until the edudeformers and charter thieves are done. Teaching will be like working in a sweatshop of the 19th century.
I worked at a Community College for two summers since my salary in my primary job as a middle school teacher was inadequate. I was paid $1800 total per every 3 credit course of College Algebra I taught. Now marinate on that for a bit. $1800 for four months of work! Mind you this was in one of the best and largest Community Colleges in the Country. Now if you can fill in the gaps you can clearly see the logic behind this plan. This scam is about doing education on the cheap so that we don’t have to pay benefits and high salaries to Professors while in the process, delivering an inferior education to the masses. Now I ask where will all the money that is saved from this proposal go? I will leave that one up to you guys. In addition when these politicians say free for all, do they mean their children as well? Of course not, their children will be attending four year Universities this proposal is only for the peasants.
Paying poverty level wages to community college faculty is a disgrace. But I think the President is trying to help more students have access to some form of college university which is a good thing for the students and for the country.
I realize such views are controversial with many who post here. But I think if this happened (and it has just been proposed by Mn House Democrats too); it would be a real step forward.
This IS a great idea… too bad President Obama didn’t use the stimulus money to kickstart this instead of launching RTTT! The stimulus money COULD have stimulated high school students. Instead it penalized teachers, rewarded Pearson and for-profit charters, and neglected to do anything for children raised in poverty.
Yes, the stimulus money should have gone to this.
I kinda like the idea of allowing for starting at a 4 year university, but also, if one can afford it but takes advantage of the “price” is that the purpose of this initiative? Also, what does that mean “free, if they are willing to work for it”? What string is attached to this idea?
We’ll have to wait and see. Perhaps the students have to maintain a minimum GPA, of let’s say 2.5, which is not unreasonable.
Community colleges have been supported by the states. Perhaps there should be a move to demand states fulfill their constitutional duties. Federal support could mean federal control. Do we really want to see NCLB and RttT in our colleges? While community college is reasonable the cost of materials is huge. Pearson is the largest supplied in my area. Not sure I want to hand over more to them.
Obama and Duncan are totally out of control.
Actually, I suspect that for-profits will try to exploit this opportunity. And that Obama would let them.
No. It isn’t a great idea. This is an attempt to abolish public colleges and universities and turn them over to private hands by putting a lot of NCLB demands on them. This is the same abuse of public funds that are currently being done to Title 1 schools.
Neoliberals hate the public sector because it is public. Never forget that.
Bingo!
I’m suspicions. Will Obama link VAM and the Common Core agenda to the free tuition in some way using that free tuition to further the goals of the corporate reformers?
“The Pretender” (apologies to Jackson Browne)
I’m going to rent a big White House
In the shade of the cherry tree
Going to bail my banks in the morning
And meet with William Gates each day
And when the evening rolls around
I’ll think of laws to weigh those teachers down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I’ll get up and do it again
VAM them
Say it again
VAM them
They wanna know what became of the Changes
They waited for me to bring
They were only the fitful dreams
Of some sappy mistakening
I’ve been aware of the tests gone awry
They say in the end it’s the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I’ll get up and do it again
VAM them
Caught between the longing for VAM
And the struggle for the legal tenure
Where the Pearsons sing and the Charters ring
And the junk (stat) man pounds the mentor
Where the teachers dream of the flight
From the test and the VAM and the spite
And the students solemnly wait
For the testing vendor
Out into the lights and the cameras
Strolls the pretender
He knows that all their hopes and dreams
Begin and end there
Ah, the panic as they run through the schools
Leaving nothing but to testing and rules
And tear at their world with Pearson tools
While the ships bearing their dreams run out of fuels
I’m going to find myself a Race
That can show them what Duncan means
And we’ll fill in the missing colors
In each other’s rate-by-number schemes
And then we’ll put our dark glasses on
And we’ll VAM them til their strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We’ll get up and do it again
VAM it up again
I’m going to be a happy President
And struggle against the legal tenure
Where the fads take aim and lay their claim
At the heart and the soul of the mentor
And believe in whoever may lie
’bout those schools that money can buy
Though school love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender
Say a prayer for the pretender
Are you there
For the pretender?
Say a prayer for the pretender
Are you there
For the pretender?
Are you there
For the pretender?
You had me hooked by
VAM them
Say it again
VAM them
and then all the way to the end.
Did you write this after my comment went up? If you did, amazing.
All I did was change a few words here and there.
I think Jackson actually had this in his subconscious when he wrote it.
“And struggle for the legal tenure.”
Brilliant.
No this is a simply a way to assure that the masses will only have access to higher education through community colleges. This will save money because these schools are cheaper and the teachers are also compensated at a lower rates because of their required credentials. In other words, most teachers in Community Colleges are not Professors. In fact, most are part time employees with litlle to no benefits. So what will happen is that four year Public Universities will see less funding due to their higher costs and the differential will be siphoned off to Community Colleges. This is the same scam as Charters done on the Higher Ed level. My God people are so damn stupid! How can you fall for this garbage?
From what I’ve read, most of the people who attend community colleges take only vocational courses then go into the workforce. For instance, in 2013, 58.33% of adults age 25 and over had some college but only 9.84% earned an AA/AS degree, which usually leads to a four year university to work toward a BA. That was the route I took. I started out on the GI Bill at a community college in the area where I grew up, earned my AS in two years and then transferred as a third year student to a university to focus on my major and earn my BA.
Headline in LA Times today is “Health Costs Imperil the State Budget” –CA has NO money for free classes at Community Colleges.
And we cannot afford any more taxes to fund a free education.
As a very liberal person, AND a Teacher, I am horrified at what I see unfold as a UNFUNDED MANDATES for EDUCATION.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
This lousy president doesn’t know or care that many or most college students have full-time jobs, families, and are way past the ages of 18 to 22. That is why it takes them longer to graduate. Big deal. It took me 15-18 years total, with interruptions, to get both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Of course this isn’t about helping students at all but about abolishing public colleges and universities and limiting higher education for the masses.
You are intelligent and in this case absolutely correct. Your statement offers me hope that there are at least a few people out there capable of using their brains to see beyond the BS and rhetoric of this failed administration.
Agreed, great idea. Part of the expanding opportunity approach that led the country to offer free elementary, then free high school, and now, hopefully free one or two years beyond high school.
I teach at a community college in Tennessee, whose Republican governor has already put this plan in place. It will begin with the graduating class of 2015. In some ways, I am excited because I have students who do not qualify for grants and who work their tails off and this will help those students. I have students going for free who do nothing and have excuses for why they can’t get anything done. Yet, I have other students who are paying for their education, who work a full-time job, raise a family, and still do their classwork. So I am excited that this will hopefully help the lower-middle class students.
On the flip side, people do NOT value that which they think they deserve. I have many, many, many students who are already going to community college on the government’s dime, and the vast majority of those students are wasting time and money. These students know how to scam the system to get money and do NOTHING in class or even come to class.
Secondly, on this site and others, we are constantly saying how college isn’t for everyone and that that is a good thing, and then we turn around and throw money at a system that says college IS for everyone. So many of these students have bought into the lies that they NEED a college degree, and then they feel like failures when they can’t/won’t do the work. And many of the two-year degrees are ones which used to be fields that didn’t NEED degrees for people to get jobs. Now, these jobs “require” these degrees which could easily be on-the-job training.
There is so much more I could say, and believe me I know that I am somewhat over-generalizing in the first two paragraphs, but I see it way more than I don’t see it.
I hear you loud and clear on the flip side. It is an interesting move to declare education a basic human right. Being a rather vague idea it can lead to confusing roles in learning, i.e the teacher has to deliver results while the student awaits transformation, like sitting in the dentist’s chair patiently waiting for the drilling to end. Paying for education can put effort back on the map, unless students get the idea that payment makes them clients. Then again the entire burden of proof rests on the teacher’s shoulder.
On the need issue, it is always difficult to say what one needs. It’s like not crossing a bridge because you do not know what is on the other side. I got a useless BA in liberal arts and am now heading an ambitious language program. Back then, my friends warned me that I do not need the BA.
Yes, but how will the tax revenue get generated to subsidize this, because college teachers don’t teach for “free”. In a nation of trillion dollar deficits, and “selfish” capitalists that don’t want higher taxes, just how will this get funded? Maybe each college student is given 1 acre to farm and the products are put into the market, to lower the cost of food (so that one can pay the higher taxes that fund the “free” education)?
My concern is the part that says:
“Community colleges must also adopt promising and evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/01/08/president-proposes-make-community-college-free-responsible-students-2-years
I’ve been teaching math for 20 years and have seen some awful curriculum forced into the K-12 system in order to capture federal money, the NSF has been particularly bad and now I’ve seen it moving into the CC system – ie the movement to eliminate the algebra requirement and the push for MOOCs and flipped classrooms and “personalized” ed. software.
I think the idea of making CCs free is great, but are we expected to give up control of our curriculum in order to get the dough?
THIS is the real Trojan Horse in the proposal, and I was quite surprised not to see it be a primary topic of discussion here.
After the years of “promising and evidence-based institutional reforms” we’ve already suffered, why in the world would anyone NOT think that this is more of the same?
The probable answer is that community colleges will be held responsible for graduation rates, employment rates, student mobility into four year colleges, and almost all of the metrics that you see in K-12 and higher education. This will probably be modeled after or grafted on to the Higher Education Act where the compliance measures are horrific. There is no correlation between this “offer” and the projected labor market forward to 2020.
If this proposal is a formal offer for a new federal program, or an extension of an existing one, then there will be a definition of “community college,” and a full declaration of the strings attached for “accountability.” While the offer sounds as if it is a great opportunity, it might be a move to disable these institutions and shift enrollments to on-line courses, so-called blended learning, and just another shell game.
I think this is a legitimate question: “Should we really be giving those kids free tuition when their families can pay?” Also this one. “By focusing this on just community college students, are we going to lose out on some students that could benefit by going and starting at a four-year university?”
When I entered teaching in Florida, the demand was so great that I received a full tuition scholarship in exchange for teaching in that state for each year that I held the scholarship. If I did not meet this obligation, I had to pay the state back, plus 5% interest from the start date of the loan. No federal programs were in place at that time. Additional scholarships and work during college were still needed to pay the cost of attending a four-year state university.
It will be interesting to see what the proposed expectations are.
As some have noted, graduation/transfer rates at some 2 year colleges are quite low, for various reasons. According to some authorities with whom we’ve worked, these low graduation/transfer rates happen for various reasons. Some involve challenging financial situations for students, some involve needing to take remedial courses, some involve lack of strong counseling.
If Common Core and SBA are such great ideas, why not put the President’s foot on the necks of community colleges too? Another power grab by Obama.
The reason college costs so much is government intervention to begin with. All that scholarship money, government loans, etc. just drives up the cost. If a family can afford $10,000 before aids, they can still afford $10,000 plus aids.
In the current atmosphere fo localized-control-usurping, test-driven reform, you best believe this “free” offering will “cost” dearly in the end.
How is this different from the A+ programs schools have been providing for years? My daughter attended two years of community college for free back in 2001-2003.
Caroline – what state was this in? Does the state still provide two free years of community college? If so is this for all students? If not, what do students have to do to receive this?
K-12 education became free for all decades ago. I would have expected that the first 4 years of college education would have been free by this time. But now at least the first two years free is a phenomenal change and Obama was always for change. Thank you Mr. President.
Will your opinion change if it turns out that there are strings attached? For instance, if colleges have to give up control of their curriculum and implement Obama-approved “reforms” to to be eligible get the money? If students are required to work a job a certain number of hours?
We live in Misssouri. It is called the A+ program. High School students can participate during their Junior and Senior years of High School. They have an A+ teacher who coordinates the program. One of the requirements is that the students work in an elementary classroom for one hour/day as a volunteer or aide. They also have other guidelines for the students to follow, if they succeed in the program, they are given two free years at community colleges in Missouri. I believe you can get more specific information by googling :
A+ program in Missouri
Thanks. This is very interesting.
Here’s how Post Secondary Enrollment Options works in Minnesota. 10th-12th graders are allowed to attend courses on college campuses. State funds pay all costs of tuition, books and fees. Students in all public schools are eligible.
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/StuSuc/CollReadi/PSEO/
The historical examples of free education almost always were/are a net social and economic gain. That’s not wildly disputable. It would take quite a bit of mental contortions to say that somehow easily accessed, democratized, free education is somehow bad. What could be the demonstrable downside? A society more likely to be inoculated against ignorance and not susceptible to the ideas that lead to things like racism, homophobia, sexism, and genocide?
However, Obama’s community college plan is based on wrongheaded thinking….the very same thinking that lead to his disasterous education reform ideology and common core and all that: that the main American economic problem is intellectual under-preparedness. The idea that if we just had better educated people, we’d have all the good jobs. That is simply not the case. The United States faces a GOOD JOBS SHORTAGE! The problem with economic disparity is that there are simply too few middle class paying jobs. Outsourcing and the selling out of American manufacturing is the problem. The ridiculous notion that America’s economic ills are a problem of our education system is the first myth foisted on people in the march towards their real goal of privatizing public education. It’s the lie upon which much if not all of the reform agenda is built upon, and Obama has shown, with his reasoning for his community college plan, that the castle of reform is still alive and well all the way down to the foundation. So that’s the most basic problem with his plan. We haven’t made a dent in the thinking.
“The idea that if we just had better educated people, we’d have all the good jobs. That is simply not the case. The United States faces a GOOD JOBS SHORTAGE!”
The relationship between education and the economy may be more complex than just filling employers’ existing demand for more educated workers. A better educated population may be more creative, more productive, more literate, more likely to start businesses that succeed, more likely to follow politics and vote, more likely to support the sciences, etc. Over time, the ripple effects from all of these things may make society a better place. Heck if I know, but I hope so.
I tend to agree with you, Flerp, down to the “Heck if I know,…” There are a lot of “what ifs” that could sabotage the whole idea, but the concept makes sense. Whether everyone uses the opportunity to the best advantage should be beside the point. They are the ones who stand to lose the most, and a lot of people who cannot afford the expense stand to gain, which is our gain as well.
Yes, agreed, we need more middle/income jobs.
Obama seems to be working on economic problems in a variety of ways, not just the with this new approach. Health care reform is part of the strategy. So is more $ for early childhood.
That’s not all.
Chicago h.s. students have 2 good programs — dual enrollment and dual credit program. H.s. students with a good record can take community college courses for free! The dual credit program brings professors to the high schools, and kids earn h.s. and college credits — but only at a few high schools. In the dual enrollment program h.s. students take c c classes for free. The problem is that h.s. kids are very busy during the school year. It would be great to take courses during the summer.
BUT, Chicago has decided that the CPS school year ends TWO WEEKS AFTER the start of the summer cc session! And summer session has very few night courses.
What missed opportunity to save money on general ed requirements!!
Why won’t anyone looks at solving this simple problem.
I am the product of free higher education, and I believe education is a basic human right, hence it needs to be free. But I think Obama’s proposal is not a step in the right direction. Indeed, his proposal needs to be contrasted with the fact that 4 year colleges get less and less federal and state support. From this viewpoint, what’s happening is that money is taken away from 4 year colleges and given to 2 year colleges. In other words, lower quality education is made available for the masses, while higher quality education (4 year colleges) is weakened. But this is just the beginning of the dire consequences of the proposal. There’s no doubt, the main motivation for the proposal is privatization: The faculty of a community college is much easier to control because they employ a great number of adjuncts. Hence outsourcing of college functions to private companies will have little opposition. It’ll be easier to implement lowly forms of teaching, like online courses. By weakening 4 year colleges (by reducing tenured faculty due to budget cuts), they will also be easier to control. For example, teacher training programs can be outsourced to private companies, which shows how Obama’s proposal will support the charter school movement as well: nothing will stand in the way of using public funds to train teachers for charter schools.
The verdict: Obama’s proposal is part of the privatization movement. Please explain to me how I am wrong.
Yes Yes and Yes way too see through the boloney and get to the gist of things.
Baloney* damn this auto correct
I jus caught the last part of the live presentation by Obama. I was totally distracted by trying to read the simultaneous version of the spech in words. It was really funny. This seemed to have need an attempt by software in a computer to artiulate what he was saying. In addition to some bizarre word salad, the run-on sentences made NO SENSE.
Try to get yourself a helping of this before some human being tries to make it a sensible narrative. Also try to record it for re-posting– on the hazards of trusting computer generated translations of sounds to coherent English.
Oh, Diane. Because you were brave enough to admit you made a mistake in agreeing with charters and the privatization agenda, you’re very heroic to me. But this “Free” community college proposal is just more of the same thing that seduced you into believing the hype not all that long ago. I’ve long hoped you’d pay equal attention in your blog to privatization’s effects on HE because Public Education doesn’t end at 12th grade. Our taxes also pay for college students. While I’m disappointed to see your approval of what will be perhaps the biggest major victory for charterization, it just goes to show how truly seductive and convincing the privatizers and their many partnerships, think tanks, and foundations are. We need to stop normalizing theft of American ideals, wages, taxpayer funds and our children’s lives. Looky here… It’s the “nation’s largest partnership,” and you’ll find many of our friends already gutting K12 listed: http://www.americaspromise.org/partners
Adjunked Professor,
Maybe my skepticism was turned off. I believe that public higher education should be tuition-free. When the proposal comes from this administration, I wonder if it’s a pretext for VAMMING higher education and inflicting NCLB and RTTT on higher education