Education

Robert P. Watson

Our national educational security is also being threatened by skyrocketing tuition which is pricing college out of reach for many students and families. Tuition increases have been growing by 20, 30, or even 40 percent over the past few years, far outpacing the rate of inflation. Most families can’t afford to send their children to elite private schools, which now cost $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Even a non-elite private institution will cost an average of $27,000 per year.

States, feeling the pinch, have cut their portion of university budgets to the point where many state universities now receive only between 30 and 40 percent of their funds from the state (rather than half or most). Therefore, state universities are increasing their tuition prices to the point where an education at a state university now costs roughly $11,000 per year (with $5,000 of that for tuition).

At the same time that the costs of college are ballooning, there has been a national trend - especially during the Bush years - away from need-based financial aid to merit-based aid and from grants to loans. The federal government clearly fulfills a vital role in higher education, with roughly 2/3 of all student aid, most of it in the form of loans, coming from the feds. (University scholarships, state grants, and private loans make up the rest.)

Historically, colleges were very exclusive. As the bastion of only the wealthiest citizens, few attended college. We should be proud of the fact that a college education has become accessible for nearly all Americans, and we should recognize that this helped fuel the engine of the American economy. But, we now find ourselves drifting backward in the percentage of young people going to college.

The answer – in Florida or nationally – is not standardized tests such as the FCAT, which use artificial criteria and rely on rote memorization rather than critical thinking. Tests that emphasize bubbling-in multiple choice answers should never be the focus of an education.

Systems that reward or punish schools based on how well students do on these cookie-cutter tests force teachers to "teach to the test." This system does not improve education, it only improves standardized test scores. And there is a difference between the two. And by tying school funds – even community economic assistance – to the standardized scores it only punishes poor schools by further reducing their funds and rewards wealthy schools with additional money. This is Robin Hood in reverse.

In Florida, only two counties (Leon and Wakulla) and only 23 percent of schools nationally met the federal standards. Florida’s goal this year is to have 53% of students doing math at grade level and 48% of them reading at grade level. It is appalling to think of these numbers as goals when, as a teacher, I know that 53% and 48% are "F" grades.

I always say that improving education is not rocket science… we know how to do it. We need more resources, better use of resources, and basic reforms. And, the recipe for improving education is well known – smaller classroom size, better pay for teachers, better teacher training, more parental involvement, viable pre-school programs, more technology in the classroom, and so on. We simply have not had the leadership to make this a priority.

We must focus on modenizing schools and bringing more technology into the classrooms. One in three schools in the U.S. uses trailers as classrooms for our children. However, I am quite certain that three in three politicians make decisions to underfund schools from comfortable air-conditioned offices. Many of Florida’s children go to school in "temporary" trailers and later graduate with those same trailers still on campus.

I believe there is a role for the federal government in education, but it does not involve dictating standardized testing and it certainly does not involve President Bush's promise to "leave no child behind" and then do exactly that by underfunding the program! Rather, the role is to support local school districts, teachers, and parents by offering universal Head Start and pre-school, vaccinations, grants and funding for technology, school construction, training teachers, and so on.

As a nation, we had the courage and vision to set up the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – commonly known as the GI Bill – which sent untold numbers to school, paid for itself many times over, and contributed to the accomplishments of the greatest generation. If our current leaders had been in office then, I am quite confident they would have opposed the GI Bill. Let us again have the courage and vision to invest in education and our best resource – our young people – because they are the next leaders!