Thank you to those who attended today's class, I really enjoyed the discussions shared and the various avenues explored in the realm of higher education.
First and foremost, I strongly feel it is important to bring the topic of Higher Education up since it has been a topic that has been swept under the rug for too long. While many believe speaking about this topic goes no where, I believe otherwise. Having a group of people understand the difficulties of getting a college education, or just an education period isn’t an easy thing to acquire. To become educated is to have the resources available to teach students how to write, read, speak, and just develop as a human being. It is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that one of the many rights man has, is to be educated, in order to develop and progress in the world around him. However, to provide individuals with an education one has to understand who is funding it. The answer to this is the government.
The government funds education programs and they decide how things should be, what will be taught, and the materials used. The issue with this is, when governments, specifically the US government, ignores education and sets it priorities to allocating resources, in order to be further their economic gain. This is an issue that needs to be recognized to prevent long term damages they are placing on education. In order to make the necessary changes needed to improve education reform, it is crucial that the people stand up and protest the irresponsibility that will negatively impact the future generation of this nation. As the saying goes, to make change is to work on it every day and sacrifice, in order to get results. Yet, the problem with protesting this issue is, who cares. Who are the people out there willing to take time to inform society about the importance of higher education and making sure that it is well funded? For those who are aware of the problem and stay silent to either preserve their elite status or for those that ignore the issue in entirety, how do we persuade them to become the opposite of by standards? The answer lies in morals, values, and the desire to create a society that isn’t gaped between those who are advantaged and those that are disadvantaged.
In class, Professor Waterston spoke about a community she went to where everyone was given equal pay no matter what their job was and were given different tasks to do every 6 weeks. Although, the community was very close and hardworking, parents found themselves able to spend more time with their kids and families were able to communicate and interact with families more. While some may say, “whoa this is too communist for my taste”, I believe that this type of community in a sense is a depiction of utopia that we hope to one day achieve. If you ask a college or high school student how many hours in a week do you see your mom or dad, I am sure many of them wouldn’t say a high number. The reason for this is that we live in a society where everyone works to make a living and works to get the nice life they dreamed of. However, think to yourself, would you rather work and work to live the “life” or would you rather live a life where everyone around you is equal and has the ability to spend more time with their families? This question ties into higher education because, if politically and culturally we have taught society that college is the entrance to having a better life with better pay, and don’t live up to these standards; then the government needs to come together and come up with ways to better the education system, so that student are truly paying for what they are getting.
Even more, if the US is taking in math and science students from other countries because of their ability to do more, compared to the average American, then this should be a massive wake up call for society. It is shocking enough that the Chancellor of CUNY wants to raise tuition to those in the math and science fields; but if we are taking in the “brains” of math and science from foreign countries to compensate for our lack of experts in these fields, it is time that we all stand up and remind the government where their priorities should be. If the government can not live up to its responsibility, (the people) then it is vital that we come together and bring recognition to this issue, before all is gone.
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Jessica you bring up a good point. The government does have to provide an education for its people. But it only has to do this for a certain amount of time, then the individual has a choice whether to further their education or not. This becomes an issue of the State intervening on a person’s right of free will, and the State’s responsibility to protect its citizen. Last semester a teacher told me about a case where the homeless person retained a public defender that defended the homeless person’s right to remain homeless. I add that anecdote because it exemplifies the idea that the government/ the State can intervene only so much.
Then the issue of businesses like GE making over 40 billion in excess, while tuition hikes become routine and student loans surpass the point of usury. When this happens the thought I am left with is that the State has failed its citizens in providing protection of its citizens and securing a future for the State.
How much of this is the State’s fault and how much is our fault? I have always mentioned in my blogs the importance of voting, the importance of voicing your opinions about government’s responsibilities, and the importance of questioning. These rights, these duties are what the Republic is based upon.
Culture and family also plays a role in education, I mentioned in a precious class, when we discussed La Bodega de Familia, that it seems that education in the home is not important in some cultures, that certain government programs that were once meant to be a short term fix have become a long term survival tool, and when a program tries to help but removes itself when the people seem to be becoming independent, then people tend to feel that they are being let down instead of feeling accomplished for feeding, clothing and educating themselves. This does have to do with a cycle of atrocities that have been placed on certain groups. In psychology there is a moment when the person has to take responsibilities for their actions and either move on or stay stagnant.
There is also a question of tenure for teachers. Should a teacher who does not teach well, but has time on the job be allowed to continue teaching? Should a teacher receive a grade of 0 and thus be fired on merit base rather than protected by seniority?
Do we remain skeptics and say only a certain amount of people are the exception, only a few excel from rather mediocre means? Or can we find a way to make the exception the rule? To provide the foundations of education solely on government programs is a fallacy, without first acknowledging the importance of cultural and family influences on the child’s education. That still does not mean that the education system or the perceptions of multiple avenues of education such as vocational schools, community colleges, or manual labor are to remain unchanged.
I enjoyed our class discussion as well. Thank you Jessica for prompting us to discuss and debate these issues.
For now, I will be very short just to say that it is crucial to put sub-issues of a larger social issue in context. For example, Joseph raises questions about the "homeless" man's right to remain homeless. But where is the context? What are this person's real options? If we look at the full context of the case, would the options come down to a "choiceless choice"? (i.e., better to be on the street than dwell in one of those horrific public shelters, for example). I do not know the "context" in that case, but I wonder what the full story is. Without the full context, the question fulfills a political agenda, not a humanistic one.
Ditto the issue of tenure. Tenure is tied to academic freedom--something that at this historic moment is being threatened each and every day (e.g., check out Professor Cronon's story). Tenure has a history to it and must be contextualized. The problem of focusing on the "bad" teachers with tenure distracts us not only from understanding the purpose of tenure, but from getting at the roots of the failures in U.S. education. As long as the conversation remains focused on or returns to a narrowly constructed "cause," the less likely we'll move towards addressing the real problems and move towards prevention of those problems in the first place.
We need to envision an alternative model of society. Towards this end, I think Tony Judt's latest and last (he died) book offers a critique and a vision for the future, "Ill Fares the Land." http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/features/illfarestheland/index.html. I was fortunate to hear his last public lecture which he turned into this book. I also think this book should be required reading for all incoming college students, especially those concerned with the state of the world and contemporary social problems. Judt wrote it as his dying statement for the next generation.
Jessica, thank you for the wonderful class. See how hard it is when you have a topic, your students just get carried away!
I want to clarify what I meant by saying that I saw our conversation as pointless. It is not that I think we shouldn’t be talking about these issues. What I mean is two things: first is that instead of sitting in our tiny classroom all agreeing amongst each other that education reform is necessary, we should be in the thousands, millions, and dare I say billions, demanding education reform loud and clear, to everyone who doesn’t want to hear! Secondly, is the fact that I think we would be wasting our energy expressing our desires for education reform because we already know that the miseducation of our nation and many other nations, is a completely intentional strategy. What we really should be doing is going on strike until those in power have no choice but to meet our demands, because they already know what they are. But as I mentioned in class, in order for that top 1% to keep their disproportionate amount of wealth, they must keep the “others” stupid, insecure, and desperate. So, here we are.
I am beginning to lose hope in social change because the more I learn, the more I realize that the task of reaching equality is nearly impossible. The powers that be are way too strong. There are things that we don’t even know about, and most likely never will. You know when a person is involved in a seriously debilitating activity such as gambling, alcoholism or the like, it usually takes them hitting rock bottom for them to stop. They have to reach a point when they realize that there is no way to go on unless something changes. A major event has to take place to put them in a position where they cannot continue living anymore unless they stop those activities. Well, I think it might be the same for society. Until those in power have created a situation where even they can no longer continue living “the good life”, there will be no stop. Fortunately, I think we might be getting close to that time. Rivers, streams, oceans, air, soil, trees, the ozone layer, our bodies can only take so much. Then will we create a better way to live, or will those who are already suffering suffer more? Time will tell.
Jessica,
Thank you for a great class! The issues you bring up in your blog post are truly important.
I think Joseph provides good insight when he points out the government's responsibility for certain age groups, regarding education. I forgot about that point. I think that we assume that everyone is struggling to get back into school/college. It is a sad fact, but for some people, education is not a priority, and I think that we must take that into consideration. We would like to believe that everyone is hungry for an education, but that is not the case. Too many times, it seems a though individuals have to be "forced" to take an interest in their own education.
On another note, as I have said in class, the American government has made its priorities loud and clear. At this point, the burden rests mostly with the individual to seek out new or different avenues for help and development, if he or she so desires.
Jess,
I really enjoyed the way you led the class on Thursday. The conversation reminded me that one of the most important tools any advocate (for any issue) has, is the ability to listen to alternative perspectives. With this in mind, I went back to a few of my friends (who I mentioned in class) and asked them to seriously consider their relationship to money and education.
While two of them felt some type of guilt or shame in not having to 'struggle to pay for school', the rest agreed that they often feel attacked for having money, as if there is a perpetual blame placed on them for their circumstances of birth. And they ALL agreed that regardless of the inequities of education in the US it would be unfair to force them to give up their wealth (which they recognize as legitimately belonging to them) to benefit others. One of my friends went as far as to say that he wouldn't be in favor of any legislation that removed any of his wealth (or made it difficult for him to increase his wealth in the future). "Why would I vote for something like that?" he asked.
Before I had time to think of an answer, they turned on me.
"Is this some class they make you take, to make you hate rich people?"
"Why do you care about this *stuff* anyway?"
I thought then about what Christina said in class about talking and not acting. I thought then that no matter how much we sit around and talk about these issues, or lobby, or even rally, there will probably always be people (in positions of power) who just don't care.
Having read the blog and watched the videos, I assume that I’ve missed an interesting discussion. Thank you Jessica for bringing our attention to the important issue of higher education.
Jessica’s words “The answer lies in morals, values, and the desire to create a society that isn’t gaped between those who are advantaged and those that are disadvantaged” made me think about Egypt where the ninety percent of population struggles in order to survive and approximately ten percent fully enjoys their rights and have all the wealth of the country. Egypt needed changes what result in revolution. Do we need revolution here as well in order to get those changes?
We need changes and reforms. I totally agree with Joseph and Christina but as I wrote in previous blogs we need years to make those changes. Even if we implement reforms now, years have to pass so we can feel the impact of those reforms. Also, Josephs reminded me Thomas Giovanni who always stated the importance of voting in this country. Using this simple right, we, as a community, are able to make those desired changes.
As a math tutor, I am surprised by the number of students that are coming to see me in order to get tutoring in mathematics. The majority of them who came to college straight from high school do not remember middle school math. I do not blame students. I blame the system. Therefore, we need reforms!
Jessica, brilliant, brilliant class. I think that the entire discussion boils down to two principles, the first is that all too present specter of evil that plagues our society and haunts our soul, of course I am talking about capitalism. The second is, a history of exploitation, violence and disenfranchisement. I think the discussion of equal access to higher education must begin first with the question of, who deserves to have access to an education. America seems to think that everyone should have access,—you know, the whole American bream bologna—but in practice fails horribly to grant access to the essential needs of historically disenfranchised communities. The truth is very animal farm in nature, “all people should have access to higher education, except those without money to pay for it.” As Jamie says, America has its priority straight and education is just not one of them: having said that, this means that this country is committed to keeping the poor poor, and thus is lying about its principles. Education should be at the forefront of all governmental policy.
Chad Out!
I just want to briefly respond to Christina and Lenny.
Christina: I sympathize with your despair, but I believe that what you're feeling (the despair/lack of hope) is okay because from there the only way to go is back up--and you'll look back up with ever more consciousness and hopefulness, and be able to find places where you can work in solidarity with others towards social justice. There ARE models out there that are hopeful AND transformative.
Lenny: I understand why your friends might imagine that they are "under attack," though in fact the discussions we have are not about demonizing rich PEOPLE just as we reject when some folks demonize POOR people.But something does need to be done about the enormous gaps in wealth and privilege that characterizes the current state of the world. I understand that it is difficult to explain this to those who have been shielded from having to know about or experience resource deprivation. But I would just ask your friends to check out how social resources are actually distributed (i.e., check out the federal discretionary budget) to begin to understand where tax dollars go. They don't go to social services--these are getting slashed left and right and have been for the past 40+/- years. They DO go to the military--$2 out of $3 federal dollars goes to the military. So if they are worried about where "their" money is going (via taxes), they need to take a hard look at the military, and consider the fact that we now live in a militarized society. How safe does that make any of us feel? Imagine how everyone could feel good and comfortable and supported and less separated from one another if tax dollars went to health care for all, to quality education, etc. rather than to the military and to war. The resources are there but the political rhetoric manages to deflect attention from the crux of the matter and onto the scapegoats.
Jessica,
Superb class; the discussion obviously hit close to home. You say no one is interested in reform. Well, actually, I am struck by the irony of how much “education reform” has taken center stage politically and in the media… everyone from Obama to Bloomberg is chirping about reform. The nation (including its most liberal factions) gets transfixed by a documentary like “Waiting for Superman” that slyly demonizes teachers and hails charter schools (where the teachers are not unionized) as a fix-all for the system, even though research suggests that they do no better than public schools, despite all the glowing press. Joel Klein, the recently departed chancellor in New York and the absolute godfather of educational reform, gave us a culture of constant testing and called it accountability, while gutting curriculum, increasing class size, and making a cozy nest for private companies like Princeton Review and Kaplan that sell their test prep materials to the schools. I guess this is my way of saying be careful what you wish for when you wish for reform. Chad cites Animal House but this bait and switch is straight out of Orwell’s 1984.
Joseph mentions culture and family. I do not think it is true that certain cultures value education more than others. The correlation tends to be class-related. The less people have to worry about survival needs, the more time and attention they can give to intellectual pursuits. Of course, there are notable exceptions-at John Jay we have many students on the lower rung economically who have committed themselves to getting an education-but, by and large, educational “values” tend to be tied to income levels. Wealthy people in every country in the world tend to be educated and to pass that on as a value to their children.
Although Christina and Lenny have a certain amount of despair in their posts, I still feel hopeful. Despite what is going on in the United States, we have a very high literacy rate. Over the last 100 years, huge numbers of women and people of color have changed the laws and become educated; this has in turn changed cultural expectations. Yes, yes: there is much darkness in the system and it often seems insurmountable. But things have also progressed in education, which reminds me not to give up the fight.
Thank you for all the great comments:
Joseph: I see what you are saying that the state and the people are at fault. There is only so much the state can do before all is crumbled, however, that is the duty of the state. Their job is to protect the people from unfairness and from unjust actions that only drag them down or just keep them frozen from mobilizing in society. Yes we can protest as we please but, if the top 1% decides to just not care and feel that their interest isn't being served by helping the "others" then what is left? Should we overthrow the state government and form a new one that protects and maintains the happiness of the people or do we do nothing and stand around until something terrible occurs?
Professor Waterston: I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed the class. I just wanted to say that I agree with you response,we are all given a choice, but what if the choices given aren't the solution? What if they are worse, what if it means being placed in a position where things are just never going to be well again? It is difficult at times to fight for better things to come because people sometimes forgetting what they fight for when the process of change takes long to come about (so I believe).
As for your comment on tenure, I have to say that it is a difficult one to discuss. You have on the one hand someone who has great experience and has done a lot for their field, but on the other hand, they teach so terribly in classes that they either discourage students from wanting to learn. This is something that needs to be changed. Yes these professors can protect themselves as tenures from being let go from their job, but it makes you wonder if they take advantage of their new right. What do you think?
Christina: I'm glad you enjoyed the class! I agree that sitting around and speaking about the issues occurring will not solve anything, however, I strongly believe in having people understand the issues first beforehand. It is important that we acknowledge, and see what higher education has become in this country. By understanding the motives of politicians when shaping education reform, we see that it has turned into a nightmare. Since there has been nothing good from the reforms,it is vital to see who is being hurt from this issue and how it will harm future generations as well.
Jamie: You read my mind in class, WHY ISN'T EDUCATION A PRIORITY?!? It is shameful to see that this country has set its foot out in allocating resources for money, but never once thinking on how to better its people and their "doors to opportunities". We bring students and workers who specialize in technology and other majors into the country and yet, our people suffer in the ranks for math and science. HOW? I just really agree with you and Chad in class about schooling outside of the US. It is way different, a great example is my cousin. She was born and raised in Ecuador and when she was in the 1st grade she was taught multiplication, I didn't learn it until 3rd grade. When my mom showed me her history book from elementary school I was in shock, the book looked like something a middle school kid would have. It was mind blowing, how could poverty stricken countries have a great education system? It just disappoints me to see where importance is placed in this countries agenda.
Lenny: Wow, your friends responses were really shocking. "Do they teach you to hate rich people?". It amazes me how entitlement gives people the right to think that no one suffers below their ranks. I give you friends 1 week to see how the other side lives and then ask them, what do they think.
I always believed that rich or poor its compassion and care that keeps us united. But when I hear responses like that, it makes me feel like why do they think they're being attacked for "being rich"? For once do they not see that it isn't the rich are attacking, but their mentality of selflessness?
Nadiya: I'm glad your viewing higher education out of the US. I agree that Egypt has been having rough economic times causing their people to have little to no opportunities in their fields. But my only argument to this is, do you agree that science and math students in this country should be taken in by the US to exploit their knowledge, as their own people (American's) suffer being deprived of proper education?
Chad: I agree with your comment, but my question to you is, how would you change this system in order to bring positive change?
First I want to apologize for missing Jessica's class. I heard it was great! I would also like to apologize for my late post. I, apparently, am already on spring break.
I agree with Jessica that higher education is a topic that is often dimissed but is very important.
I hate to hear on the news that the U.S. is falling behind in fields like math and science. Through my experiences at Esperanza I have come to realize how broken the U.S. education system is. Actually, it is hard for me to even think about kids in Esperanza or the re-entry program I worked with going to college because the are so inadequately prepared for such a venture. I almost feel as though we need to pay more attention to the education that leads a person up to higher education before we give additioinally funding to higher education.
Nadiya points out that it will take years for changes to be created. Furthermore, I think that there are steps that need to be taken. These steps might include working on lower education and then higher education.
I feel as though I might be just writing without reason being that I am slightly out of the conversation loop from missing class.
I'm coming to the party late, also. Am definitely already on spring break! But I wanted to point out an article by Tamar Lewin on the front page of yesterday's NYT: "College Loans Weigh Heavier on Graduates." It covers some of the same scary issues that Jessica raised in class.
I have often taken comfort from the stories of John Jay students being the first ones in their families to go to college as conventional wisdom holds that that means their kids will go to college -- has always been taken as a sign of progress. But more and more I tend to agree with Katie: good elementary and secondary education is more important. College should take an educated person and do two things: 1) help develop his/her particular interests (say electrical engineering); and 2) extend their interests sufficiently so as to keep them balanced, effective citizens. It is way too expensive to be a place where basic learning (writing, math) happens.
Of course, my sympathies are with Professor Waterston's argument: so much money to the military when it could be spent reducing the class size of our most crowded public classrooms. But I fear that it is less about money (some failing schools have adequate funds) and more about cultural values. I think this is the place we've ended up a few times in seminar.
Finally, I want to underscore the trickiness of generalizations. We all know rich people who care more/give more than the folks Lenny talks about (though I love the blog entry: more comments should be in dialogue form!). This class started with Sturz, we met Gural and we end with philanthrocapitalism, which will probably have a few people who are working to even things out. But I also want to remind us of folks from the working classes, who are suffering under the deterioration of the middle class, who do not work (or vote) for the kinds of social change that would benefit them personally and society at large. Many of my neighbors (and, sigh, relatives) repeatedly vote in disastrous politicians (hence policies) that take money from schools and give it to the military because they come out to vote against one thing: gay marriage. And who knows why the voters, not all of whom were rich, voted in the politicians in Wisconsin who are busting the unions. I'm sure many went to the polls driven by one particular social issue and got, in return, an outcome that doesn't serve their interests. I guess what I'm saying is that while it is crystal clear that there is a growing divide between have/have nots in this society, it isn't as clear why or what to do about it.
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