As a child growing up inside the Washington Beltway, I learned early never to have much faith in politicians. Every few years new folks came to the city, promising “change” and leaving without having done much at all. The candidates and officials I did like never got the attention and promotions they deserved. And worst of all, those who claimed to be on my side were everlasting disappointments (read: Bill Clinton).
Somehow that cynical base inside me melted a little with the election of Barack Obama, and became a tiny puddle when he announced the American Graduation Initiative. Finally, a president who “got” it! As educators we were all working to prepare children for a full life, and that had to include a real shot at higher education. That meant finally giving sufficient resources to the colleges where the majority of those looking longingly at the American Dream were going to end up: community colleges.
My heart went pitter-patter when I heard Obama call community colleges an “undervalued asset” to the nation, one often treated like a “stepchild” and an “afterthought.” I felt real hope for the world my kids would grow up in when he summoned the “can-do American spirit” of community colleges everywhere to help transform the American economy.
I thought things had really changed.
Well, it looks like I was completely and utterly wrong. Today the American Graduation Initiative sits on the chopping block, thanks not only to the money-grubbing hands of banks but also to the Democrats’ fears of their powerful colleagues who throw their primary support to the nation’s historically black colleges and universities. Community colleges will soon learn that their place in this society hasn’t changed a bit — they are expected to accomodate our national desires for widespread college-going while getting next to no support in return. The students they serve — those without BA-educated parents or beaucoup bucks — will get a worse fate: locked out of the courses they need, crammed into overcrowded classrooms, expected to learn without any of the technological advancements of their counterparts.
This country has no heart for these kids. We claim to care enough to prepare them, to try and reform the k-12 system to get them ready for college, but we won’t take the necessary action to make sure college is ready for them. We’re rethinking NCLB to set them up for what, exactly?
So here I am, back where I started. Deeply suspicious and cynical, wondering what all the work was for. And hoping, really hoping, that I’m wrong. Maybe the Senate will come to its senses. Maybe.
6 Responses to The Sky Is Falling
trendisnotdestiny - March 16, 2010 at 2:12 am
Well said! I feel you capture the insanity of persuasive political marketing well. For me, my cynicism draws me to consider that the current is not destiny and Margaret Meads’ quote about a few committed scholars…. may be a bit overplayed sentiment but thirty-fourty years of gutting public institutions is going to take some accomplished strategic planning, reflection and a lot time to repair.
bdr8y - March 16, 2010 at 9:14 am
I once thought that the more deterministic social reproduction scholars, like Bowles and Gintis, were a bit coo-koo will all their talk of education as one of several vehicles for hearding and preparing the mass of low-SES persons for low-wage labor while preppring high-SES children for their places at the top of economic and social heirarchies. You know, that doesn’t sound so nuts to me today. As always, well said Sara.
dank48 - March 16, 2010 at 9:39 am
Getting over the idea that our masters have our best interests at heart is tough, but it’s the beginning of wisdom. Our rulers are concerned for themselves and their posterity, and they bother with the rest of us only to the extent necessary to maintain sufficient social order. To the powers that be, we are “fly-over country,” useful no doubt so long as we stay in our place, but certainly not interesting enough to think about. And care about? Oh, please!
11129078 - March 16, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Well, we got the guy with the S on his shirt, but he needs a few brave souls who will stand up for truth, justice and the American way… or have they actually sold their souls again? mac
dank48 - March 16, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Aren’t we a bit old to believe in Superman?
jamesgpeck - March 22, 2010 at 9:44 am
Community Colleges were intended to provide technical education to people who need to work for a living but with a good set of skills. Using Community Colleges as a substitute for the four year university is a perversion.