January 16, 2008
Democrats Decry College Costs, Dropout Rates
Much of the higher-education discussion in last night’s Democratic debate focused on the Solomon Amendment, but John Edwards also took several opportunities to bring up college costs, and Barack Obama fielded a question about the leaky educational pipeline for African-American males.
Mr. Edwards, who has made affordability central to his campaign, repeatedly mentioned middle-class families’ concern about the price of tuition. In response to a question about choosing candidates on the basis of life story, he reminded voters that he was a first-generation college student. And he wrapped up a riff on universal health care, predatory lending, and minimum wage with a reference to his College for Everyone program.
“My proposal is that we say to any young person in America who’s willing to work when they’re in college, at least 10 hours a week, we’ll pay for their tuition and books at a state university or a community college,” he said.
Later, the organization 100 Black Men of America, a co-sponsor of the debate, asked Mr. Obama, “To what do you attribute the disproportionately high dropout of black males at every level in our educational process, and what would you do to stem the tide of black men exiting the educational system?”
He responded by immediately including Latinos in that group: “What you see consistently are children at a very early age are starting school already behind.”
Mr. Obama pledged to invest billions of dollars in early-childhood education, increase K-12 teachers’ salaries, and support after-school and summer programs for low-income and minority children. He also talked about the need for families to nurture their children. “The schools can’t do it all by themselves,” he said. “Parents have to parent.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton added that she and 100 Black Men of America worked together to create the Eagle Academy, a high school in the Bronx for African-American and Latino men. In his response, Mr. Edwards emphasized the need for universal pre-kindergarten and second-chance schools for high-school dropouts.
Sara Lipka | Posted on Wednesday January 16, 2008 | PermalinkComments
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In addition to black malesand Latinos, Obama also included poor whites.
— John Wilson Jan 18, 06:01 PM #