Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
I have to give Governor Bruce Rauner credit for not taking long to show his hand and publicly attack the Higher Education system in Illinois. It has only been a few weeks since he was inaugurated and he recently unveiled his budget. A budget plan that slashes over $200 million just from the University of Illinois alone.
At the very time Gov. Rauner announced he wants to slash the Higher Education budget for all universities in the State of Illinois by almost a third, he claimed that his budget makes education a priority!
“Higher education is set to take a major hit in Illinois.
Following similar announcements by the Republican governors of Wisconsin and Louisiana, newly-sworn in Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner released what he called a “turnaround” budget, that would slash nearly $209 million from the University of Illinois.” Think Progress
“It’s time to make education our top priority again – and that’s what this budget does,” he told lawmakers Tuesday night, touting his plan to give about $25 million more to early childhood education. “With reform, we will be able to invest more in education and give our kids world class schools.” Think Progress
While the proposed budget increases some funding for K-12 education, the University of Illinois system will lose one-third of its state financing under this budget. This very same proposed budget makes absolutely no mention of any increased revenue sources or plans. What will happen to the University system if these cuts are retained in the final budget?
One can expect the cuts to cause increased fees being charged to students as well as the loss of many educational programs. The result of these massive reductions in state financing will be to transfer the costs to students who are already paying high tuition and fee costs. The loan balances of many students already into the 6 figures and Gov. Rauner’s actions will make sure that student debt will continue to climb in Illinois.
So often the claims that all areas of the State have to share in the burden of digging out of a financial hole ends up with some of the most vulnerable bearing the brunt of that burden. If the Governor is convinced that we all have to sacrifice in this job to balance the budget, why wouldn’t new tax sources be considered along with reasonable cuts?
Will these draconian cuts make it more difficult for students from poor and middle class families to obtain a college education? In this very same budget proposal, Gov. Rauner biggest cuts are aimed directly at those who are least able to afford them.
“Yet the state would spend $400 million less on higher education, $600 million less on local governments, and $1.5 billion less on Medicaid, which handles health care costs for poor residents. University leaders and mayors said they were worried, and advocates for the poor said they feared medical needs would go unmet under deep cuts to Medicaid.” New York Times
When the cities, counties and municipalities raise their taxes to pay for basic services for their residents, who has to pay for those increases? “In many cases, Rauner’s state budget cuts could simply end up shifting costs: local governments could choose to raise property taxes, state universities could raise tuition and the CTA could increase fares.” Chicago Tribune
For a man who spent at least $37 million of his own money to get elected governor, he sure has no problem making the middle class and poor pay more for a college education and for health care and local taxes and transportation costs.
Rauner seems to be following the economic model that worked so “well” for Gov. Brownback in Kansas and Gov. Walker in Wisconsin.
Just how has that austerity approach worked out for Kansas and Wisconsin?
Additional Sources: Examiner.com; Crains Chicago Business
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http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/apprenticeship/
Certified apprentiship programs in Wisconsin are post high school, not in lieu of high school. They all go through an employer and a community college, that I am aware of. I called my son to to make sure this is correct, am waiting for a call back. I’m not aware of any such thing as classroom only apprentiship programs.
But, if he Rauner were to cut income taxes in half across the board, that would be a good start in getting the tax hell of Illinois back on track. Cut taxes and govt. in half. You think there’s any waste in Cook County?
Inga,
“What Mespo said to her was MILD compared to what has been flung my way, or Elaine’s way. I’ve had to wear my big girl panties for all the while I’ve been here, so I would expect her to do the same. OR she could call out the abusers on both sides of the aisle for their continuous attacks on females in general.”
Which is why I noted that she may agree with you that there are problems on both sides. She said that she takes a break from the blog because of the “cheap-shot comments”. That could be read as a general commentary of the blog. There have been at times lengthy tit-for-tat sessions where both sides are guilty of “unnecessary roughness”.
Perhaps what he said was mild, but it still didn’t need to be said, just as the other comments shouldn’t have been said. Mild rudeness is still rudeness. By addressing Mespo’s comment to her, she was wearing her big girl panties.
You are right, it would be better if people called out rudeness when it happens, no matter to whom it happens.
PR
Bottom line, the development and growth of free public education in the United States WAS a liberal idea and played a huge role in what made America and Americans prosper and better citizens.
Your harping on capitalization is silly.
@ Elaine
Agreed. Students learn in different ways AND at different paces. Some students are more visually oriented. Others are auditory. I needed to write and re-write my notes in order to retain the material.
The question isn’t quite how they are learning but WHAT are they learning. Do they know the material. Do they even know who Goebbels is/was. Basic facts in each course that must be mastered in order to progress. How you learn is important but more important is that you ARE learning.
I also feel strongly that we should have advanced placement or advancements for those students who have mastered the material or who are already ahead of the game. My daughter was in the California Gifted and Talented Program (GATE) for a while until the funding was cut. We were able to supplelment her education on our own. Other families are not as lucky.
In Kindergarten…eons ago….my brother was skipped to 2nd grade. They wanted to skip him to 3rd grade. They skipped me one year as well from 3rd to 4th and wanted to skip me to 5th. but my mother said “Too much!!” He was bored stiff in kindergarten, because he could read and was a whiz at math already. He created havoc for the teacher. There were no special classes or advanced placement classes. Socially it was a disaster. Academically it worked out well and he went on to become a Systems Analyst and Software Developer. I was more social and didn’t have as much adapting to do.
I assume that high schools today have “tracking” as we did when I was in HS. Students who were college bound or who were taking more advanced science or math courses, honors english and honors history, were grouped together and progressed like a little pod of students.
The point being that if they had advanced placement classes for those areas that some students are good at or more advanced than their peers…..they would be challenged in those areas and able to grow, instead of being bored to tears and disruptive in class. The other students who are not at that level would be able to get better attention from the teacher as well and would have higher self esteem while Mr. Smarty Pants was taking other courses. 🙂
Instead of teaching the same material at the same time for age groups or shoving a student into an age group where he/she is a freak, they should go back to advanced placement. (Unless that is already the case….then nevermind Emily Litella voice
Rauner did not give himself or anyone a tax cut. This is how liberals think. He actually lived up to the promise that the TEMPORARY tax increases was just that, TEMPORARY! Or has the word temporary been redefined by liberals? This is like Alice in Wonderland.
I can’t wait until they put that state legislator from Idaho in charge of the science curriculum in Idaho’s schools. You know. The guy who suggested that a gynecological exam could be conducted by a woman who swallowed a camera.
PR, Trade schools are OK but really not necessary. Many are just babysitting for kids who don’t fit into regular school, and simply don’t want to be in a classroom.The BEST trade training is from a skilled veteran, electrician, mechanic, plumber, machinist, etc. Set up on the job training programs w/ companies and let kids learn in the real world. I would be happy to have my tax dollars subsidizing kids learning on the job. .
PR
Thanks for another lesson….putting a word in all caps confuses readers.
KISS is the watchword here.
To any who are confused about KISS – it is a common acronym. It is not an instruction concerning the puckering of lips.
http://www.acct.org/e-alerts-blog
Presidents Obama proposal does include apprentiship programs in the trades. Apprentiship programs use Community Colleges in their four year apprentiship programs.
Nick,
“What the education industry has created is this mantra that a college degree is the end all and be all. That’s part of this community college entitlement Obama has proposed.”
I agree that a college degree is not the end all and be all. I proofed papers in college for extra money. There was one student who had no business being in college; I felt so bad for him. His writing was not college-level; it wasn’t even high school level. But, he had been told he should go to college.
What if Obama extended his proposal to include trade schools? I haven’t read up on this community college proposal at all; I have no idea what it entails.
DBQ,
Testing of students is fine…to a point. But prepping students for paper-and-pencil fill-in-the-bubble tests should not be the focus of the educational process. There needs to be some balance. There are bright kids who aren’t good test takers. In addition, focusing on high stakes testing is limiting the curriculum. Education should be about meeting the needs of children/young adults and helping them to advance academically. Different students need different approaches. We also should have different methods for assessing students’ progress–in addition to paper-and-pencil multiple choice tests.
I think a certain amount of rote learning/learning things by heart is good for kids. For example, they need to know their math facts.
Wadewilliams,
“Of course my comment regarding the Morill Act(s) meant it was in the classical liberal context. It wouldn’t occur to me that this could be misunderstood since it was enacted in 1862.
Thanks for pointing out we have some readers who need more guidance.”
You wrote LIBERAL. Liberal does not equal classical liberal. Glad to help clarify. 🙂
Well we have a history teacher here who believed that State Universities had to accept all students regardless of GPA or class rank, etc, etc. that was pretty disconcerting.
I knew a History major who didn’t know who Goebbels was!
My daughter’s geography and history teacher in junior high INSISTED that Houston was the capital of Texas and gave her a bad grade for not putting that answer on a test. He made other errors on the same test.
This is a person with a degree a teaching credential. Hope he didn’t pay too much for it. Unfortunately, our children have to suffer because incompetents are sliding though.
When we went to hire at the financial institution it was PATHETIC how under educated these young adults are. They didn’t know how to alphabetize. How to make simple calculations. Atrocious spelling and inability to read documents or follow instruction. Never mind having any grounding in history or geography.
And THESE were the fairly good students who graduated from the local schools. Sad is not even the word for it.
https://www.wicourts.gov/services/attorney/bardiploma.htm
As far as diploma privelege lawyers in WI, their schools certify that they are competant to serve as attorneys. If there would be problems with the competency of UW or Marquette Law School grads, the schools would be decertified.
Yes Prairie I do agree we need to keep our standards high for the high school students so that they do not slide through school and end up graduating as functional illiterates.
The question is how do we “prove” that the standards are being kept? I am not a fan of solely ‘teaching to the test’ but I also fail to see why testing for progress and competency is such a bad thing. Neither do I find rote memorization a terrible thing. Of course we want to not only be able to repeat things like little parrots, we need to have the critical thinking skills to be able to understand WHAT we are learning and how to apply that knowledge to new situations.
I often recall in my (long ago) high school and junior high years being told….”Pay attention, this will be on the test.”
If you are not tested, how do you know that you have adequately learned the material or where you are falling short.
Additionally,
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that most liberal men here have treated women with respect generally, I can’t say the same for many conservative male commenters.
PR, Sandi often complains about how she is spoken to while ignoring how other women here are spoken to. What Mespo said to her was MILD compared to what has been flung my way, or Elaine’s way. I’ve had to wear my big girl panties for all the while I’ve been here, so I would expect her to do the same. OR she could call out the abusers on both sides of the aisle for their continuous attacks on females in general.
DBQ,
“I also agree with Sandi in that the education system should be the responsibility of the State and NOT the Federal Government which under the 10th amendment does not have this enumerated power.”
I fully agree with you. Local control would be better.
“Also…earlier in the thread I advocate that we should have exit exams for College Degrees in the area of their subject and ESPECIALLY for High School so that when you go to hire the English Major, Business major, Computer Science major , Law Degree you have some assurance that they actually know their topic.”
While I understand why this might sound desirable, I think keeping the standards high would more effectively guarantee a quality education than the outcomes of some test. The lower end of the Education GPA at my alma mater was like 2.5. 2.5!! I knew a History major who didn’t know who Goebbels was!