|
QUICK CLICKS: |
Table of Contents |
|
Speaking OutThe Plight of Technical CollegesFive years ago, Minnesota merged its four-year state universities, two-year community colleges, and technical colleges into a single system with the unwieldy name of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, or MnSCU. The merger, controversial at the time, was meant to save money through central-office efficiencies, not to cut services to students. Or so the politicians said at the time. Now MnSCU plans to close one of its 36 institutions, Anoka-Hennepin Technical College in the northwestern Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs, to avoid the cost of long-deferred renovations. This would be the first closing since the merger that created MnSCU, but technical educators are wondering if it will be the last. In Minnesota, despite a booming state economy and a $1.6 billion state budget surplus, it's still hard times for higher education. Our lawmakers seem more interested in tax rebates than education funding. Our governor recommended financing less than one-third of this year’s MnSCU proposed building projects. Where does that leave technical colleges? Feeling very nervous about the future and wondering how good the economy has to be before policymakers will invest in our workforce. Technical colleges everywhere suffer from poor PR. Most people have never been inside one. College prep is far more prevalent than tech prep in our high schools. The belief is still widespread that a four-year degree leads to middle-class success, while technical and vocational courses lead to menial jobs. Last year, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, several states consolidated technical colleges with community colleges to beef up academics—often at the expense of technical training. In today's economy, technical education deserves a higher rung on the ladder of educational prestige. Business and industry need skilled workers now. Many students need or want good jobs now, not four or more years from now. And there’s a wider benefit to society. In a few months to two years, a technical college student is out in the workforce, earning good money, supporting a family, and paying taxes. It's time to deliver a wake-up call in our states. If we can’t invest in technical education now, when times are good, we may never get another chance.
|
I'd like to Say...I was intrigued by the trinity of articles in the spring Thought & Action on the future of knowledge workers and unions. What occurred to me is a worst-case scenario. What if we become a nation of corporate private schools and most instructors become adjuncts—easily replaceable and more or less interchangeable? Can NEA become an agency for life insurance, pension, health care, and other benefits for the education temporary workers of the future? —Joel. C. Snell I enjoy reading the NEA Advocate, but I do have one complaint. Every edition has at least one article—and usually a major piece—that in one way or another promotes high technology and distance education. You should be aware that some of your readers consider online education to be, perhaps, the greatest threat to higher education today. It concerns me that NEA spends so much of its time indiscriminately pushing the new technologies. Couldn’t NEA also consider the wisdom of of helping faculty organize resistance to the imposition of these technologies, distance education, and the corporate model that seems to come with them? —Tom Meisenhelder |
|
We welcome your opinion. Join our talk back community discussion boards. Write to us at: Clehane@nea.org |
|
