Kasich to faculty: Be Nigel Tufnel
Imagine a governor proposing that all firefighters, or all police, or all [insert favorite public employment here] work 10% more, for no additional compensation. Most people, I hope, would think such unilateral increase of work for no pay un-American, a breaking of a contract between employers and employees. But yesterday, John Kasich our darling governor […]
Intended “unintended” consequences: college costs up for poor, down for rich
Alan Pyke comments via ThinkProgress on a Hechinger report by Jon Marcus and Holly K. Hatcher, titled “Poorer families are bearing the brunt of college price hikes, data show.” The take-away: over the past several years, the move at college and universities to attract higher-scoring students (more likely to be higher income) through merit scholarships, […]
More than neglect: an era of partisan attack on higher ed
A week later, some folks are still stunned by the Chronicle of Higher Ed’s “An Era of Neglect,” which offers a long-term view of states’ retreat from funding higher education. Two thoughts come to mind. The first is that anyone who really was shocked, or even surprised, probably hasn’t been paying attention much. But what’s […]
higher eduction: another pillar of plutocracy
We already know that over the past forty years, changes in tax policy, the conservative war against unions, attempts to dismantle the governmental safety net, the relaxing of campaign finance laws, and resistance to increasing the minimum wage have all contributed to plutocracy in America. As Suzanne Mettler noted in the New York Times this past weekend, […]
Next challenge for higher edumacation: making this scalable for distance learning
As Boise State professor Greg Hampikian, tongue in cheek, asks the Idaho State Legislature in response to a proposal to allow packing on campuses in the Potato State, “When May I Shoot a Student?” Here’s my question: how would this work in an online environment? Feel free to suggest. Best answer gets a coupon, in […]