I just received this from the Daily Kos and think it may interest those on this list. Apparently Democratic candidate for Governor of Arkansas, Bill Haller wants to give every high school graduate the equivalent of an athletic scholarship.
To me, Bill Halter’s proposal has good news and bad news.
The good news, that I support, is the notion that college tuition ought to be free.
The bad news is the idea that free college should be dumbed down to the point were everyone with a 2.5GPA can and presumably must be admitted just like the low hurdle we set for college athletes.
To me, Halter’s proposal represents a spreading of the malaise of public schools from K-12 to K-16. Much of what the proponents of universal college want was once the expected content of high school. I do not think the failure to teach simple algebra, civics,writing, or job skills ought to be ameliorated by lengthening the duration of public school.
A lot of us think this makes no sense for college athletes. At least the athletic candidates earn their admittance by showing physical prowess and he drive needed for any sort of career.
It would make more sense to toughen high school graduation requirements so a diploma signified preparadeness for a job. If a kid can not do that in K-12, then offer two more years of vocational education.
As for free higher ed, I am for that only if it is truly higher ed .. an opportunity a student should need to earn.
FROM KOS:
Steve, our old friend Bill Halter is running for governor in Arkansas. Please join with Daily Kos in endorsing his plan to create the first statewide program to provide free tuition to in-state public universities for all high school graduates with a 2.5 GPA or higher. Click here to add your name to the endorsement petition.
“Mom, I’m going to college.”
That was the call dozens of students at El Dorado High School made to their parents after they were told at an assembly about the creation of a new scholarship fund, the El Dorado promise, that covers college tuition costs for all graduates of this public high school in Arkansas.
Moments like these should not be flukes. Access to higher education should not be dependent on you or your family’s income, especially since a college degree has increasingly become the only path to the middle class.
Click here to join Bill Halter’s campaign to make universal higher education a reality.
Universal funding for higher education isn’t something we are going to make happen just by electing a better Congress, or by getting rid of the silent filibuster in the Senate. This isn’t even something that is on the radar in Washington, DC, and it will remain that way until it happens in at least one state.
Because of the long, hard campaigning of former Lt. Governor Bill Halter, Arkansas could very well be that first state. In 2006, he won a statewide campaign to create a scholarship fund that has already reduced the cost of college for tens of thousands of Arkansas high school graduates with good grades. Now he is running for governor of Arkansas, and the centerpiece of his campaign is The Arkansas Promise, the first plan to make universal higher education a reality in an entire state.
In order to make this nationwide, we have to start by making it happen in one state. Please click here to endorse the first statewide program to provide universal access to higher education, and join Bill Halter’s campaign to make it a reality.
Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers, Daily Kos
P.S. Please help keep Daily Kos strong by chipping in $3.
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From my desktop
Steve Schwartz