Challenging Education Models

The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. By Mary K. Rawlings Published: July 4th, 2009 A bill to eliminate tuition at public universities is making its way through Congress and is expected to pass within days. As tuition has climbed in past decades, federal aid programs have been unable to keep up. The current bill, inspired by the City University of New York’s 1970s-era free-tuition policies for New York residents, is intended to help level the playing field.

“The United States has become a nation of educational haves and have-nots,” said Adolph Reed, Jr., Professor of Political Science at the New School for Social Research. Finland's Revolutionary Education System. Moody's applauds plan to let UC campuses set own tuition. Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service applauded a new University of California, Berkeley proposal to give each UC campus more autonomy, particularly when it comes to setting tuition rates.

Because its seats are so coveted, Berkeley has wanted to charge higher tuition and admit more out-of-state students than other campuses. The school's Center for Studies in Higher Education released a report last month that suggests giving the system's 10 schools greater ability to set policies that fit the "uniqueness of individual campuses. " As we reported today, Berkeley has moved aggressively to admit more non-resident students, who pay a nearly $23,000 premium on top of full tuition, and fewer California residents than the school did prior to 2010. It is far from clear that UC Regents would consider giving up power to set tuition or admissions policies.

And student groups say the campuses have already moved too far toward privatization in the wake of state budget cuts. For-Profit College Executives Make Much More Than Their Higher Education Counterparts [INFOGRAPHIC] For-profit colleges have been in the hot seat over the past two years, with the federal government and more than a dozen state attorneys general probing fraudulent recruiting tactics and high student debt levels.

But there has been relatively little attention paid to how the Wall Street corporations that own many for-profit colleges pay those at the top. A Huffington Post analysis of compensation across higher education reveals that CEOs and former CEOs at for-profit college corporations bring home much more than the presidents of some of the most prestigious public and private universities in America, despite questionable outcomes for students. In addition, many of the top earners at for-profit colleges received more in compensation than football and basketball coaches at large public universities - traditionally the highest-paid officials at schools with major sports programs. College Costs - Average College Tuition Cost. College may seem expensive.

NYC parents boycotting the state tests ask other parents to join them. Standardized testing has become an obsession for those in charge our our schools at DOE; as they increasingly base nearly all important decisions on the unreliable results of these exams.

The new NY state teacher evaluation system will just make matters worse. To add insult to injury, this year's state tests will be even longer and more stressful for children. For more on this opt-out campaign, see the Change the Stakes website. Dear fellow parents of NYC public school students, We have two children in public elementary schools in Manhattan, and until this year, when one child entered third grade, we were extremely satisfied with the educations they were receiving. They have been forced to adopt inferior test-oriented teaching practices and to take too much time away from classroom activities to accommodate endless practice tests. As parents, we feel compelled to act. 2) Testing is unduly stressful for young children. 4) High-stakes tests force teachers to adopt bad teaching practices. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Occupy University. Campaign for the Future of Higher Ed. Majoring in Debt. By Adolph L. Reed Jr., January 2004 Issue Higher education is a basic social good. As such, it should be available to all, without cost, who meet admission standards. The federal government, as the guarantor of social rights, should bear primary responsibility for providing free college for all. This proposal isn't prohibitively costly; the total bill for all students currently enrolled in public institutions is under $27 billion, less than one-third of what George W. Moreover, this program isn't pie in the sky. The crisis in public education is intensifying. Increased tuition, coupled with dwindling financial aid, is a significant problem for millions of families. Financial aid is not picking up the slack. Meanwhile, colleges are shifting away from grants and toward loans.

Reclamations - About Us. Schools of Thought - CNN.com Blogs. "Occupy" Protesters May Disrupt Major Vote For Public School Closures. It's usually the largest and most contentious education meeting of the year anyway, but when the Panel for Education Policy meets on Thursday to vote on closing dozens of schools, the protests may be the most combative yet. To view our videos, you need to enable JavaScript. Learn how . install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Podcast on Debt & Free Ed. Bob Samuels: Why All Public Higher Education Should Be Free. In his book The Price of Civilization, Jeffrey Sachs argues that the cost of making all public higher education free in America would be between fifteen and thirty billion dollars.

While this may sound like a large sum, it could actually save money. First of all, the government is currently spending billions of dollars on for-profit schools and other colleges and universities that have very low graduation rates. In fact, what is going on in the state of California is that as students get priced out of the University of California, they either drop out or go to community colleges. Meanwhile as community colleges are defunded, they are forced to cut their enrollments and raise their fees, and the result is that students end up going to high-cost for-profit schools that have a very low graduate rate. In other words, in the current system, everyone pays more, and we produce fewer graduates.

Of course, there are reasons beyond economics to provide free higher education. Reclaiming the Ivory Tower. Organizing Adjuncts to Change Higher Education.

Leveling the field: What I learned from for-profit education—By Christopher R. Beha. 'Wannabe U' Want to know what faculty members really think about administrators these days?

You may want to check out Wannabe U: Inside the Corporate University (University of Chicago Press).