Slamming Shut the Open Door

Twenty of the 28 Florida Community Colleges have been moved to “State College” status which makes them 4 year colleges and gives them the right to grant bachelor’s degrees. This move which was accelerated by the Republican administration led by Rick Scott leads to the dilution of the original mission of community colleges, namely to provide open access to all citizens of Florida at a reasonable cost. Budgets have been cut for several years by the same politicians and new expenses have been added. One of the “recommended” ways to make up the lost dollars is to cut developmental programs in all areas and put unprepared students in regular classes with “tutors” to help them get up to speed. Everyone who knows anything about under prepared students knows that this may only work for the border line students, not the critically under prepared.
The same government is also wholesale privatizing “public” education and paying for it by taking money from the public schools and giving it to the private schools. Not surprisingly the private schools “cherry pick” the better students leaving the less able to struggle in underfunded public schools.
The same government has already reduced public school teacher’s job security, and reduced or eliminated tenure from public Universities. Next year tenure is slated to be axed from the community colleges.
Several sources have discussed the gutting of education by Republican governments since the mid 1970’s. Attacks on curricula, denigrating science, implementing testing programs without budget increases to meet the demands of the tests, trying to abolish departments of education at both the state and national levels are still ongoing. The reason posited by the people researching the climate of educational attack? Dumb down the population so the crap the “enlightened” capitalists (the free market will cure all ills) pump out to increase profits and reduce costs can slide by a public without critical thinking skills. The deep religious core beliefs of many Americans make the swallowing of the whole thing easier since strong religious beliefs predispose a person to accept assertions without proof.
The thing that worries me is that there is no ground swell of outrage at the dumbing down of our children’s education. Maybe, just maybe, 40+ years of this relentless assault has begun to produce the desired results. If you aren’t even the least bit worried, then the case rests with you.

This presidential election, the Republican Party wants you to vote for “Proven Success”, namely their candidate and his inherited wealth. You think a black child born to a single mother on food stamps who got to be the President of the United States isn’t “Proven Success”? You gotta be nuts if you think inheriting wealth is a greater measure of success than the struggle of the POTUS. And you may just be a victim of the dumbing down of America.

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