Rick Santorums Anti-College Rant By Charles M. Blow|nytimes|January 10, 2012, 12:13 am Excerpts: Hey, I get it: Republicans have to reject and condemn virtually everything President Obama proposes, no matter how noble, to satisfy their base. This is our political predicament. Rick Santorum, however, has followed that logic out the window. In New Hampshire last week Santorum accused President Obama of elitist snobbery and hubris for suggesting that under my administration, every child should go to college. Who are you? Who are you to say that every child in America go I mean the hubris of this president to think that he knows whats best for you. I you know there is I have seven kids. Maybe theyll all go to college. But, if one of my kids wants to go and be an auto mechanic, good for him. Thats a good-paying job - using your hands and using your mind. This is the kind of, the kind of snobbery that we see from those who think they know how to run our lives. Rise up America. Defend your own freedoms. First, the facts: I cant find a single instance where the president has actually said that. A question, Rick: How does a person become an auto mechanic without either vocational training or an apprenticeship? Does he just spring forth from the womb knowing how to drop the transmission on a Dodge Durango? I didnt think so. Moving right along We know that in the coming years, jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience. We will not fill those jobs or even keep those jobs here in America without the training offered by community colleges. Now that weve established some facts, lets turn to the larger question: Is it a bad thing to want more students to be prepared for college, to have access to college and to in fact attend college? Of course not. As The Washington Post pointed out in September, an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report released that month found that: Americas global rank in college completion among young adults is slipping, according to a report released Tuesday, signaling that the higher education ambitions of other nations are progressing at a swifter pace. Instead of gaining ground, the United States has fallen from 12th to 16th in the share of adults age 25 to 34 holding degrees, according to the report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It trails global leaders South Korea, Canada and Japan and is mired in the middle of the pack among developed nations. The stagnant U.S. performance on this key international benchmark reflects at least two trends: the rapid expansion of college attendance in Asia and Europe, and the continuing emphasis on four-year degrees in the United States while other nations focus far more on one- and two-year professional credentials. Sounds to me like the presidents plan is designed to address this. But then again, Im applying regular logic, not I-hate-Obama, stick-my-fingers-in-my-ears, say la-la-la-la-la logic. An even more disturbing finding in the O.E.C.D report is how poorly Americans perform in the job market without a college degree. Among Americans aged 18 to 64 whose highest level of education is upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary- the equivalent of high school and perhaps some vocational or community college training - the percentage of the employed is among the lowest of all O.E.C.D. countries. We rank 30th out of 34 countries, just above Greece, Hungary, Poland and Turkey. Oh, the hubris and elitist snobbery of wanting a more educated, more highly employed work force. read full article: http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/rick-santorums-anti-college-rant/ ....... As usual Charles Blow goes right to the problem and dissects it so efficiently that you wonder what planet Rick Santorum is on thinking that an auto mechanic is an enviable position in life...and doesnt realize that even an auto mechanic needs education to do his job correctly. His numbers on world rankings has America 30th out of 34 countries, just above Greece, Hungary, Poland and Turkey. That is scary, while the vast amount of money being sunk into our Americas children to educate them, only to have the majority with only a year or two of any further education or job training is inexcusable in this country . We are the richest country in the world, and yet brainwash our children to be happy with becoming an auto mechanic when they leave high school? Rick Santorum I am sure would not want any of his bevy of children to not attend a college to perfect their educations...why wouldn't he want it for the average American?
Personally I think college is a waste... At least in my profession. If I went to school for engineering, programming, etc, by the time I graduated, what I would have learned would have been antiquated technology... And I would have a $100k debt load to go with this meaningless training.
This is the field I work in. You are correct about learning antiquated skills. But, what college should be teaching is problem solving skills. Sadly, they don't. College in the U.S. has become a left wing bastion of propaganda. Until a student gets into their Masters programs they often are just being indoctrinated. I went through many of these type of classes at UCSD in the 1990's
Some just aren't cut out for college. I've got a tennis buddy who wanted to be on the team so tried community college twice and flunked out both times. That said, I see nothing wrong with the President suggesting you are better off if you go to college. I think Santorum is wrong on this point.
Santorum presents a strawman...... Obama's contention is that every child should have the opportunity to go to college, not that every child be forced to go to college. Spin FAIL.
Problem solving should definitely be the emphasis, especially in the tech field. One thing employers observe from degrees is that a person has the motivation and sense to accomplish a major task. Getting through five calculus courses is not for the weak-minded.
I went for Computer Science, bachelor's and a graduate, worked out fine for me. Not sure what univ/college you went to, but mine certainly were not training, but were educational. Ironically, my classes were math and proof oriented, yet I am able to make the connection from model to application, and my education was a key part of it. In fact, the project I lead soon after my graduate's degree was a perfect fit from my graduate studies. Went to Central Conn and Monmouth, not the best, far from the worst, and most certainly not the most expensive.
Santorum has a point. Not everybody is suited for college, college being defined as a 4 yr institution that offers bachelor's degrees and above. The reason our educational system is wasting so much money is because we have this delusion that all should go to college, and we teach students who would rather learn how to fix a transmission, the delicacies of Shakespeare and the difference between an English and a Spenserian sonnet. We are wasting time teaching kids who don't want to go to college with college prep curriculum. On the other hand, since we are doing that, we are also not teaching them the material they need to succeed in life, nor are we doing justice to the college prep material for college prep students.
Unless I missed it, I notice the link only provides the highest and average salaries; but for some unknown reason, does not provide the lowest end of the pay scales?
And that's fine, it is all what one is looking to do, and obviously it suited you well as did my education. FYI, my dad was an electrical engineer, had to teach for a few years because, but went back to school for Professional Engineering License, so I was raised with the caveat I was going to get a higher education. Yes I too have a friend that dropped out of college and does well for himself. One can apply themselves and be successful. Yet a person with an education does have somethine to fall back on in hard times, whereas one without is destined by their reputation.
This is true. Getting me in the door was $15/hr short of where I am now. I probably wouldn't have had to deal with that difference with the piece of paper.
Not every kid has to go to a 4 year college. Maybe that's what Santorum was going for, but he probably bungled his phrasing as usual. That being said, technical schools should get more respect. There are plenty of trades you can get degrees in that pay well and that you can find work just about anywhere.
Yeah God forbid the President of the United States would like to see more kids get a higher education to fill future jobs in this country that even employers admit will need much more educated workforce to fill.
Which children don't have the opportunity to go to college? Sounds like a failure of government schooling, to me. If their capacity is such that college level education is beyond them, then they've been failed by government already.
This thread is a perfect companion to an article that I read earlier today about how the Republican Party has degenerated into an anti-science faction that wears its ignorance like a badge of honor. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/t...blicans-turn-their-back-on-the-enlightenment/ Republicans turn their back on the Enlightenment Over in the US, the Republican party is choosing its presidential nominee to face Barack Obama in November. But whoever wins, science may lose. The Grand Ol Party (GOP), as the Republicans are known, has an uncomfortable relationship with scientific fact. Rick Santorum, a frontrunner in the nomination race, has said of a fellow candidate: If he wants to believe he is the descendant of a monkey then he has the right to believe that, but I disagree with him on this liberal belief. Yes: acknowledging biologys central premise is liberal. His opponents Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachman and Newt Gingrich have all made noises doubting either climate change, evolution or both; only Jon Huntsman, a forlorn no-hoper, acknowledges the reality of both. Its not just the candidates. Fifty-two per cent of Republican voters reject the theory of evolution, saying mankind was created in present form within the last 10,000 years; just 31 per cent think man-made climate change is happening. In Congress, Republicans fought stem cell research and the HPV vaccine. Sarah Palin, ignoramus-in-chief, mocked fruit-fly research as a pet project [with] little or nothing to do with the public good, rejecting at a stroke most advances in genetics since Gregor Mendel.
It's true. Education, science, research and development have all been under attack by the right-wing for 30 years or more now...
