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One of the best kept secrets of \u201chigher ed\u201d is how much of it is repetition of high school, or lower. It\u2019s particularly bad at what are called (or used to be called) community colleges, institutions taxpayers were suckered into paying for in exchange for their kids being \u201ctaught\u201d the same subjects taxpayers paid for their kids to be taught in the public schools.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a massive fraud, and I\u2019ve shown in this blog that most schools have around 90% of their coursework at the high school level<\/a> or lower, often much lower<\/a>. It\u2019s well known these courses are frauds, just as it\u2019s well known that over 90% of the students in such courses get nothing out of them but debt and wasted years of their lives.<\/p>\n For the most part, the states don\u2019t really care about the huge fraud they\u2019re inflicting upon their citizens (it\u2019s not like their citizens can do anything about it), but Florida decided to address the fraud of remediation in a simple way: get rid of remediation. This is basically bringing the idea of social promotion to college<\/a>\u2014just passing students through the system whether they\u2019re learning anything or not.<\/p>\n The effect of social promotion at the college level has, of course, been a disaster<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t mean Florida will do what every educator told them to do in the first place: bring back entrance exams, so that only students on campus are those that want something more than the checks.<\/p>\n The last couple of months has been difficult for Florida’s two-year colleges.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n They\u2019ve been faced with a Legislature that has sought to fundamentally change how the state\u2019s two-year colleges operate, in addition to the potential loss of millions of state dollars.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n They always rationalize keeping kids on campus with same crappy line: \u201cpotential loss of millions of state dollars.\u201d No, it\u2019s not. See, if the kids aren\u2019t being trapped in remedial programs, the schools don\u2019t need those millions of dollars. It\u2019s no loss at all. Moreover, it\u2019s a bonus, since instead of the kids wasting their lives not-learning the same crap they didn\u2019t learn in high school, they\u2019re out building lives, working at jobs\u2026generating tax revenue, and making a happier and more productive citizenry. That would be good, right?<\/p>\n But all the leaders of higher ed can see is all that tax money not going into their own pockets\u2026they\u2019ve long forgotten the whole reason we use tax dollars for education is because education is a public good. Public good is irrelevant to them, all they want is MOAR.<\/p>\n And so, yeah, when presented with the knowledge that our kids aren\u2019t being hurt by a predatory education system, their problem is the \u201closs of millions of state dollars.\u201d It\u2019s pathetic.<\/p>\n The way how these colleges are trying to capture the loot \u201clost\u201d from no longer hurting kids in remedial programs is by expanding their bachelor\u2019s programs.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not a jerk, I don\u2019t want to stand in the way of people getting degrees if that\u2019s what they want, but these degrees are, well, questionable. The students can\u2019t read,\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n write, or do \u2018rithmetic at the high school level<\/a>, but nevertheless have college degrees.<\/p>\n I point at that not only their degrees of little value, such a proliferation of degrees debases the value of people with actual college-level skills. That these people are being hurt is of no consequence to our leaders either.<\/p>\n To governor of Florida won\u2019t be helping much:<\/p>\n Governor Rick Scott vetoed a\u00a0<\/em>higher education bill<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>that would have capped bachelor\u2019s degree enrollments at the colleges,\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Since these \u201ccommunity colleges\u201d now have 4 year degrees in abundance, they starting to call themselves universities; the bill would have forced them to advertise again that they serve the community, but Governor Scott vetoed that as well. It\u2019s not that big a deal, a fraud by any other name is just as foul, after all.<\/p>\n Admin wasn\u2019t pleased at not getting what they want, of course:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to do the best we can with what we have,\u201d said Jesse Coraggio, vice president of institutional effectiveness and academic services at St.\u00a0Petersburg College.<\/em><\/p>\n –do note that Jesse\u2019s title, vice president of institutional effectiveness and academic services, is well past twice the length of his name. If they really wanted to improve efficiency, they could close out positions with titles twice as long as the holder\u2019s name\u2026they\u2019ve got fewer students, right? So\u2026why not fewer vice presidents as well? That\u2019s just crazy talk, I know.<\/em><\/p>\n Please understand the big shell game being played here. The students that actually could use the help in remediation will no longer get it. Meanwhile, the scammers (30% or more of the community college student base, more like 90% when you consider how many kids get hurt in this system) will just fill out the extra forms to get the loan money for the bachelor\u2019s program. And admin is sad that the governor was trying to cut into that:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re experiencing declining enrollment, but one area that continues to grow for us is bachelor’s degree programs,\u201d Coraggio said.<\/em><\/p>\n Ok, you\u2019ve just admitted you have fewer students. Instead of whining about losing the tax dollars, why not boast of how you\u2019re finally cutting back on administration? Why is cutting down administrators is never, never, on the table? Instead, the colleges find more money to hire more lobbyists to get more tax dollars.<\/p>\n A\u00a0<\/em>new report<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Florida State University\u2019s Center for Postsecondary Success found a decline in the percentage of administrators who think the law that lifted the mandate on remediation is working. The researchers found that the proportion of administrators who agree or strongly agree that the policy has been effective has decreased from 74\u00a0percent in 2015 to 39\u00a0percent in 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n –Not all useless fiefdoms on campus are about diversity, there are also Centers for Postsecondary Success to load down with admin as well. <\/em>This Center has 16 staff<\/em><\/a> making far more than any academic will ever make. In addition, they have <\/em>an advisory board with 7 more admin<\/em><\/a>. They are <\/em>partnered with several other expensive fiefdoms<\/em><\/a>. Seriously, if our universities weren\u2019t so dedicated to providing administrative jobs, they could be useful education centers. Just an idea\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n Admin know the new system isn\u2019t working out well for them, even if it\u2019s helping kids from hurting themselves. So, of course they don\u2019t approve. Hey, why were administration surveyed at all? Shouldn\u2019t educators\u2019 opinions on education be relevant? It would in a legitimate system, but we\u2019re talking about higher ed here, so, no.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/em>\u201cFlorida has done a lot of work trying to rapidly reform developmental education,\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I should mention that the word \u201cremedial\u201d became a bit of a slur, and so admin, in their wisdom, eliminated remedial programs. These programs are now called \u201cdevelopmental.\u201d But now \u201cdevelopmental\u201d is being steadily removed from college (because it was the same fraud, by a different name).<\/p>\n What will they call them now? The gentle reader can make a guess from the following:<\/p>\n \u201cBottom line is revenue saved through declines in remedial enrollment should not be considered a savings, but rather reallocated to support students in college-level gateway courses,\u201d Jenkins\u00a0said.<\/em><\/p>\n –Jenkins\u2019s title is senior research associate at Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College.<\/em><\/p>\n Isn\u2019t it delightful that our tax dollars pay for senior research associates at the Community College Research Center at Columbia University\u2019s Teachers College to \u201cresearch\u201d changing the word \u201cremedial\u201d to the word \u201cdevelopmental\u201d to, now, the phrase \u201ccollege level gateway\u201d courses? It\u2019s a safe bet another dozen administrators or more are in that fiefdom, too.<\/p>\n Like I said, it\u2019s just a shell game. It\u2019s a shame no educators were allowed to talk about what should really be done here.<\/p>\n www.professorconfess.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"