Help Wanted: Only the Woke Need Apply
"After hypocritically ranting about the threat to 'academic freedom' posed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s higher education reform proposals, the faculty and administration at the University of Texas–Austin appear poised to end the remaining vestiges of free expression and free inquiry at our institution. The university’s 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion' (DEI) policy – which already requires that those seeking hiring and promotion demonstrate political commitment to critical race theory and radical gender ideologies – will now be 'sharpened,' apparently to include mandatory 'diversity' statements from job applicants. " - RealClearEducation, 8/9/22
Online Leaders: Fully In-person Students Will Be Outliers
"It's not that chief online officers expect that fully online education will dominate; they see a blended future, in which both exclusively face-to-face and exclusively online students will be outliers by 2025. Instead, most students will take courses based in classrooms that have significant digital components, or classes delivered mostly online that have residential components." - Inside Higher Ed, 8/9/22
A Novel Plan to Reduce Student Debt
"In the reversal of Roe v. Wade (1973) and the discontinuation of the intrusive 'Lemon Test' in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, we have seen the Court return to its proper place as an interpreter of the law, rather than a cultural arbiter. But the work is not yet done. In this new era of judicial restraint, a logical next step would be to revisit Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971), a decision which artificially increased the need for a college degree — one of the root causes of our current student debt crisis." - Law & Liberty, 8/8/22
Covid Vaccine Mandates Heighten School Inequity
"Most Covid restrictions in the U.S. have long since ended, but the school districts in New Orleans and the District of Columbia are mandating Covid vaccines for children to attend school in person this fall. ... If school began today and the mandates were strictly enforced, at least two-thirds of black adolescents in Washington and almost half of all children in New Orleans wouldn’t be allowed in the classroom." - Wall Street Journal, 8/8/22
Families should be allowed to direct federal pandemic aid
"Public K-12 schools received a total of $189.5 billion in federal pandemic aid. Unlike the grants provided to college students, none of this money was given directly to families to be used to help their children recover from the substantial learning loss that resulted from the pandemic. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is seeking to change that and allow families of K-12 students to have direct access to federal pandemic aid, as was the case for college students." - The Hill, 8/8/22
The Packaging Is the Problem
"In a seemingly quinquennial occurrence, higher education finds itself on the defensive. A global pandemic kicked off the latest soul-searching, existential crisis in higher education. Despite largely meeting the pedagogical and technological challenges of switching from in-person to remote instruction during the middle of an academic term, questions about the value and future of higher education abound. Why haven't colleges and universities already offered all of their courses online? What is the value of a degree in today's world? Why do colleges and universities continue to adapt so slowly?" - Inside Higher Ed, 8/8/22
Va. Gov. Youngkin faces second suit over teacher tip line
"Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is facing a second lawsuit over his administration’s repeated refusals to release records related to an email tip line he set up for parents to report school employees who teach 'divisive' subjects. Nonprofit ethics watchdog group American Oversight and the law firm Ballard Spahr filed the suit Monday in Arlington County Circuit Court. The suit seeks documents that show how Youngkin (R) and his staff used the tip line, including how they responded to tips submitted." - Washington Post, 8/8/22
Diversity-Office Funding Wastes UNC-System Resources
"Colleges and universities nationwide are quickly adopting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideologies, and the UNC System is no exception. In recent years, this has led to DEI-inspired task forces, departments, and hirings, and DEI has become embedded in all 16 of the schools’ strategic plans." - James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 8/8/22
It’s Time to End Higher Ed’s Gimmicky Sales Tactics
"Private-public partnerships — arrangements in which college projects or services are outsourced to for-profit providers — have been all the rage in American higher education for some time. ... The latest trend in this space is colleges’ entering into opaque tuition-sharing agreements with for-profit “online program management” companies like 2U, Academic Partnerships, and Pearson to offer distance-education programs. Initially trumpeted as an innovative model to expand access and drive down costs, the programs have seen a spate of recent media stories that paints a far less favorable picture: College-OPM partnerships are Faustian bargains that drive up tuition costs and reduce educational quality." - Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/8/22
College leaders appear at White House to discuss Dobbs fallout
"Many college leaders objected in June after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned the longstanding right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade in 1973. ... Monday’s appearance at the White House gave higher ed sector leaders a new stage to discuss the way the decision is reverberating on campuses as the fall term gets underway." - Higher Ed Dive, 8/8/22
Should we be easy on students after the pandemic? Maybe not.
"Many think the disastrous educational effects of the pandemic mean we should let up on our kids, at least for a while. That’s one of several reasons many schools are reducing homework and making good grades easier to get. Could that be the wrong approach? The College Board has compiled data indicating that students should be given more of a challenge, rather than less." - Washington Post, 8/7/22
If you think it is worth while, send them your money.
Sure, among the millions of noxious activities a couple American activities sneaked through. Too big a chance that the evil continues to the detriment of the country. Risk analysis says blow it up and defund entirely.
Aren’t all the humanities full professors with lots of “research time”, thanks to underpaid adjuncts, expected to expend effort into resolving the enduring questions? But of course, they are the ones getting the NEH grants.
So double dipping with no output again.
I’m with Vanderleun. The only way we can “save” the NEH is to rip it out by the roots and start over. It’s simply too far gone in its current state.
What’s not to like? I don’t like that government must have its finger in every cultural activity. This is not the proper role or place for government. If the art is worthy of notice, it will generate funds for itself. I’ve long hated the idea that a working musician must play long hours, crappy clubs and music they would rather not play in order to make a living, while government funded elitists get their operas and symphonies for free. Same with art. Artists who are worthy will find an audience and a payday. If not, then the hell with them . The government shouldn’t be subsidizing art in any way, shape or form, however worthy you think it is. Who made you arbiter of what is good and what is not? Who made the NEH arbiter? Oh yeah, the democrats. Enough. Defund.
Please cite in the constitution where taxpayer funds are to be allocated for NEH and other non essential operations, then I’ll agree to their funding.
BTW – I’m not going to hold my breath because this is something you simply cannot do.
From 2013 until 2016, what has the NEH done ? That should either justify its continuing, or confirm its misuse which justifies its elimination …
Wrong. NEH has to go. And one reason for that, quite specifically, is the Enduring Questions program. You see, it depends entirely on the question. You may think the program rings in Socrates or some such luminary from days bygone, and puts him in touch with the smart phone youth of today.
Judged by my school, nothing could be further from the truth. From where I sit, it’s all climate change, imperialism, gender bias and the like. Not to mention that any university that wants to pursue these notions can do so on its own dime. You are totally wrong on this. And, heck, it comes from an Obama appointee. Sheesh.
Sorry, it’s got to go. Too much depravity and too many SJWs infesting it.
Ditto National Propaganda Radio and the Corporation for Propaganda Broadcasting.