Chris Christie, the round but not at all jolly new Governor of New Jersey, has decided the best course of action for the budget crisis is to cut funding to education. Over 500 school districts will have funding frozen, and higher education is facing massive multi-million dollar cuts. It seems like time to abandon ship. There is no incentive or security for any position.
The cuts will inevitably lead to higher tuition, larger classes, fewer instructors with an actual passion for their subject. And as someone who has had exposure to the level of education held by a wide variety of New Jersey students, it seems like the very last thing that the system needs is for cuts.
There are students, and not just a few of them, who cannot identify a correctly written sentence. The reading level of college students is hovering somewhere near what seems to be a 7th grade level at best. Teaching becomes more about explaining why you can’t write, “I is good at school” as a correct sentence, compared to discussing and writing about complex ideas and higher level thinking.
Granted, this is not the case for all students, but for a surprising number of them, they really can’t write at all. I don’t know how they got into college, and I find it endlessly frustrating to teach 4th grade level assignments to students who are supposed to hold at least a high school degree, which should mean they can read and write with some level of proficiency. And now, the schools will have less funding? It can only get worse.
14 March 2010
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Wow, that sucks. I hate it how education is always on the chopping block.
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm following you from Riot Kitty. I did NOT vote for that idiot! I also find it rather funny seeing my husband's friends wives complaining about his cuts, etc. meanwhile when he won the election, they were all praising him saying how finally a Republican was back in office, etc. He is also cutting our unemployment significantly starting in June I believe. Maybe instead he should create more jobs so I won't have to collect.
ReplyDeleteEducation is so very important. There are so many people that can't even put together a sentence or ad a few numbers together. Just sad. Both of my parents were teachers and it wasn't as simple a job as some may think.
Hi Ally! I actually found out today that one of my friends on unemployment makes more than I do, and I work three jobs. How is that OK?!
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