[Vision2020] Lets' Be Ignorant

Tue Jan 10 13:45:52 PST 2012

Frankly, Jay, I think the GOP slate has done a pretty thorough job of mixing the two and presenting the result as one great step forward for all of America.  These folks are clearly not the sharpest tools in the shed nor the most moral, and if their anti-Obama frenzy actually has them misquoting him to make a point that higher education is "elitist," that confirms the anti-intellectualism and suspicion that has energized the far Right for at least the last 20 years.  

Keely
www.keely-prevailingwinds.com

Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:18:14 -0800
From: jborden at datawedge.com
To: thansen at moscow.com; art.deco.studios at gmail.com
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Lets' Be Ignorant

Uh… what?    Don’t blur stupidity with bigotry.  Jay From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 8:42 AM
To: Art Deco
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Lets' Be Ignorant Yesirree, Bubba. I mean . . . Doesn't that Prezdint Obommer know that them black folk have a ingrown hankerin' to shine shoes at the local mall and workin' them fields jus' like their great granpappies did yearin' ago . . . back on them warm, cozy plantations. They don't need no collidge no how. Seeya later, Moscow. Tom HansenSpokane, Washington "If not us, who?If not now, when?" - Unknown
On Jan 10, 2012, at 8:08 AM, Art Deco <art.deco.studios at gmail.com> wrote:January 10, 2012, 12:13 amRick Santorum’s Anti-College RantBy CHARLES M. BLOWHey, 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 what’s best for you. I … you know there is … I have seven kids. Maybe they’ll all go to college. But, if one of my kids wants to go and be an auto mechanic, good for him. That’s 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 can’t find a single instance where the president has actually said that. The president has consistently framed the discussion as one of making high school graduates both college- and career-ready. And even when speaking about learning after high school, he has often included both higher education and vocational training.For instance, during a joint session of Congress in February 2009, the president said:It will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.He continued:And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship.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 didn’t think so. Moving right along …The president has called for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and challenged states to “develop standards and assessments that will help America’s children rise to the challenge of graduating from high school prepared for college and the workplace.”The president has also unveiled plans to help more students graduate from community college, a main tenet of his education agenda, saying,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 we’ve established some facts, let’s 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 thatAmerica’s 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.The Post continued: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 president’s plan is designed to address this. But then again, I’m 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.
-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
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