The Current Foreclosure Crisis has Exposed the Vulnerability of a Nation not Properly Educated
The current foreclosure crisis has exposed the vulnerability of a nation that is not properly educated. Meanwhile compared to other developed nations American numbers of higher educated persons have fallen back.
The current crisis expedited the trend of falling back. The social security net is in tatters and this is causing many more students in comparison to their peers say in France to be engaged in part time work while trying to attend classes. With the financial situation worsening more students are likely to opt for full time jobs relinquishing their studies totally.
As per the findings of Bureau of Labor Statistic the nation saw the loss of 273,000 jobs in September. Of these 29,000 were from the state and regional educational departments. This brings the number of job losses in this section since the previous five months to 143,000. Education is a category that is supposed to keep expanding – even when there is recession. The markets may be in turmoil but that should not mean one stops teaching the future generation. But this is exactly what is happening.
It is the state and local governments that are the caretakers of education. Sufficient federal assistance could have brought about a sea change. Some help has come but it is only a drop in the ocean. This is largely because in last February the senators with a one track mind stripped much of the assistance from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and fed it into the stimulus bill. Consequently education finds its limbs amputated. Many teachers have lost their jobs – it being only a small part of the drama. What is more serious is the manner in which opportunities are being blocked.
Recently the Chronicle of Higher Education gave a report on the sorry state of the community college students in California. For many generations, meritorious students coming from economically modest families have made use of these colleges as rungs of the ladder to gain entry into the universities of the state. But due to the budget blues these universities are now compelled to shut their doors on the current year’s potential entry of students. This will cause lifetime damage to many students and a massive waste of human resources.
The Congress should immediately rectify the blunders of February and sanction generous rounds of aid to the state governments. Even without giving the stimulus cry this will generate and save jobs running into thousands. It would simultaneously be a future investment.
America became great riding the wave of education; the same reverse flow can cause the opposite harm.
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