Posted on 10/22/2011 2:17:18 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Tampa, Florida - If you're a student trying to earn a degree in anthropology, or even journalism, Governor Rick Scott says don't bother.
He says if the state is to compete for the best jobs, he wants students focusing on science, engineering, and math. Governor Scott says Florida needs more graduates in high tech fields so companies will consider relocating to the Sunshine State. But he's being criticized for his idea to shift tax dollars away from liberal arts majors like anthropology and journalism.
Natalie Odom is majoring in mass communications at the University of South Florida. She says, "I think it's awful because not everyone has an interest in math and science and if he cuts out areas that people have an interest in, that is just going to make for less students enrolled in college because they may not want to study a field that they have no desire or passion to study."
It's not clear what evidence Governor Scott has that graduates have less job prospects in the anthropology and journalism fields. According to the Miami Herald, liberal arts majors represent a small slice of all Florida undergraduate degrees: 4.7 percent. According to the American Anthropology Association, about 64 percent of those with a graduate degree in anthropology find a job within 12 months of graduating.
Staff members from USF'S Department of Anthropology say it's considered one of the best in the country and has been a consistent job creator for Tampa and the state of Florida. Brent Weisman, Ph.D. is the chair of the department and says the governor's statement is "completely uninformed. That's a statement made without any basis in fact."
Weisman adds, "I think it's an impressionist, anecdotal statement based on perhaps the stereotype of anthropology as a discipline that studies underwater basket weaving or something like that. It bears no relation to reality."
USF also has a career center that is free and open to all students regardless of what they're studying. Counselors are on hand to give students the tools they need to land a job whether it's how to dress for an interview or put together a resume. They put on job fairs and many employers visit the center to conduct interviews with students.
Dan Van Hoose is the assistant director of The Career Center and says, "They're exploring. They're learning. They're growing. They just know they have an interest in that academic topic. That doesn't necessarily define their skill set for life at that point in time."
“A bold, Texas-style solution,” the governor said in an address to the Legislature. “I’m challenging our institutions of higher education to develop bachelor’s degrees that cost no more than $10,000, including textbooks.”
The amount is about a quarter of what students at the University of Texas and Texas A&M pay for tuition and books. An organization formed to fight the changes, Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education, counts among its members power Republicans such as TRT Holdings Chief Executive Robert Rowling, who gave $1 million to the conservative “super PAC” American Crossroads. Handling media for the group former George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes, the Post reported.
Nonetheless, some of Perry’s higher-education ideas could be catching on elsewhere. Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he was passing on a list of higher education reform ideas from Texas known as the “Seven Breakthrough Solutions” to candidates for the Florida university and college boards of trustees, the Post reported.
An executive order issued by Perry calls on the state's education and workforce agencies to help Western Governors establish WGU Texas.
Whoda thunk.....
But Rep. Shelia Jackson-Lee and her Democratic Party wanted Perry's signature so the "money would flow to our schools within days."
Gov. Perry sued for Texas' money (without Washington telling us how to spend it) -- And won! Promise Kept.
Chris Christie article -- Even Democrats are now alarmed about the state of education in this country but its too late because the GOP owns this issue.
If you're a student trying to earn a degree in anthropology, or even journalism, Governor Rick Scott says don't bother asking the government to pay for it.
Perry's education record distinctly different from Bush's
Higher Education Coalition attack on [Texas Gov. Rick] Perry raises eyebrows
[Rick] Scott Promotes Controversial Education Reforms [Rick Perry has championed] “Gov. Rick Scott has begun discreetly promoting the same changes to the higher education system that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has championed. The proposals include some of the same reforms pushed by conservatives in K-12 schools: merit pay for professors, tenure reform, and generally a much greater emphasis on measurement of whether professors are turning out students that meet certain goals.
The attempt in Texas has caused something of an identity crisis in that states higher education community, with opponents saying what needs to be reformed is Perry's control over university policies.<<<
And if student loans weren't handed out like lollipops, abominations such as "Africana Studies" would likely collapse on their own.
Second, like our public schools, America’s colleges are woefully underperforming. The authors of the recently published book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses found that 45 percent of college students show no improvement in critical skills after two years in college. Troubling statistics are forcing many families to question whether investing time and money in college is really worth it, particularly since many college graduates are struggling to find employment and appear to have gained few marketable skills.
Third, colleges are creating a heavy burden for taxpayers. According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, higher-ed spending accounts for approximately 10 percent of state spending. And federal subsidies for higher education (including grants, loans, tax credits, and direct payments to schools) amount to well over $100 billion annually.
Fourth, colleges have long been an intellectual driver of progressivism in American life. I am sure I am not the only person who found my undergraduate and graduate school years to have been a tiring indoctrination in leftist ideas. It is surely no coincidence that young American voters are more included to vote for the Left after this indoctrination.
For too long, the Right has neglected the need to challenge and reform American higher education. But in the current political climate, reforming colleges and universities (as well as our student-aid policies) is an eminently winnable fight — and one that would yield big gains for students and taxpayers.
Conservative leaders around the country should follow Rick Perry’s lead."
Thanks for proving the Governor's point, Natalie. You'd think a "journalism" major would know the proper usage of "less" and "fewer".
How many anthropologists and “journalists” does this country really need? Getting a crap education results in the graduates laying around on Wall Street whining about not being able to find a “job”.
Texas spends 47% of it’s state budget on education, mostly elementary through high school.
How much do you think is appropriate? 55%? 75%?
You say that like it's a bad thing, Natalie.
You have become a joke and you don’t even know it.
Hey, a degree in Underwater Basket Weaving can get you very far up that ladder of success.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and for perry it is, Tank U, Tank U, Tank U. He has a problem with long words. Those noise dives can cause noise bleeds.
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