The article is from the LA Times website (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-week27-2009sep27,0,5103616.story), written by Cathleen Decker, September 27, 2009. Pretty much, it talks about how the protesting of hundreds of students in different California campuses is reminiscent of the 1960s. This time though, the students' concerns are not for civil rights, nor for war, but it is for the rising costs of education. According to the article, in November, the UC regents are expected to approve an increase in fees by $2500. And to add to the extent of which educational costs are rising, the California Post-Secondary Education Commission concludes that fees have quadrupled from 1965 to 2008 (in constant dollars) with inflation being taken into account. And while the costs continually rise, the per capita and median income for Californians and their families didn't even double throughout the 43 years. To add to all the dilemma and worry, post-graduation jobs that are supposed to pay off debt are now appear to be merely a "mirage".
The story seems unbiased, considering the quantitative figures that the reporter had included in her article. The article is regarding education itself, and I most certainly have strong opinions towards it. The story is important because it gives readers an idea of how difficult it is to get a decent post-secondary education for the middle class nowadays. Since I myself am in college, this story affects me greatly. I adore school, and I believe that everyone should have a right to a decent education. I moved to this country at age 11 from the Philippines, and with naive and innocent eyes, I saw that country's educational system. And while I was privileged enough to have parents who are fiscally stable, and who were able to send me to a decent school, some people broke their backs working so hard in order to send their children to a public school. A public school that isn't free?! In this country, that may be unthinkable, but in the Philippines, there are no other ways to get an education... you either have to cough up the money and pay for school, or you just settle for something less such as ignorance. Stupid corrupt politicians...
Anyway, a higher education is demanding so much from families financially. The ever so expensive investment that's supposed to lead to future success seems to become slowly unattainable. It's kind of why my mother's proposition about just studying in a different country makes sense to me. It's going to be fully paid for as I go. But what about the other people in that country who barely made it past elementary school? My mother told me not to worry about it, that it isn't my problem. But if I never allow it to become my problem, how would this situation change?
It's so horrible because the education part isn't the only thing we should be worrying about. And just as the article had said, the "jobs that are supposed to pay off debt are now appear to be merely a 'mirage' ". I only like mirages when they're of shirtless guys or of food. HAHA. But seriously. Students pay thousands of dollars to pretty much plaster "SUCCESS" all over their future, only to find that the jobs they studied so damn hard for isn't gonna get them jack shit.
So much for the twenty-thousand-dollar investment that's supposed to inherently lead to your Ferrari.
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i agree with what you are saying. college is already so expensive and the costs keep increasing. i dont see the high up people in charge of the school taking pay cuts to help out.
ReplyDeleteI concur, our education system is jacked...almost beyond repair. but growing up with two parents in the education system i get a glimpse of the other side as well. and its not always the superintendents, or the presidents, or whoever runs the school that is making things more expensive or putting up more "red tape" for you to go through on your way to higher education, sometimes its the state. There are alot of state legislations placing higher costs, and stricter regulations on schools. However, i completely agree with what your saying.
ReplyDeleteand in most foreign countries the education systems are better than the U.S.. Take Germany for example; they only have to go to "school" until eighth grade, instead of getting four more years (our highschool) of the same old crap they learned before, they begin college courses, vocational courses or start on education specifically centered torwards their desired career, so instead of beginning life with a career at 23-28 like us they begin all of that around 19-21. talk about a head start.
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