So called “Higher education” has become a
remedial joke. With most of studies targeting skills that normally and should
have been learned in elementary, middle
and high school.

For the most part, higher education is a
racket unto itself only the dollars involved
are higher, the taxpayer still picks up
most of the cost. And educrats still sit
on their well fed rear ends!!

dennis hammond

You don’t reward people for doing a crappy job!! YOU REPLACE THEM!!!!!

dennis hammond

It’s the educational Industial complex and educational consumer better start considering the VALUE of higher education. In some cases it’s NIL! AND expensive!

For some reason unknown to me, Colorado has a streak of paranoia when it comes to paying taxes for anything, which is why congestion continues to grow and schools do not get better.

Sorry, Jim, I don’t have a nice easy solution for the problem you write about, just some experiences that demonstrate it doesn’t have to be that way. Oh, by the way, I went to my high school 50th reunion a couple of years ago, and the community now is tearing down the schools I went to and rebuilding new. It still treasures good public education.

Our education system in this country lags behind other lesser countries, because unlike these other countries, WE DON’T BELIEVE EDUCATION SHOULD COST ANYTHING!. Ask any Republican or libertarian if they believe we need a Dept. of Education or if our taxes should go towards education. They believe the private industry can provide the answer in cheap private schools going to the lowest bidder; except for their kids, because now they want “choice!” Check out how much this country spends on public education compared to these other countries.

This same group believes “anyone can teach,” so let’s just bring non-educational professionals and let them teach our kids - good enough! Anyone with a degree can teach stuff they already learned, right? And let’s just pay them what they pay those waitresses -cause anyone can teach!

I saw a bumper sticker yesterday, that read “After we rebuild Iraq, how about rebuilding our schools?”

I have a Masters degree, my wife a near PhD, but any of us will admit that of all the courses we all took for our career, very little eventually replied, and the other courses that were required to make us “more rounded” - how much can you remember from these? With the right pushing private schools and schools for profit, the tech school industry is growing. They recognize you don’t need four years of BS courses to become a vet tech or legal aide. Four year colleges are in open competition for your tuition $, and maybe streamlining a degree will become competitive. It’s not that we need standards, (or standards testing) we need to support and fund our schools. The problem Jim addresses is bigger than just funding schools to provide the english, science, and math required to get into college, but graduating more literate and smarter high school graduates.

Until we start respect our education professionals and it’s system by adequately funding it and let the EDUCATION professionals fix the problems and not the business professionals, we’re going to continue to lag behind other countries in our educational product.

I went to a DIRT POOR Catholic school for
grades first through eighth. I was an OK
student in Catholic school, pretty
average. When I made the SWITCH to PUBLIC
SCHOOL they MOVED ME AHEAD A GRADE!!!!

NOW, TELL ME, IS IT THE MONEY THAT EDUCATES
KIDS IN FUNDAMENTALS LIKE READING, WRITING,
AND ARITHMETIC??????? OR METHODS AND
DISAPLINE AND A CURRICULUM WHICH STRESSES
BASICS!!

IT”S DEDICATION BY TEACHERS. CONTROL
BY TEACHERS (NOT ATTORNEYS) AND PARENTS
WHO PARTICIPATE IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS!

IT’S ALWAY THE MONEY WITH EDUCRATS AND
LIBERALS AND THEY STILL! DON’T SUCCEED!!

IN THE WARPED MINDS OF LIBERALS YOU CAN
NEVER SPEND ENOUGH MONEY ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
BUT MASSIVE INCREASES IN FUNDING AND CONTINUED LOW STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES SHOW
CLEARLY, IT AIN’T THE MONEY.

dennis hammond

the TRUTH NEVER gets old.
Government waste, inefficiency and
corruption does, however, get OLD!

dennis hammond

Your September 10th story, “Can’t Meet Education Standards, Just Waive ‘Em” argued that the Commission on Higher Education essentially postponed the 2008 Higher Education Admissions Requirements (“HEAR”) and intended to waive future admission requirements. This does not accurately characterize the Commission’s actions with regard to admission requirements.

The Commission did not postpone the 2008 requirements, but decided to add other criteria and some temporary flexibility. It approved a policy to allow an “index score” 10 points higher than the normal threshold to serve as an alternative to meeting prescribed curriculum for 2008 and 2009 graduates. This standard is probably more rigorous than the 2008 HEAR curriculum. The index score has been validated by research as a reliable predictor of college performance and of students who will not need costly remediation.

Under existing state law, a so-called exemption “window” allows each institution to admit a percentage of students who do not meet either the index or the HEAR. The Commission decided only to administer this exemption “window” on a statewide basis, not enlarge it, making it available to additional students who want to attend college work but haven’t taken all the HEAR courses. This recognizes the fact that many students regrettably may decide to go to college late in their high school careers.

As for the 2010 phase of the HEAR, the Commission decided in July to maintain the rigor of standards but acknowledged that there may be school districts who are simply unable to hire or afford faculty for advanced math or foreign language instruction. To deal with that, we are in the process of drafting procedures and criteria for school districts who can not meet these curriculum requirements to demonstrate they have no alternative means of delivering that instruction.

These combined actions by the Commission address the realities that students and school districts face but recognize the importance of standards which serve to help students and our state as a whole.

Sincerely yours,

David E. Skaggs