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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1990)
Smoke Signals August 1990 Page 7 College Costs Skyrocket, Stifle Poor Students By Thomas Kean For decades, American higher education has been gateway to upward mobility. Beginning with the G.I. Bill in the 1940s, then the expansion of state universities in the 1960s and 70s, we opened wide the classroom doors to middle and low income families. In the process, we helped create a dynamic, pluralistic society. But that dynamism is in danger. Today, only the wealthiest American families can consider college af fordable without help. Tuition skyrocketed at twice the rate of inflation over the past decade, while federal support through loans and grants stagnated. Many states have been reaching into their pockets to compensate for federal declines, but that support is threatened by another economic downturn. Plugging the gap between financial aid and college costs will keep getting harder; not easier. In fact, Merrill Lynch projects that in 20 years an Ivy League education will cost about a quarter million dollars. Where's all this money going? Why do college costs roar ahead of inflation? College and university presi dents who are never shy about asking for money whether tuition increases, alumni donations corporate gifts, or government grants - have been less eager to address these basic questions. Some have presented a smorgasbord of factors like the need to bring faculty salaries to a competitive level and the expense of books, high-tech equipment and other items in the college market basket. Frankly, many of us in the academic community are uncomfortable admitting that the desire of parents to give their children a leg up in life, whatever sacrifice required, has made raising tuition easier. Think of a degree from our prestigious institution as an investment that pays off in higher salaries and upward social mobil ity, we tell them. At a time when 12-year old eagerly , shell out $160 for Reebok "Pump" sneakers, why is $80,000 for a college degree out of line? Well, people are starting to wonder whether that price tag is out of line. Students at several universities, including the largest in my state, Rutgers, have taken over administration buildings to protest tuition in creases. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is investi gating 56 leading institutions on charges of price-fixing on tuition and scholarships. ' When both college students and Justice Department lawyers asked the same questions about the price and value of higher education and about the priorities of college administrators - we had better be concerned. For instance, do sparkling new student centers and sports complexes further our educational mission, or are they merely marketing tools designed to wow prospec tive students? Do the faculty "stars" we feature so prominently in our recruitment materials ever actually find their way into classrooms, or do they devote all their time to research and writing? Wliere's all this money going? Wlxy do college costs continue to roar ahead of inflation? College and university presidents, who are never shy about asking for money, have been less eager to address these basic questions. This question goes directly to the heart of the univer sity: the relationship between teacher and student. The sad truth is, we have shoved the teacher-student rela tionship far down on our list of priorities, as we have lured prominent faculty to our campuses with promise that their obligation to teach under-graduates would be minimal. As a result, by 1989 tenured professors spent, on average, only eight hours a week teaching, a steep decline from previous decades, according to a Carnegie Foundation study. The teaching load of tenured faculty is lighter yet at our nation's elite institutions, most of which have no qualms in justifying lofty tuition costs' at least in part, on the basis of their prestigious faculties, even though the brunt of teaching under graduates is borne by low-paid grad students. This situation raises the serious question of whether today's undergraduates are getting their money's worth. Are they getting the product they thought they were paying for? It also raises troubling questions about current values in higher education. College and university presidents, myself included, must rediscover that how well we do our job is not measurcd.by the size of our endowment or the number of Noble laureates on our faculty, but by the kind of society we help create. Something is very wrong in our colleges and universi ties when we regard creating an educated society as less important than building a stable of renowned senior fellows or garnering corporate grants. Thomas Kean, former governor of New Jersey, is president of Drew University in Madison, NJ. New Tabloid Aims To Reach Native American Students Native American history, environmental issues, sports, health and other news will be topics in a new monthly publication for Native American students in grades 5 through 8. The Native American Monthly Reader will be pub lished eight times during the 1990-91 academic year by International Traditional Education Systems, a Native American-owned company developing culture-related classroom curriculum supplements. ITES hopes to fill Native Americans' need for cultural education and information. Students are encouraged to submit articles for possible publication concerning their tribe and communities. The first issue includes an article by students at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, concerning discovery of asbestos at the Red Shirt Table Commu nity. A collaboration between movie actor Robert Redford and novelist Tony Hillerman, on the need to preserve the richness of Native American tradition in the face of modern life, also is featured in the premier issue. The publishers plan to reach 2,000 schools in the United States and Canada. Each issue is accompanied by a teacher's guide and is designed as a supplement to the existing school curriculum. For complimentary copies, subscription rates and further curriculum information, contact: ITES, P.O. Box 217, Crestone, Colo. 81131; (719) 256-4848. Minority Teacher Numbers Decline Report Calls on Educators to Help Boost Percentages The shortage of minority teachers in Oregon and across the country is so great that everyone, from state leaders to grade-school teachers, must work for solu tions, educators said recently. "If you use the excuse of being criticized for reverse discrimination" to avoid working on solutions to the minority teacher shortage, "it is stupidity," Frank Newman, president of the Education Commission of the States, said. Tribal members who live in the Salem area might want to know that the Keizcr School District has sought for years to increase the number of minority educators it employs. But according to district records, the number of minority teachers at it's 48 schools has remained between 3 and 4 percent between 1979 and 1988. 'We still do not feel that our teaching staff adequately reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity that we would like to see it reflect. " ' Susan Gourly Susan Gourly, the district's personnel director, said the district is trying to do better. "We still do not feel that our teaching staff adequately reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity that we would like to see it reflect," she said. ' The commission released a report produced by the Alliance of Leaders for Minority Teachers that warned that current programs to increase the numbers of minority teachers in elementary and secondary schools will not work without a unified effort by district and school leaders, state leaders and schools of education attempt to increase the ranks of minority teachers are often undone when all levels of the education system are not working together or even aware of each others' programs, the study showed. "If we want all children to become active citizens of a democratic society and capable participants in the 21st century work force, we must be committed to programs that encourage their ambition and intellect from pre-kindergar-tenon." ' -Eleanor McMahon Eleanor McMahon of Brown University, who was co chairwoman of the alliance, said: "If we want all children to become active citizens of a democratic society and capable participants in the 21st century work force, we must be committed to programs that encourage their ambition and intellect from pre-kindergartcn on." The report said only 10 percent of elementary and secondary public school teachers are members of minority groups, while 20 percent of the children they teach are minorities. At the end of this decade, only 5 percent of all teachers are expected to be from minority groups. Reasons for the nationwide shortage, according to the report, include teachers having lov expectations for minorities and often assigning them disproportionately to low-level courses. Also, the report said minorities often are taught by inexperienced teachers in districts with few" resources to help teachers progress profession ally. 1 "Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians simply have not received equal or high-quality opportunities in schools, a factor which contributes to lower college entrance and completion rates," it said. Of those minorities who do acquire a college educa tion, fewer are choosing education, fewer are choosing teaching as a career. The historically black colleges, which once produced half of the nation's black teachers, lost 40 percent of their teacher education enrollment , from 1977 to 1986.
