From the Gotham Gazette:
With graduation rates under 50 percent for most schools in the City University of New York, dropping out is common. Regardless of who one talks to — a student, professor, sports coach or administrator — chances are he or she knows at least one person who has left school without receiving a degree. And while the causes are many, chances are they will name money as the main reason. “I had a student who dropped out because her parents said it was going to be better if she worked in [the family] restaurant than if she went to school. They couldn’t afford it,” said Kathleen Offenholley, an assistant professor of mathematics at Borough of Manhattan Community College. “She was getting straight A’s. And I cried.”
To read the rest of the story, click here.
This isn’t really news so much as it is just more of the same- more CUNY students can’t afford to stay in school. The massive cuts to education, by a government that caters to the every whim of it’s millionaire and billionaire puppeteers, have resulted in a school system with a graduation rate under 50 percent.
The whole point of a state funded education system is to allow everyone to recieve a quality education and be competitive in the job market. I myself am a product of the SUNY education system. Without my degree from the University at Albany, State University of New York, I would not currently be employed. Chipping away funding from programs – which the government is doing right now – will only further increase the divide between richer and poorer students, expanding the ranks of Americans that are unemployed and unable to provide for their families.
Conservatives have to understand that just ignoring a problem won’t make it go away. People are still going to have kids, families, and lives, regardless of whether you cut their social safety net or don’t. A good jobs program doesn’t happen by accident. There are many factors that lead to the creation of jobs, and one of them is having citizens that are prepared for careers. By cutting funding from schools (be it early education, primary, secondary, or tertiary), we are effectively cutting opportunities for citizens to pursue the American Dream.
We need to invest in our middle- and working-classes, not the interests of millionaires, billionaires, and corporations.
For more on protecting education and our future, look to our coalition partners at the Alliance for Quality Education.
Have cuts to education personally affected you or your loved ones? Send us your stories, videos or pictures to [email protected]