Come to think of it, that describes the state of New York pretty well, too.
Ulster County Community College prof Steven Schimmrich, a.k.a. The Hudson Valley Geologist, has detected a glaring basic math error in New York State's formula for community college: Imploding economy + rising enrollment + shrinking budget + increasingly uneducated students = One highly unsustainable situation.
Unfortunately, support from the amazingly inept State of New York has gone down as enrollment goes up (1/3 of our budget)! Support from the local county has remained flat (another 1/3 of our budget). Tuition went up slightly (the final 1/3). We're trying to educate more students but with less money (quite the business model - when enrollment increases, our financial situation gets worse!).
The plot sickens. Schimmrich says that the students most in need of community college -- the ones struggling both academically and financially -- are caught in a vicious catch-22 that practically ensures they'll drop out before graduating:
A student's financial aid will only pay for so many semesters (typically 3 years to get a 2 year CC degree). One scenario that often occurs is that a student places into a remedial writing class and a remedial math class. Guess what, students who can't write also typically never read books either (that's why they can't even recognize that their writing sucks). That's 6.0 credit hours and they need two other courses to get up to 12.0 credit hours. Not remedial courses, but college-level courses because that's what financial aid rules require. THIS STUDENT CAN'T READ, WRITE, OR DO MATH, WHAT THE HELL COLLEGE-LEVEL COURSES DO THEY WANT US TO PUT HIM INTO!!! Did I mention some students need two or more semesters of remedial courses to get up to college level (often more than two semester's worth in math)?
Isn't there some kind of amazing free program that's supposed to make sure that kids can read and write and add? And don't they get some kind of certificate if they finish it? Oh, right -- It's called high school.
If, like us, you can't get enough of the sharp prose stylings of the Hudson Valley Geologist, you can find his excellent blog here. Or you can go hear him talk this Friday, at 7:30pm at the Mid-Hudson Gem and Mineral Society in Poughkeepsie. Topic: the Rosendale Natural Cement Industry.
