Now that everyone’s turkey/Emu omlettes have settled:
EMUTalk.org regular Public Crabgrass sent me a link to a provocative story very worthy of sharing here: “Transformation 101,” which was in the Washington Monthly and written by Kevin Carey, who is a researcher at a D.C. education think-tank. I’m not entirely sure I agree with the basic premise of the article, that technology has “transformed” education, thus making it possible to teach “better” with fewer teachers. But Carey makes a lot of intriguing observations in a complex piece that deserves to be read.
One quote about sports and buildings that I will share for now that connects to some of what we’ve been talking about at EMUTalk.org lately. Carey’s argument that the cost of instruction is going down, and colleges/universities are spending the money on increased tuition in other places, including sports and building projects:
The NCAA recently revealed that among 119 Division I-A universities, the typical athletic department lost $9.3 million in 2006. That’s up from $6.1 million in 2004, a 50 percent jump in just two years. The growing deficits have to be made up from other sources, like tuition. And construction spending is always popular; new libraries, buildings, and student centers with climbing walls are good for marketing purposes—and they create plenty of blank space on which to engrave the names of generous alumni.
But like I said, read the whole thing– a very good article. And thanks for the link, PC!
