Reminder That The Wrong Bush Boy Became President

Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education has asked District of Columbia schools chancellor Michelle Rhee to be keynote speaker at its second annual national summit on education reform.

Rhee, an appointee of DC Mayor, Adrian Fenty, will join summit host Bush and policymakers from around the nation at the October summit in DC.

"From pay raises to pink slips, Chancellor Rhee is shaking up the status quo to turnaround a school system that has failed students for too long," Bush said. "We are tremendously pleased Chancellor Rhee will join Excellence in Action attendees to share her bold reform strategies for raising student achievement and improving the quality of education."

Source: http://www.bestmiaminews.com/jeb-turns-to-a-dem-appointee-to-tout-excellence-in-education/

Student Loan Debt Forgiveness for Stimulus?

An interesting idea making the rounds in recent weeks has been to have the government pay off all currently outstanding student loan debt as a means of stimulating the still-in-recession economy.

It is an intriguing concept. The theory goes that this measure would inject money into the economy (the purpose of all stimulus) by freeing up additional spending cash each month for the hundreds of thousands of citizens currently dedicating a portion of their income, not to mention setting aside money in their savings accounts, for debt repayment. Additionally, this would avoid moral hazard, as their was no expectation on the part of these people that they'd be bailed out and there would not be future expectation of bail outs. And, even if there were, since this would reward higher education, the additional people paying for more learning would increase the human capital of the nation.

Of course, Republican Punk doesn't support any additional stimulus. The country is in the process of a slow recovery and we cannot afford any further deficit spending or bubble-creating. Would this have been a good idea if it had been thought of before the pork-basket that was the $700 million plus "stimulus" package. Very possibly. But keep in mind, higher education costs are rising much faster than inflation, primarily due to government intervention that promotes lower-and-middle class people going to college regardless of their ability to pay or whether it is actually in their best interest. So, there are a lot of unintentional consequences that must be considered with any plan.

More T-Paw Goodness

Tim Pawlenty has always counted on dry humor while still addressing the issues as a prime advantage as (likely) seeks the White House in 2012. (See him knocking the Obamacare here.) Well, at his speech to GOPAC this weekend, he has added some new strong statements to his reportoire:

“It appears that President Obama is making great progress on climate change, he is changing the political climate in the country back to Republican,” Pawlenty said during a speech to the second annual GOPAC conference in Chicago.

“He went around the country last fall promising ‘change we can believe in,’ but now we see it’s about changing what we believe in,” said Pawlenty, an anticipated 2012 Republican presidential contender. “We need to be calling out the flaws and misguided decisions of the Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration.”

“Medicaid is essentially bankrupt, Medicare is essentially bankrupt, why the heck would we give the federal government another entitlement program to manage?” asked Pawlenty.

“We had people, leaders in the Republican Party and conservative movement, saying we couldn’t talk about [health care],” the Republican governor said. “Are you kidding me? There is no other pocket book issue that directly affects people as much as this.”

“We need to be more than critics of the Obama administration,” he said. “We can’t just be critics in chiefs.”

“We have an educational system in the United States that isn’t cash for clunkers, it’s clash for flunkers,” he said. “This idea in this country that anyone is forced to go to a bad school is disgraceful.”

“This is the civil rights issue of our time,” he said, describing the plight of inner city schools and urging the state lawmakers in the crowd to address the lower performances of schools in some of their states more depressed areas. “It is a disgrace and it is a moral imperative…we need to rise up and fix this.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26138.html#ixzz0OSI6rsaw

Maine's Public University Fiscal Crisis

This month, the independent task force charged with standing Maine's public universities on a firm fiscal footing, released their report (read highlights here: http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/6600967.html). While much of what was recommended makes sense (standardised accounting standards, cut low-enrollment classes and departments that constantly graduate less than 5 students a year, etc.), it doesn't get to the root of Maine's problem.

Public universities are just like any other state-subsidised corporation; they do not act within financial reality. Honestly, beyond community colleges that teach life skills needed to keep communities running and prepare students not yet ready to enter a four-year college, the government probably has no place in the higher education game. Since that is not politically realistic, let us look at a radical proposal for opening these colleges up to the market while preserving our support of education.

The reason public universities are so distorted is due to the state subsidy that allows them to offer lower in-state tuition. How about we replace this subsidy with refundable tax credits for all Maine high school graduates to attend any college they want. This way, someone who wants to attend Colby (or Bates or UNE or an Ivy or Daniel Webster or...the list could continue forever), would not have a perverse incentive to attend a school that is less right for him.

This would mean some of the universities would probably shut down. But that wouldn't be a bad thing. High school students would still receive the subsidy to attend college, and stronger schools like UMO (with its engineering and forestry programs) and UMF (with teaching) would be even better off as they would not be filled with high school graduates better suited elsewhere.

Finally, and bringing us back to the original point, strong chancellors like Rebecca Wyke (a Democrat this blog could get behind if she decided to throw her hat in for a higher office) would be able to truly see what U Maine's finances look like.

Gingrich Shows Obama Love

For most prospective 2012 presidential candidates, you can judge their interest by the rabid way they go after the president. But for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, it is important he improve his negatives with moderates. Which may explain why he tweeted this (deserved) praise:

President Obama’s strong commitment on education reform is a good start and he is showing considerable courage indemanding real change

Hat Tip: The Hill