Walker ( ALEC - WI) Stinking Thinking On Higher Ed

I have to believe that these talking points were given to Scottie either by ALEC, or the Heritage Foundation or the Mackinac Center.

Scottie is just not the brightest bulb on the Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Christmas tree.
Definitely not bright enough to come up with all by himself

without a

Masters Degree in Political Science,

with a Minor in  How to be a Governor and

a sub-specialization in ALEC Copy & Paste Legislation

Cause he doesn’t have one!

(Well, maybe he did complete the ALEC Copy & Paste Legislation certificate program.)

A little educational something, something from a couple of weeks ago – snips to follow:

Politics

Scott Walker to extort University of Wisconsin students into specific jobs

By DJ Pangburn 17 days ago

Now the GOP is up to something different, and it’s beginning in the GOP’s corporate beta testing grounds of Wisconsin. As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, Governor Scott Walker will now tie state funding to whether students graduate with a degree the GOP deems an asset to the capitalist economy; effectively extorting universities and their students. Indeed, effectively overriding student free will.

Hmmmmmmmm

       Funding tied to graduation rates

Now let’s think about that – what types of variables can impact graduation rates – loss of income, medical issues, learning disabilities, etc … 

The assumption being that the universities can also control for factors that are outside their control.

That’s malarkey!

And Walker is engaging in stinking thinking – that is aimed at penalizing and reducing funding to institutions of higher education based on factors that the school can’t even control.

I smell stinky, right-wing extremist policy here!!!

Walker stated, “I hear tremendous concerns from our employers in manufacturing, health care and information technology… is that they have jobs but they just don’t have enough skilled workers to meet those jobs.”

Did Diane Hendricks whisper that in your ear, Scottie?

This is the whiny meme of the private sector right now.

But the real question is, how much are they willing to pay for skilled workers?

Thirty cents an hour?

Workers do not want just any job – they want a job that pays them a living wage.

 “In higher education, that means not only degrees, but are young people getting degrees in jobs that are open and needed today, not just the jobs that the universities want to give us, or degrees that people want to give us?” added Walker.

Jobs that are available right now

– but not preparing for the future

Short sighted

Stupid!

But what can you expect from someone who does not have a college degree!!!!

This write-up reminded me of this statement from another article sent to me by a friend at VLTP.

With studio schools, education is increasingly becoming indistinguishable from preparation for limited-horizon work. Their rise represents another step in the creeping corporate takeover of our public services.

And what are studio schools – you may ask.

Well, this article came from across the pond.

Read it and weep! (snips from the larger article with my emphasis)

Workfare comes to the classroom

While academies have drawn the headlines, the government’s new ‘studio schools’ are making children work for corporate sponsors. Alex Diaz reports

For education secretary Michael Gove, studio schools are a manifestation of the government’s pledge to teach children what employers want them to learn.

   …  , the government builds and maintains a school, but the power to run the school remains firmly in the hands of private sponsors.

Under-16s, meanwhile, must work at least four hours a week for local sponsors unpaid. It is perhaps ironic that a system that is supposed to teach children what it is like to work in the real world does not pay them to do a job. Moreover, the introduction of cheap child labour into the workplace is likely to drive down wages for adult workers doing similar jobs.

The teachers’ union believes studio schools represent a threat to local education provision because they fragment neighbouring schools’ funding and admissions arrangements, their approval system and application process lacks transparency, and they have been set up with little consultation or evidence of demand or even effectiveness.

Studio schools are also not required to employ qualified teachers, or adhere to national pay arrangements.

With studio schools, education is increasingly becoming indistinguishable from preparation for limited-horizon work. Their rise represents another step in the creeping corporate takeover of our public services.

A European corporatist model that sounds similar to what ALEC Alum Walker is envisioning.  Maybe the UK MEP that put this together is an ALEC member (there are quite a few of them in ALEC).  Sounds pretty much like what Indiana ALEC-ers Tony Bennett and Governor Mitch Daniels are implementing.

Too bad Walker isn’t proposing a statewide unionized workforce like they have in Europe – instead of destroying it.

Evidently what’s good for Europe is good for Wisconsin
– but only the parts that benefit Walker’s Corporate Sponsors.

Shouldn't I be making a statement here about socialist education?
Probably.