This is a bit of a drift away from math
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=15581
Gregoire also proposes to give governing boards the authority to approve a maximum 14 percent tuition increase for the public four-year universities and a maximum 7 percent increase for the community and technical colleges.
“This is not the time to falter on this state’s long commitment to a world-class system of public higher education,” Gregoire said.
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Good thing the Gov did not mention a long commitment to world class k-12 public education as everyone would have had difficulty keeping a straight face.
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Gregoire is asking state legislators to temporarily lift the levy lid for the K-12 education system, freeing up $68 million a year for local school districts.
With enrollments dropping, I'm afraid a 7% tuition increase isn't going to do much for Washington, not to mention the average time it takes a student to graduate now is 5-7 years.
ReplyDeleteIt has been said that due to the lack of jobs in a slowing WA economy that Community College enrollments have increased. I have no data on this.
ReplyDeleteYou can find that information here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sesrc.wsu.edu/sesrcsite/pugetsound/ces/ceshome.html
The analysis shows that 57% of the class of 2004 attended college in the first year after graduation. Eighty-five percent of the college students stayed in Washington and 15% attended colleges elsewhere. Half (51%) attended a public two-year college in Washington. Only 13% attended a private institution.
and here:
You have to dig carefully.
http://www.sesrc.wsu.edu/PugetSound/K12/nsc/default.htm
The analysis shows that 59% of the class of 2007 attended college in the first year after graduation. Eighty-six percent of the college students stayed in Washington and 14% attended colleges elsewhere. Half (50%) attended a public two-year college in Washington.
This highlights the economic costs associated with high school dropouts.
http://www.wtb.wa.gov/Media_DropoutTalkingPoints.asp
These are just some of the useful statistics about the state of Washington State public education you will find on this website.
In 2000, the National Board on Educational Testing and Public Policy estimated that 33 percent of students who were in ninth grade four years earlier dropped out, an increase of 4 percent since 1990. In comparison, the dropout rate was lower in Finland, France, Italy, Poland, and Germany, and was only 6 percent in Japan.
According to the most recent OSPI report (2003-04) on high school graduation rates, a total of 18,365 students dropped out of Washington schools in grades 9-12.
Put another way, 21 percent who started high school in 2000 did not complete their studies in the four-year period, and a further 8.5 percent are still enrolled and continuing their education
Asians/Pacific Islanders had the lowest dropout rate at 3.7 percent and Native Americans the highest at 12.9 percent. .(http://www.k12.wa.us/DataAdmin/pubdocs/GradDropout/03-04/Graduationanddropoutstatistics2003-04Final.pdf)
Males drop out at a higher rates than females. (“Promising Programs and Practices for Dropout Prevention”, OSPI, p. 8, December 2005.
Only about half the Native American, African American and Hispanic students graduate by the end of the four-year period. (“Promising Programs and Practices for Dropout Prevention”, OSPI, p. 8, December 2005
I was looking for actual numbers of high school graduates in 2004 and 2007. Its difficult to say whether more students are attending community college or not.
It would be better to consider actual numbers of college students who are majoring in math and science careers.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, this would be true - but as this article relates community colleges are cutting back (due to the poor economy). Let's see housing prices will have to fall another 20% and then what? Did your bank pass its stress test?
ReplyDeletehttp://chronicle.com/free/v55/i20/20a02401.htm
The downturn in the economy has coincided with enrollment increases at many community colleges. Meanwhile, several states have trimmed — or even chopped — appropriations for higher education. Florida, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Tennessee have each cut financing for 2009 by at least 5 percent, according to data compiled by the Center for the Study of Education Policy, at Illinois State University. Alabama and South Carolina have reduced allocations by more than 10 percent.
Your governor is raising tuition and cutting services, that means fewer students will be attending. Also, students are weighing the costs, especially if they will need to take remedial math in college making their stay in school longer than it needed to be.
I'm not satisfied with percentages either, we need absolute numbers of graduates in 2004 and 2007. The economy was relatively calm between those years.
What sort of a technical job could you get with a AA degree and the highest math you'd had completed was intermediate algebra and something that maybe could be counted for high school geometry. Yech. Worse, no skills in programming computers, except for humbug Powerpoint users. No more dumb blonde jokes? How about college graduates with no technical skills?
ReplyDeleteI'm opening a coffee shop in Paraguay when I retire early.