Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


 PAUL KRUGMAN 
10

Education Cuts Will Stunt Economy

Congress needs to get states cash to keep universities healthy

Share

(Newser) – Education has been the most important component of America's economic success over the past 150 years, writes Paul Krugman—that is public education. But after 30 years of Reaganite opposition to public spending, we've seen a "slow-motion erosion" of America's educational standing, until what we think is the "the great land of college education" actually has fallen behind many other countries in graduation rates. Current state budget crises and Congress  stripping federal aid from the stimulus package have made things dramatically worse.

Over the past five months, 143,000 jobs in state and local education have disappeared—a sobering statistic, since "education should, and normally does, keep growing even during a recession." The New York Times columnist says we're doing a lifetime's worth of damage to young Americans who only a few years ago would have used college as a springboard  to better lives. Congress needs to get more funding to state governments to keep universities afloat. "Education made America great," Krugman writes; "neglect of education can reverse the process."

One of multiple rallies on campuses of the University of California to protest budget cuts, September 24, 2009.
One of multiple rallies on campuses of the University of California to protest budget cuts, September 24, 2009.   (AP Photo / Russel A. Daniels)
Students, professors and other employees at the University of California's 10 campuses rally to protest deep budget cuts that have led to layoffs, furloughs, course reductions and higher fees.
Students, professors and other employees at the University of California's 10 campuses rally to protest deep budget cuts that have led to layoffs, furloughs, course reductions and higher fees.   (AP Photo / Russel A. Daniels)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Most people, I suspect, still have in their minds an image of America as the great land of college education. But these days young Americans are considerably less likely than young people in many other countries to graduate from college. -

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
11.19.09
Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention
10 comments
VIEWING:
 
jamerican
Oct 9, 09 9:35 AM CDT
Education did make America great. When I went to school there was discipline and you had to work for your grades. Everyone in America knows that most of our public schools are full of noncaring babysitting teachers who really don't want to be there and don't care about the students. We keep passing dumb lazy students to the next grade and the entire system suffers. Hell...we have students graduate from high school who can't speak or read the English language, but somehow they get through our great liberal education system. Get discipline back in the school where the students respect the teachers and give the teachers authority to kick students out who don't want to learn. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+4
IN RESPONSE:
doingtherightthing
Oct 9, 09 10:48 AM CDT
this article has a hidden meaning......scare tactic...the teachers union is the kids problem. They've thrown out the three "R's" . Also, they teach nothing about values and respect. Until the teachers take back the schools and kick out the unions, this chaos will continue. I'll support education when Obama's teachers unions are dismantled. Special education for those kids that disrupt......a smack between the eyes......corporal punishment.......threats work for young minds........
Vote up! Vote down!
-5
IN RESPONSE:
RockyPneumonia
Oct 9, 09 11:25 AM CDT
Watch what you ask for, Jay; every study shows that the better-educated a person is, the more likely s/he is to vote liberal. doingtherightthing, surely you know that teachers don't set the curriculum; school boards do. You knew that, right? ...And special education as a punishment is just a bad idea in every way, especially from the point-of-view of those students who need the special ed. courses.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
IndependentThinker
Oct 9, 09 11:30 AM CDT
IT is not the unions that cause the problems, it is the school board. They tie the hands of administration from making changes to policy that would crack down on stupid kids acting out. They make deans and principals fear for their jobs (cause they have no unions) and appease the jackasses on the board that are just there to sept to a higher office. The more swooping changes a board member can make the more PR he gets, good or bad people hear the name. Disciple lacks because they cannot punish the bad eggs because the board will not support them. I know this from personal experience, both my parents were teachers for 10+ years then Dean/Principles for 20+ years. I have seen what they had to deal with, I have seen the opposition in person. Policy handed down from above with no clue, no connection, no real life experience.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
emptycalm
Oct 9, 09 11:33 AM CDT
@dont: The teachers union has nothing to do with the decline in education. Do you know how much teachers get paid? If they didn't have a union they'd probably get paid even less and in turn, care even less about their jobs. This has to do with lack of funding. You just spew rhetoric and have no understanding of what a union is. The fact that you're against all unions regardless of what they do shows your ignorance to the situation.
Vote up! Vote down!
0

View all 10 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

38 Stories

PAUL KRUGMAN

Dems Will Regret Not Being Bolder on Economy

Voter backlash is about failure to lower unemployment

Nov 6, 09 6:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Paul Krugman doesn't buy the GOP conclusion that voters Tuesday rejected the Obama agenda. The election just showed that American voters are worried about their jobs, he writes, and this time next year, with unemployment still high, Democrats will likely regret not having been bolder on the economy when... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • unemployment • US economy • Paul Krugman • economic stimulus package • Obama administration • President Obama • election day November 2009

OPINION

 Recession's Over, 
Need for More Stimulus Isn't

Job market needs big improvements now to avoid a troubled future

Oct 2, 09 6:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - The recession may technically be over but that's no reason for policymakers to start hanging up "Mission Accomplished" banners, writes Paul Krugman. Getting complacent about the state of the economy will result in a vast amount of human misery, he says, because the job market is still terrible and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • US economy • Paul Krugman • economic stimulus package

OPINION

 Why Stimulus Gets a Bad Rap 


Aug 20, 09 10:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Democrats’ $787 billion stimulus package is less popular than ever—even though it’s already working, writes David Wessel for the Wall Street Journal. The case against it is weak: Fed rate cuts hadn’t slowed the recession, already a year-old at that point, making the stimulus an... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nancy Pelosi • Barack Obama • recession • infrastructure • economic stimulus package • financial crisis • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

38 Stories


Politics  •  Opinion 
TwitterFollow @NewserPolitics on Twitter

 
education • university • Paul Krugman • colleges and universities • economic stimulus package • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

from our news partners