Internet broadband or a "slip deeper into a death spiral," sayeth John Brummett in regards to our state public education system in his July 29 column. Sounds chilling.
Call me a dinosaur, but over two decades ago--yes, two decades--I attended a then-rural school district. As archaic as it sounds, we had these people we called teachers and administrators. Crazily enough, they weren't in a union, and actually considered their positions a calling, not a job, and taught and cared and, when necessary, even disciplined, God forbid.
Even in that then-rural school, we had this thing we called a library. Yes, big rooms filled with books and research materials on paper, insane as that sounds. We were forced to look things up, read material, cite sources for research papers, and learn--not copy and paste--material and subjects.
So I get where Brummett is coming from: None of that was fast, and unlike expanded Internet broadband, didn't help us text, Twitter, Instagram, or master PlayStation.
The amazing thing about the ol' encyclopedia, though, was that in researching storms, you had to wade through snakes and states and everything in between. Imagine if, instead of "Googling" a subject, a child actually got interested in something else and found a life calling.
Again, however, Brummett points out how far behind the times I've apparently regressed: "Nothing could help a disadvantaged rural child catch up with the world faster" than Internet broadband.
Still not sure why Brummett thinks it would help the disadvantaged rural child more than the disadvantaged urban one, but oh well.
See, silly me, I remember a time when involved parents (rural and otherwise) filled that gap by doing homework and projects with their children, meeting regularly with their teachers, etc. Think of all the time and money my parents could have saved--all those wasted trips to the museum, public library, zoo, parks and athletic leagues.
If only we had access to expanded broadband Internet back then. Surely, Mr. Brummett, we can get them a refund? Some money back?
Money, thankfully, is apparently never an issue with John. "Federal aid is available," he writes. Because "federal" money is free, isn't it, John? As he has seemed to opine on other issues, such as the private option from our state in accordance with the Affordable Care Act, if the money comes from the federal government, it must be free--no one's children or grandchildren ever have to pay that back, right?
For the sake of assumption, let us then assume this broadband Internet theory will enlighten and enable young Arkansans, better preparing them for a higher college-level education. As guest writer Clint Vogus pointed out: "Since 1980 the cost of a college education has increased by 252 percent, while the median family income has increased by only 121.7 percent."
Vogus then went on to note tuition and fees have increased by 121 percent, while U.S. household average income has fallen from $54,892 to $51,017 in only six years. The default rate on student loans is now at 14 percent.
College degrees are not unlike the U.S. dollar in that the more that are printed, the less value they have. Attach debt to that and they're worth even less.
And make no mistake, colleges have become businesses much more than they've remained institutions. A large portion of 18-year-olds simply aren't ready from a maturation and discipline standpoint--no matter their intellect, test scores, or grades--for college. I certainly wasn't. And expanded broadband Internet won't change that.
My last point will prove I'm as ignorant as I've professed to be and have sounded: Education should be a priority in our state. Yet learning should be as well, and while the pair can work dually, they are not the same thing.
Money and fiber optics might endear themselves to the former, but perhaps not the latter.
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Anthony Lloyd of Hot Springs is the owner of Factory Direct Furniture.
Editorial on 08/09/2014