OT: Degrees and Certifications

[DataDoIt]

|-----Original Message-----
|From: filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com 
|[mailto:filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com] On Behalf Of 
|Jay R. Ashworth
|Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 10:33 AM
|To: 'filePro Mailing List'
|Subject: Re: OT: Degrees and Certifications
|
|On Wed, Mar 16, 2005 at 10:28:31AM -0500, Fairlight wrote:
|> Thanks for the insight though.  It starts to explain the "why" bit 
|> that I've wondered about for years.  I appreciate your 
|taking the time 
|> to detail it!
|
|And, amazingly, it concurs semi-exactly with what I've been saying for
|years:  A college degree is proof that you had the gumption to 
|sit through 4 years of college, and were smart enough to give 
|them what they wanted.
|
|It *still* doesn't mean much about what someone wants you to 
|do, unless it's teach the subject you were studying, but it's 
|not *totally* worthless.  :-)
|
|Cheers,
|-- jra
----------------------------

The oxymoron today, though, is that it's become seemingly more than just
gumption and intelligence.  It's become a measure of economic status, and
thus the perception that if you have money, then you're apparently smarter.

Higher education today is simply getting too expensive for most Americans to
afford.  In addition, the options that low income kids have for getting an
education seem to also be dwindling.  Our social class statuses are growing
farther and farther apart - those with money, and those without; those with
an education, and those without.  The stats on this are staggering, and thus
ultimately stymie our country as a whole - we ALL ultimately end up paying
in some fashion.

One of the things we fight here in Florida on a daily basis is giving low
income parents the same options and opportunities as those with money
through the school choice/voucher program.  The public school system in FL
has similar success and failure ratios as the social-economic demographics.
Ie: if you live in a poor neighborhood, you likely have a horrifically
performing school.  If you live in a median income neighborhood, your school
likely performs well (as measured by the federal No Child Left Behind
guidelines).  The school choice program allows parents the opportunity to
send their child to a school outside of their neighborhood - in essence a
better performing school (public or private).  Without options, tens of
thousands of kids are coming out of the Florida HS system barely literate,
and thus unable to either perform at the higher education level, or can't
afford it because there aren't many scholarship or grant programs available
for 'average' students.

Anyhoot, bottom line is I just believe the whole degree prejudism we're
discussing is attributed more to economic rather than educational status.
If you don't have a degree, then you must be poor.  And if you're poor, then
you must be stupid.  Pretty stupid huh?  :)

-MikeR