© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “Stupid
is as stupid does.” Forest Gump
Sometimes there is a fine line
between genius and stupid so it’s hard to know which it is. But with New Mexico
the mantra for the state is: let’s always do the stupid thing. Shuckins.
In a state dead last in education it
would seem to call for a change, but no. In a state that is the only state in
the Sun Belt to be losing citizens it would seem to call for a change, but no.
In a state with institutions of higher learning losing students it would seem
to call for a change, alas, but no.
Let’s start with the colleges. Most
have been having financial difficulties because their student population is
dropping. Concurrently that have raised the cost of attendance dramatically. At
New Mexico State University in 1993 the cost of Tuition and Fees was under $600
a semester. Twenty-five years later it is around $3,000 a semester.
This is important since some jobs
will only pay about $18,000 a year. The cost of getting a degree becomes a
limiting factor. Certainly not so with Electrical Engineers but when five years
cost $6,000 in tuition and fees, any degree was fine. Make that cost $30,000
and some graduates will have trouble making ends meet.
The population at these colleges is
dropping. That should signal to drop the cost of tuition and fees to get
students back. Instead, they are raising the cost of attendance. It isn’t smart
to be that stupid.
In a state that is in a budget
crisis because oil and gas is much lower and the state is losing businesses and
citizens the idea of increasing taxes should be labeled as a stupid thing to
do. But no, that is the solution which of course won’t work long because more
businesses and citizens will leave the state. Sad.
Finally, in education all of the
high powered smart people who have screwed up the New Mexico public schools are
doubling down on bad advice. Again sad. What the public schools need to do is
release so much administration and experts while going back to the teachers.
The research is compelling that all
of these supposedly new programs are nothing but educational fads which have
not worked in the past, will not work now and sadly, when the experts try to
use them in the future they will not work then. Over the last fifty years there
are many fads that experts bring back to not work again.
New Mexico has many very smart
people but the leaders are not listening. To get students back in New Mexico
colleges these colleges must be student centered. They are administration
centered now and that why every solution does not work. Same in the legislature
and in the public schools.
After the next few years of stuff
not working could we have a moratorium of stupid in the state? Just a few years
of doing intelligent things would be so welcome.
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