EDUCATION: Do the math, folks

Numbers often inform.

Let’s consider two sets of numbers: 80.4 percent and 69.0 percent versus 28.1 percent and 25.7 percent.

These figures are from a study conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education, arguably the leading periodical on higher education in America. The study, College Completion: Who graduates from college, who doesn’t, and why it matters measured, in 2010, the graduation rates of public, private, academic and professional/technical programs on a state-by-state basis throughout the nation. The figures above are the statistical compilation of students seeking a four-year degree who finish their degree by the end of six years.

There are times when making a clear connection between consequences and neglect (or inaction) are very difficult to make. Then, there are times when the connection can no longer be ignored; the connection is clear and the cost of pretending that no causal relationship exists between the two becomes foolish.

Out of the 50 states, Idaho ranks dead last in total school funding. The leaders in our government assure us that they are committed to providing a quality education for all students in Idaho, but the fruit of their policies simply do not measure up to their lofty statements. As evidence for this, the Republican party in our state is currently supporting a candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction who does not vote, “misremembers” her graduate degree achievements and plans, alludes to receiving educational awards that she never won, and who was called “just almost clueless” by the former Republican State Superintendent Jerry Evans. While I most generally vote Republican, I’ll cast my vote for the other side on this one.

What about those figures above? The first two figures are the six-year graduation rates at the University of Washington and Washington State University; the two largest public universities in Washington. The second set of figures? These represent the six-year graduation rates at Boise State University (my alma mater) and Idaho State University, the two largest (in terms of enrollment) public universities in Idaho. There is a price for being last and our students are paying it.

It’s time that our state legislators work to fulfill the spirit of Article IX of the Idaho Constitution and fully fund basic education.

DAN OSTER

Athol