When cuts in government spending are not wise | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Article IX of the North Carolina Constitution provides:

    Sec. 9. Benefits of public institutions of higher education.

         The General Assembly shall provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other         public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of         expense.

    We know of no one more in favor of reducing government spending and lowering taxes than are we. But there is a point sometimes beyond which we should never go. More importantly, it is a question of priorities. It is unwise to keep wasteful programs while you cut those that will produce significant returns down the road. The last two sessions of the egislature, both under Democrat and Republican control have gone beyond that point at least twice and eliminated the fertilizer for future growth.

    The first was when the Democrat-controlled Legislature drastically reduced appropriations of "dual enrollment" programs in North Carolina. Now they have continued that trend, cutting those programs even more, signaling, what we assume, is the intent of eliminating them.

    The second is the Republican-controlled Legislature's move to cut and gradually eliminate the Teaching Fellows Program.

    The dual enrollment programs allow high school students to take courses at a local community college and receive credit toward their high school diploma as well as toward a two-year college degree. The Teaching Fellows program is a scholarship program that awards four-year scholarships to students who commit to becoming teachers after graduation.

    Of course neither program is without some glitches and both could stand some reform, but it is a very unwise move for the state to eliminate them. In fact the state should be expanding them.

    For example, one reason it is a bad idea to abandon the dual enrollment programs is that the state can educate high school students cheaper in the community college system than it can do in four-year institutions. In fact, we think the state should be moving to convert most of the four-year institutions to two-year undergraduate institutions and have all students taught in the community college system their freshman and sophomore years. There are a number of reasons this would be a good move, not the least of which is that it would raise the level of maturity of students at our universities. It would allow our universities to focus on advance undergraduate and graduate programs. But the major reason is that it is a more economically efficient model.

    As for the Teaching Fellows program we believe it is one of the best programs the state has ever created to recruit public school teachers. A state policy that seeks to enroll our best and brightest high school graduates in a program that has them teach for four years, at least, is not only efficient but a sound approach educationally. We could even make a case that teaching for a few years is a real advantage to those students who go into other professionals later.

    Those of us who have taught know first hand that you learn much more from teaching something than you do by sitting in a classroom as a student.

    While we risk the wrath of some of our colleagues, we will suggest that having a cadre of young teachers is better than having more teachers with 20+ years of experience. All too often too many of those "experienced" teachers have one year of experience twenty times. In other words, longevity does not necessarily equate to quality in teaching. "Controlled turnover," can be an asset. The schools benefit from having an appropriate balance of "new blood" and experienced career teachers.

    But the major reason we support the Teaching Fellows program is that we believe our founding fathers showed infinite wisdom when they established the concept that higher education should be "free," just like public schooling is "free."

    Certainly, not everyone should get a four-year degree. But there is a segment of the population that should. They will benefit and so will the state and society from programs such as the Teaching Fellows program. And that gate to a four-year degree should not be guarded by money. But the implementation of the concept of a "free" university education should not be to simply make it free for everyone. It should be "earned" and the Teacher Fellows is built on that conceptual foundation. You earn your degree not only by passing courses but you earn it by teaching others. That's a worthwhile concept for the state to pursue.

    The next session of the General Assembly should correct these errors and fully fund the dual enrollment programs and the Teaching Fellows Program, and then proceed to expand both.

    Delma Blinson writes the "Teacher's Desk" column for our friend in the local publishing business: The Beaufort Observer. His concentration is in the area of his expertise - the education of our youth. He is a former teacher, principal, superintendent and university professor.