Free College For All

by Demetria Halley 01/24/2020

We just had the Democratic Debate, and there have been some interesting questions from the people, particularly college students. Many students won’t know what will the job market look like when they graduate college. That is a great question and a scary outlook. Today many jobs are posted online, but many are “gig” or freelance jobs. Now we are starting to see the rise in work-at-home employment. Many of them do not have a degree requirement to qualify for these jobs. Besides, others are not asking for any skills. This is the route many of our big companies are taking because it saves them money. Then Bernie Sanders has this insane idea that free college education is the answer. I have to say No, Bernie, that is not the answer. That still deprives the poor of quality education.
So let’s break down the problem. Technology has transformed the economy, and our local school systems have not changed their way of teaching. When you visit many local school today kids are still being taught the way my mother and Grandmother was taught. Some courses such as English do not need to be taught on the computer. Neither does basic arithmetic require any technology, but this is explained in elementary school. However, complicated arithmetic, algebraic problem solving has all moved to the computer. When our student finishes college, will they still need to know how to “Find x-intercept(s) of the graph of an equation”? I learned algebra, trigonometry, and calculus I have never tried to solve any of these equations without a calculator. I have not performed any algebraic nor trigonometry equations yet alone a calculus equation. I had to later learn how to use the calculator to learn how to solve the problem because employers expect accuracy. In the real world accuracy and data interpretation is very important. I visited some of the schools, and I met some teachers in their 30’s and 40’s still are not computer literate. That is a sad reality because they grew up with computers, but their profession does not enforce use in the classroom.
I see the big problem in our school system is they do not align. What I mean by that is the curriculum does not align with the feeder schools. This force is students to have delayed learning because the school system which they were taught did not give them the tools needed to be successful. Once the students get to college, they are on a delayed learning curve to learn how to use the tools necessary to aid in their learning. The electronic devices need to be taught in early development. Next, they need to know how to interpret the data. During my time as an educator, Mrs. Bui, who was one of the Algebra teachers, stated, “The biggest problem with our student is they don’t comprehend what they read.” She also said, “When asking the question, the students cannot explain the answer because they rely on memory, not theory or logic.” They don’t understand what is being asked to solve the problem to use the correct formula. Once they chose the method that cannot interpret instead, the data is wrong because they did not understand what was asked.
Our public school system as removed physical education from school to make room for longer math classes, but the real problems are reading and comprehension. Here in the United States, public school is free, and it is not putting out the best results for our kids. So, the question again is what will free college education do for our economy. What needs to happen is our public school system needs to align with its feeder schools. Colleges are transforming their curriculum often. However, our public schools tend to focus more on the disciple of the teachers.
Although work-at-home, gig, or freelance jobs are readily available, they still have a long way to go. Poor education hurts our job market forces us to recruit outside of our borders. Right now, we have a lot of gigs, work-at-home, or freelance jobs that are servicing tasks that are not asking for skills or education. They are not paying quality wages. Even the work-at-home jobs are not paying quality wages, but this is becoming a way of doing business. When asking the millennial’s are they engaging in this gig or freelance economy? According to the college student that I spoke to at the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, the answer is no. They are seeking a career like their parents and want to retire early such as age 45 and 55. The gig economy has not taken over, but it is leaving an impression. Large companies are employing work-at-home opportunities and are seeing some success and cost-saving. Let’s regulate it before it gets out of control with unfair wages and does real damage to our workforce.