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On Wednesday, in the aftermath of sweeping Republican victories in the House, President Obama said that education and research will continue to be high priorities for his administration. Well, at least he’ll try. At his “solemn and contrite” press conference he explained,
We already had a big deficit that I inherited, and that has been made worse because of the recession. As we bring it down, I want to make sure that we’re not cutting into education that is going to help define whether or not we can compete around the world. I don’t think we should be cutting back on research and development, because if we can develop new technologies in areas like clean energy, that could make all the difference in terms of job creation here at home.
Meanwhile, over at the New America Foundation, Stephen Burd points out that many Republicans campaigned on a promise to reduce government spending. “In terms of higher education policy, are they willing to face the political fallout that would inevitably accompany any plan to roll back the maximum Pell Grant award?” Burd asks. Well they might.
In order to keep Pell Grant spending at its current level, $17.5 billion, Congress would have to reduce the maximum award by almost $900 a student. That would save the government some money, but it probably won’t be a good way to “help define whether or not we can compete around the world.” [Image via]
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Truthbuster on November 06, 2010 12:57 AM:
Cut progress made by President Obama in college loan reform and Pell Grants, at a time when US is losing ground and urgently needs to increase college graduation rates to increase its diminishing competitive leadership of the global marketplace??
US is no longer the world leader in educational attainment or college graduation, having lost ground over the last decade. In fact, US has fallen behind countries like Russia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.
To roll back the reforms & investment made by President Obama, who understands the necessity of investing in higher education in order to move the country forward, just so that the Bush tax cuts can be extended to rich and very rich Americans, would be an ignominious, short-sighted act on behalf of Republicans.