Archive for October, 2005

I first became aware of summits and summitry when I was growing up and John Foster Dulles was the Secretary of State (yes, I am that old). Dulles practiced summitry during the Eisenhower administration when, as a nation, we had a common enemy and words like “brinksmanship” and “massive retaliation” crept into the national vocabulary.

Today, former adversaries are now allies, and the threats to our future are somewhat less nuclear.

Today, the threat we care about most at Lumina Foundation, however, is the tragic loss of human potential.

America is blessed with a cadre of “Education Governors” whose commitment to quality K-16 education continues long after their terms expire. One such leader is Gov. Bob Wise (WV), who is now speaking out from his position as president of the Alliance for Excellent Education. He offers the following observations:

With gasoline prices soaring in most parts of the country, many Americans are reminiscing about the days when gasoline was $1.50 a gallon or less. Given the combination of escalating college costs and high school classes that did not prepare them for the rigors of college, many of America’s college students are also longing to turn back the clock.

Sandy Baum, senior policy analyst for the College Board and professor of economics at Skidmore College, has submitted comments on the latest reports from the College Board. Here’s what she has to say:

This week the College Board released its annual reports, Trends in College Pricing and Trends in Student Aid, along with a supplement to their 2004 report, Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society. Together, these reports provide a comprehensive overview of how the published price of a college education has risen over time and the trend in the amount and forms of the financial aid students receive to help them pay the price. Education Pays highlights the returns to individuals and to society as a whole from the public and private investments in higher education, as well as the continuing gaps in participation and success that make an increased focus on making college education accessible and affordable to all eligible students so vital.

This week, The Chronicle of Higher Education is highlighting solutions to the rising cost of college, presented in a Lumina Foundation publication, Course corrections: Experts offer solutions to the college cost crisis.

As the nation continues to react and rebuild from the heartache and devastation of Hurricane Katrina, attention is divided between recovery and fault-finding. There is one clear consensus, however: Our country was ill-prepared, despite warning signs that were known and knowable.

No public official has demonstrated such a solid commitment to education over so long a period of time as Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr. We asked Gov. Hunt, whose Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy is breaking new ground with state leaders across the country, to weigh in on the critical issue of college costs. Here’s his contribution:

The American economy is changing at lightning speed, but our children are not being prepared to change with it. Millions of jobs that once supported families with only one parent working have gone overseas. Exciting new careers are replacing them, but this new work requires rigorous academic preparation, knowledge of complex technology, excellent communication skills, flexible intellect, extensive and wide-ranging content knowledge, and the ability to gather and synthesize the astonishing range of information available through the Internet.