Inside Higher Ed
January 25, 2005
No Children Left Behind -- Unless
They're Poor
By Arnold L. Mitchem
<mailto:Arnold.mitchem@coenet.us>
How short-sighted can this
administration be?
Answer: terribly and tragically.
In the
2006 federal budget he will release in early February, President
Bush is
expected to propose killing off two programs, Upward Bound and
Talent
Search, that have helped millions of disadvantaged students
prepare for
college. This makes no long-term economic sense.
More than 1,400
Upward Bound and Talent Search programs in communities
and on college
campuses across the country help about 450,000 middle and
high school
students from poor families set their sights on higher
education. Upward
Bound also serves about 5,000 veterans, supporting
their needs for
postsecondary education and retraining after military
service.
These
programs help at-risk participants become productive members of
society.
After all, education is the ticket to economic success in this
country.
Upward Bound and Talent Search alumni include members of
Congress, judges,
doctors, corporate leaders and college administrators.
We measure our
success student by student, taxpayer by taxpayer.
The administration
says these programs have been ineffective, but its
efforts to measure their
value have been highly flawed. An Office of
Management and Budget review of
Upward Bound, for example, penalized the
program because the U.S.
Department of Education was and is behind
schedule in analyzing the data
submitted by Upward Bound programs. You
need timely data to determine
whether or not the students we serve went
on to college. Without it, you
have mush.
But the administration does not seem motivated to conduct
or commission
fair analyses of TRIO programs. Instead, the goal is to
eliminate Upward
Bound and Talent Search and redirect the funding to expand
the
President's No Child Left Behind initiative to high schools.
Of
course we applaud the desire to improve high school education for
all. But
can we assume that instituting national standards and testing
for every
American high school will be an adequate substitute for
one-on-one academic
support and counseling for our most disadvantaged
students? Not
likely.
Is it rational or reasonable to fund a broad-based initiative
to enhance
high school teaching and learning on the backs of our
neediest,
least-prepared students? Absolutely not.
To eliminate
two programs serving students from families with annual
incomes of under
$28,000 smacks of short-term political gain and
long-term economic pain. It
is our most fervent hope that Congressional
Republicans and Democrats will
see through this political sleight of hand.
Over the next few months,
my organization, the Council for Opportunity
In Education, and other
advocates for the programs will take our case to
Congress. Our political
representatives in Washington will hear from
students like Bani Pineda of
East Los Angeles and Kiesha Shelton of Fort
Worth, Tex. "Talent Search
has given me the tools to realize my dream,"
says Bani. Upward Bound
"helped me unquestionably defy the odds," says
Keisha.
Upward
Bound and Talent Search have helped generations of middle and
high school
students like Keisha and Bani prepare for, obtain admission
to and enroll
in college or other postsecondary education. I call on
college and K-12
educational leaders across the country to acknowledge
the contributions of
these programs and to help us stave off their
elimination.
Arnold
L. Mitchem is president of the Council for Opportunity in
Education, which
lobbies on behalf of the TRIO programs for low-income
students, including
Upward Bound and Talent Search.
Comments
Upward
Bound/Talent Search
I was part of Talent Search in high school and had
it not been for the
wonderful lady that worked with me, I wouldn't have
been able to go to
college. Once in college, I worked with the Upward Bound
program for
three summers. Those kids are willing to give up six weeks of
their
summer to learn, to get ahead, so they too can go to college. Doing
away
with those programs would save money, but it would hurt the high
school
kids, with little to no chance of going on to college, tremendously.
I
watched this program impact lives of kids for three years, and I know
how
it impacted mine. I would hate to see something this wonderful get
thrown
away.
Mattea Cosmann, at 11:13 am on January 28, 2005
The
discontinuance of Upward Bound and Talent Search would prevent
deserving
students from exposure to exemplary professionals on a college
campus. This
is an invaluable experience that would no longer be
afforded to urban youth
in a city such as Washington, DC. The
residential experience of the Upward
Bound summer program motivates many
youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to
believe that college is within
their reach. TRIO is also an important
stimulant in developin the
students' comfort level with environments other
than their own. The
decision to eliminate Upward Bound and Talent Search
will have dire
consequences and result in a 55% cut of the total TRIO
budget as well as
a reduction of 188,000 students from low-income
backgrounds being left
without the support they need to succeed. The
programs were designed in
1965 to help low-income students overcome the
barriers they faced enter
and graduate from college. In 2005, they are
still needed to help
students from low-income backgrounds.
Joseph
E. Bell, Director, TRIO Programs at Howard University , at 2:01
pm on
February 1, 2005
Education is Priceless
I
think of why a program like this would even be considered for removal
when
the affect of it is so obvious, but I remember that America has
changed.
There was a time when an education was priceless, but now we
put a dollar
sign on everything. What President Bush is telling us, by
us I mean those
underpriviledged kids he says are not being helped, is
that the value of
saving money is more important than us receiving help
to further our
education and ultimately save our lives. I wonder what he
thinks happens to
all those at risk youth when these programs are
closed, what does he think
will happen to the crime rates over the
summers. Those six week summer
programs have saved some kid's lives by
giving something to do other than
walk the streets day and night looking
for trouble. Not to mention showing
them that there is so much more
beyond the walls of their city. The first
plane I ever went on was with
Upward Bound. Not only trips but the actual
one on one counseling. I
remember when I gave up my senior year, I didn't
think I could do it,
and if no one had intervened I probrobably wouldn't
have. The Upward
Bound counselors got involved called in my parent's and
with their help
I got back on track and eventually graduated. I am now
finishing my
second year of college, I am the President of a student club,
and the
leadership coordinator of another, I manage an average of 16
credits
while holding down two campus jobs. I can't tell you how much this
has
helped me, I don't know where I would be right now if it weren't for
Upward
Bound. The program is invaluable!
TaRee Glenn-Avery , Upward Bound
Participant at Youngstown State
University, at 9:57 am on February 7, 2005
I
have been a member of Upward Bound since 2001, my freshman year of
high
school. My guidance counselor highly recommended me to the program,
due to
my social experiences. I was, and have never been, popular with
my fellow
peers. At Upward Bound, I was accepted for my opinions.
Academically,
I was challenged by the program. I have always retained a
strong GPA, but
Upward Bound helped me focus on moving from a barely
making be Honor Roll
to making A.
I have always wanted to be a writer, but I lacked the
self-confidence to
go to college for the major of English Composition. I
decided that I
would instead become a teacher. Although an extremely
important
profession, I would have never been happy with myself. My
freshman year
of college I will start earning my English Composition major.
I will
spend one year in a small community college, and then transfer to
New
York City. While continuing my secondary education, I will also work on
getting
my work published.
Without Upward Bound I don't think I would have had
the courage or the
strength to fight for this. My stepmother is still
trying to convince
that I will fall flat on my face. Without Upward Bound I
probably would
have listened. Thanks to Upward Bound and my fantastic
Central Staff, I
will never listen to that; I will achieve my full
potential.
If Bush wins my class, the class of 2005, will be the last
Upward Bound
graduates ever. My brother is a freshman and just started the
program.
My best friend is a junior and is in Educational Talent Search.
This
can't be allowed. I am writing to my senators and representatives. I
encourage
you all to do the same.
Danielle Selders, Upward Bound Changed Me at
Northwest Missouri State
University, at 3:08 pm on February 7, 2005
We CAN NOT LET
THIS HAPPEN!!!
This is the second time that Upward Bound has been
threatened to be
eliminated. This is rediculous!! Upward Bound is a program
that has
offered opportunity to students in a way that could never be
realized in
any classroom setting, after-school program, tutoring session,
or
extra-curricular activity, and to think that putting that money into
public
schools will make life any better for high school students is a
fallacy!
But im sure that this cut will help high school students in
overpriveledged
prodominately white schools. This effort seeks to take
opportunity away
from students who need it the most to give it to
students who need it the
least. From a budgetary perspective it isn't
even a smart financial move to
take money away from Upward Bound because
that money would not make a
difference in the no child left behind
program. In fact, as a result of
this measure, more children will be
left behind. It is because of Upward
Bound that students like me were
able to put their foots in the door to
create access to higher education
that would have otherwise been denied in
the decrepid state of the
current public education system. And to say that
when they cut Upward
Bound that the money will go to public high schools is
a lie! Any money
that the school systems get are squandared away with
vouchers,
mismanagement, charter contracts, and dirty politicians. More
students
left behind. We must take action to stop this measure! What will
become
of our communities if access to higher education is cut off? Upward
Bound
is the essence of affirmative action, and if we let Upward Bound
be cut, we
let our communities settle with second tier, second class
citizenship.
Kevin
Horton, This is rediculous at Howard University Student and Upward
Bound
Graduate, at 3:47 pm on February 10, 2005
Upward Bound
I
was invited to be an Upward Bound student in 1967, when I was a 15
year old
high school junior. Part of my qualifications involved my
health problems
(I'd missed my entire 10th grade, due to illness). I
also easily qualified
because I was a member of a "working poor" family.
I attended the
UB summer programs at Trenton State College in 1967 and
1968.UB kept me
focused on college and my future.I immigrated to the US
from Ireland with
my parents in the late '50s. I am the first person to
even *attend* high
school in my family.Today, I am a community college
professor, teaching
engineering. It's obvious why programs like Upward
Bound are in the
crosshairs of our present administration. The President
has no knowledge or
interest in the notion of folks who pull themselves
up by their own
bootstraps. His "silver-spoon" heritage has give him
myopia when
it comes to understanding the working class.Mr. Bush's has
little interest
in progams that do not directly benefit his "base".
Nial
McCabe <http://www.ccm.edu>, Prof at CCM / NJ, at 5:48 am on
February
14, 2005
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