MAJOR CHANGES REQUIRED

MAJOR CHANGES REQUIRED

"Reforms overdue" is the main leitmotif of the 75th annual EWA (Education Writers Association) national seminar, which I participated in.

Yes, they are ripe both in the school system of education, and in the system of college and university education, and in the system of vocational education (various courses and educational institutions offering to acquire a profession in a period of several months to two years), and they must be carried out immediately if we we want the United States to continue to be the leading scientific, technological, industrial, financial, military and humanitarian world power. In this article, I will talk about some of the most pressing issues of education that were discussed at the EWA seminar.
The first question is about forgiveness of student tuition debts. Probably, each of us resented those incredible bills that come after visiting lawyers, doctors (in the absence of medical insurance), a highly qualified financial consultant or accountant (CPA). Meanwhile, many of them are forced to charge mind-boggling fees for their work in order to pay for their studies in colleges, law and medical schools, and various continuing education courses. Loans of hundreds of thousands of dollars hang like a sword of Damocles for half a lifetime or more over the holders of the most prestigious professions, and every year these amounts are increasing.
And in order to pay off, you have to "rip off" your customers, this is the harsh truth of life. Even getting a profession in a one-year educational institution (for example, medical technician, medical assistant) costs several tens of thousands of dollars and does not guarantee getting a job. And many graduates of Liberal Arts Colleges and similar educational institutions cannot find a job in their specialty for years at all, and they have to pay for their studies monthly, moonlighting in supermarkets, restaurants or taxis. Some, unable to withstand the pressure, declare themselves bankrupt, spoiling their credit history for many years. In short, the payment system for higher and vocational education needs urgent reform, and former students who cannot cope with paying insane education bills (which prevented many of them from even finding work in their specialty) need state assistance. The first steps in this direction have already been taken or planned. According to a press release from the USDepartment of Education, the Biden administration, in a special act dated 07.26.2022, approved the cancellation of $27 billion in loans from 1.4 million former students, primarily deceived by educational institutions and unable to get a job in their specialty. According to the respected POLITICO magazine, the Biden administration has various other plans to make life easier for former graduates who find themselves in a difficult situation due to the crisis caused by the pandemic and the subsequent recession, in particular, to write off $ 10,000 from their loans. But all these measures are clearly not enough, cardinal changes are required, which are very difficult to decide on in a free American market.
Second question. Despite the fact that sex with minors is considered a felony in the United States, the pregnancy of schoolgirls is
far from rare in our country. This is especially true for girls from dysfunctional and low-income families, in which they do not give a damn about their health, family responsibilities, and the law. Once pregnant, some decide to keep the child (for religious reasons, fear of never having children again, or simply counting on additional money from welfare in the future), but most prefer to have an abortion in order to "not ruin their youth", continue their education in college and pursue a career without any extra problems. But if before the scandalous decision of the Supreme Court on abortion, this did not present great difficulties, now in almost half of the states it has become impossible. And if parents from wealthy families can bear the cost and take their daughter to another democratic state, then schoolgirls from the dysfunctional families mentioned above do not have such support and are forced either to raise unloved children in the future, or to take them to an orphanage (worse options are also possible). ). This new problem has worried journalists, but so far the only (far from new) proposal is to improve the sexual education of adolescents at school, since modern contraceptives make it possible to almost 100% avoid undesirable consequences.

Marina Lagunova