Harry Targ
Paradoxically,
we on the left (compared with the 1960s) give inadequate attention to higher
education, a source for training workers, transmitting ideology, employing
hundreds of thousands of workers both instructional and support, and the
generation of profits for corporations as higher education is privatized. Many
communities survive because of the colleges and universities in their midst,
much like factories and mines kept many communities alive economically in the
twentieth century. As with everything else, the pandemic raises fundamental
questions about our economy, our institutions and our public policies. Ht
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The New York Times article, posted on FB. raises questions about leadership at colleges and universities and the criteria that were used to open campuses and shut them down for Thanksgiving vacations (with students returning to their homes).
Tracking the
Coronavirus at U.S. Colleges and Universities - The New York Times
(nytimes.com)
PS. To the extent that financial viability has been a driver of the response of higher education to the pandemic, federal financial policies to maintain the viability of such institutions during the crisis, such as continuing to provide salaries, research support, transfer to online programs etc., should have been encouraged. Instead, CEOs of universities and politicians live by an ideology of “balanced budgets,” (except for military spending). Without “looking outside the box,” the fiscal crisis of higher education and the pandemic are insoluble.
