The Education Business

In Inojit’s post on mypolitikal.com, featured in My Direct Democracy, we are shown a voice in the debate over education reform; specifically high-level education. Inojit begins by explaining a bill proposed by the department of Education, suggesting cutting funding on for-profit colleges with a 65% rate of student debt default and with loan payments exceeding 30% of the student’s income.  By throwing out these statistics early on, the audience is presented with neutral, yet unilateral, facts that lead the reader into coming to his/her own conclusion of the subject.  When Inojit throws out his first opinion that “those are some pretty lenient conditions”, the reader finds it as easy to agree with him as to agree with himself.  He further expands this logic by pointing out the obvious, that these schools are a failure, and adds credibility to himself as a bastion of common sense.

What strikes me about this blog is that it shows one of the finer, but important nonetheless, details of the hotly contested budget wars going on, and absurdity of many house decisions. For-profit colleges were able to get substantial support from the Republican Party, and Inojit uses this information to show how vital money is in the legislative process.  Republicans, who have endorsed cutting funding for community colleges and student loans, mysteriously support to continue spending on well lobbied for-profit colleges with abysmal track records.  At this point in the article Inojit oversteps his boundaries. While arguing about the importance of important Pell Grant, he puts words in Republican’s mouths by suggesting that they would rather spend $450 million on jet engines, which is a statement both out of context and unnecessary. 

Despite that heavy handed rhetoric, Inojit backs up the rest of his arguments clear cut logic and evidence. After showing the increasingly tough financial situation for college students, he suggests the next logic step: community college. Postured as a last refuge, community colleges seem like the most reasonable thing to funnel funding into. That is why it is so devastating when Inojit reveals that Republicans rejected a student loan reform that cut community college funding from 10 billion to 2 billion; not because it devastated the college’s budget but because it didn’t do so enough.  The author ends the article on a positive note, reminding the reader that the for-profit college reform will do good to students, but also that there is a long road ahead of us in terms of educational reform.