Conservatives take aim at remedial classes
by April Ozuna, reporter

    According to an article in Time Magazine, conservatives are trying to ban state funding for remedial courses in universities and even community colleges.

   Their argument is that taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually on the courses that students should have mastered in the 12th grade.

   Conservative Republicans argue that we are paying twice to teach students the fundamentals.

   According to the article, at least eight states have successfully done away with all or most remedial programs at both four- and two-year schools.

   This action is based on the theory that “the state’s flagship universities should not be teaching someone how to add fractions,” the article says.
If other states, including Texas, decide to follow that theory and practice, it will pose a threat to us all.

   College campuses consist of a very diverse group of people; not all are recent high school graduates.

   According to the National Center for Developmental Education, students over 22 years of age make up 43 percent of those who are forced to remediate.

   It is highly unlikely that a student who enters college 10 years after high school can remember how to do algebra.

   This program targets older students, physically and emotionally handicapped students and particularly students who speak English as a second language.

   “States already struggling to maintain diverse campuses in an anti-affirmative action climate will have to work around yet another obstacle to minority enrollment,” the article’s author said.

   The American experiment with mass postsecondary education began with the G.I. Bill and boomed in the 1960s with the propagation of financial aid, which made a college education available to almost any person who desired one.

   Before, only the elite were able to afford college.

   This type of program would cripple our educational system. It is unfair and impractical.

   On NE Campus alone, remedial students account for nearly one-third of the population.

   Developmental English, reading and developmental math courses are essential building blocks for a solid education.

   Although some students resent being forced to take a developmental course, one could hardly say that it does not prepare him or her for upper-division college classes.

   And how about a student who is required to take a remedial math course?

   Will he or she be successful in college algebra without having the advantage of learning the skills in a developmental course?

   The answer is no.

   Doing mathematics is like building a house. You must first start with a solid foundation before laying the bricks.

   With our recent state election, it is frightening that these right-wing conservatives may actually have their way.

   Ridding state funding for remedial courses is foolish and discriminatory because it would undoubtedly deny one-third of potential college students the right to an education.