Bricks and Brains

What you have heard: The feds earmarked over $2 Billion in money for infrastructure (remember the NINJAS?) renewal projects on university and college campuses across Canada. 

What they didn't tell you: If a university or college wants to spend some of that money, their provincial government must match the funding in a 1:1 ratio with the money from the feds. 

First the Atlantic Accord, now this. It looks good on paper, until you read the fine print and realize that Atlantic Canada (surprise, surprise) gets the shaft again. This funding formula obviously favours the wealthier provinces that can arguably afford the NINJA upgrades regardless, BUT its a recession - code for spend yourselves into debt! 

Where will Rodney spend? Provincial Finance Minister Michael Baker reacted yesterday by saying education infrastructure will be a priority in their upcoming budget. BUT, the Liberals and NDP are all geared up for a spring election - so chances are the provincial budget will not pass when it goes to the legislature. The upside of this is education may become an election issue again, the downside being that political posturing will take priority for provincial powerfuls while real issues like this one remain untouched for months. 

Budget Boost

Transport minister John Baird made the following anouncements today regarding infrastructure spending in the upcoming federal budget: 

$4 billion for an infrastructure stimulus fund to help provinces, territories and municipalities.

$2 billion for repairs and construction of colleges and universities.

$1 billion for sustainable green infrastructure projects.

"Students are impressed that the government has recognized the importance of investing in PSE infrastructure," said Zach Churchill, National Director othe Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. "The question for tomorrow's budget is how this money is going to be delivered and whether or not it will

simply displace pre-existing funding."

CASA was the only national student advocacy group calling for investments in infrastructure in the upcoming budget.

Zach also made a good point in his blog when he points out that none of our elected officials are talking about making room for more seats in colleges in universities across Canada. We can throw money at a problem, but without a skilled workforce, we're going to continue suffering from a skilled labour shortage.

 In addition to infrastructure spending, CASA is recommending that the following actions be taken as a part of the 2009 federal budget: 

a one-time, earmarked transfer to the provinces for PSE to offset freezes or claw-backs in provincial PSE funding
Provide temporary targeted grants to counterbalance the difficulties students and their families may face in finding the means to afford post-secondary education
Extend the Interest Relief period for Canada Student Loans from the current 6 months, to 9 months

These are the hands... what are we gonna build with them?

Infrastructure. I've been dreading doing this blog. Its an issue at the heart of the economic crisis, that needs to be discussed. But my goodness infrastructure is a boring word. So, for the rest of this blog I'm going to use the word NINJAS everytime I would normally use the I-word, and the word KARATE-CHOP instead of accumulated deferred maintenance, another boring term.  The federal budget comes out on Tuesday, and it looks as if we will have a major investment in infrastructure, where exactly has yet to be determined. 

If you've spent anytime in Atlantic universities, you will know that there are some serious problems with the NINJAS we have and there are quite a few KARATE-CHOPS that need to be repaired. Blame it on poor planning on the part of university administrators or on provincial governments, but we've got our selves in a crummy situation and the 

NINJAS are falling apart. 

Universities' operating budgets are suffering this year - no one is really sure how the economic crisis will affect enrollments, and interest driven investments aren't generating the same revenues they have in years past. Dalhousie would be set to run an $ 3.7 Million deficit if we were to do everything we did last year (more or less), maintain enrollment, and complete the bare minimum of KARATE-CHOP work. The Dalhousie administration has asked the provincial and federal governments for hundreds of millions of dollars in NINJA funding to solve the KARATE-CHOP problem, and build even more NINJAS. 

Unfortunately, any money from the feds will likely be given directly to the province to decide how best to spend it. Past NINJA spending has been spent primarily on highways and road building.  Dalhousie President Tom Traves aptly put it, our governments then face the dilemna of investing in brains versus investing in asphalt. 

 

Simply put, roads will only take us where we've already been. Nova Scotia's politicians will always talk about highways and hospitals when put on the podium.  But as the old adage says, ' if you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you've always got'. And what does Nova Scotia have now? An aging population that is set to retire in near plurality over the next 8 years, a young population that is migrating to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Yet will still offer one of the most boastful set of universities and colleges in Canada. 

So lets send some of that NINJA funding towards the universities of Atlantic Canada and get KARATE-CHOPS out of our PSE sysem for good. Create jobs in Nova Scotia that can compete with the high paying jobs in the west and give the university administrators a reason to stop worrying about their buildings falling apart and focus their efforts on creating and maintaining the highest quality education possible. 

Time to lead...

It's no secret that I'm an Obama fan. I started out as a Kucinich fan (big dreams, lots of pockets),  and then became an Edwards fan, and then got bounced to Obama. 

Why Obama? Because he gets people excited about politics. Regardless of the policy stances he's taken on several controversial issues, he is able to use his candour and gravitas to bring people together and get them excited about politics, even when they might disagree with him. 

Isn't this blog about education? 

Barack Obama (Senior) came to America from Kenya.  He was a bright student, self driven, academically capable, but encountered financial barriers in trying to enter the higher education system. He began writing letters to American universities asking for admission and scholarship, and eventually The University of Hawiaii agreed to give him an education. He would here continue his education and father Barack. 

Barack himself funded his university career on student loans. Barack and Michelle only recently paid off their remaining student loans after becoming elected to the United States Senate in 2004 and becoming a bestselling author. 

So what's his pledge to students?

Barack Obama will reform No Child Left Behind:

• Obama and Biden believe teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests and he will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college.
  

ans:Invest in early childhood education:

• The Obama-Biden comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. And they will help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.
  

I would argue that these first two promises are as important (if not more important) than the final promise. With a public school system as good as the one we have throughout most of Canada, we can't begin to imagine the work that needs to be done before we can fully consider making it possible for every capable American high school graduate to obtain a higher education. 

• Obama and Biden will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4,000 in exchange for community service. It will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students.
  

Three small promises, that will arguably have resounding affects on the next generation. I haven't studied american education policy, and the context is certainly very different. 

Hope for Education

Sometimes I catch myself drifting away from the importance of higher education and wonder if I should be focusing my efforts elsewhere. But the Obama story is inspiring for more reasons than unity.  Within the student advocacy movement we talk alot about the difficulties faced by students in Canada from families with no history of higher education. 

The Obama story is an unlikely one for many reasons, but its inspiring to believe that the chance accessibility of higher education has played such a pivotal role in paving the path for the president of today.  Because of the generousity of some University of Hawaii adminstrators, his father was empowered to visit America and father one of the greatest organizers and thinkers of our time. 

It makes me extremely hopeful for a world of possibilities. Possibilities that will only be realized once our leaders take the steps to ensure that every capable student is able to pursue a higher education with the right tools at their grasp, and to able to do so without the fear of backbreaking debt, balancing two jobs with full time study, or taking care of a young family. 

That's why I like Obama.