Where Bernie Sanders may be right: education
Bernie Sanders was rising to a key moment in his stump speech: “Fifty years ago, you had a high school degree you could go out in this economy and probably get yourself a damn good job at decent pay,” he told a big crowd at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison during a boisterous rally last month. “Today, in many respects a college degree is the equivalent of what a high school degree was 50 years ago. In the year 2016, we need to make public colleges and universities tuition-free!”
The crowd, many of them young people, roared.
There are two surefire applause lines at any Sanders rally: His brutal takedowns of Wall Street bankers. His passion for college education.
Many of Sanders’ ideas are unrealistic and have little chance of surviving death by Congress. He has a $15.3 trillion tax plan that 1) would not pass even if the Democrats took control and 2) would put a real hurt on the economy if it did.
But the senator and Democratic candidate for president may be on to something if his push for free college leads to a serious discussion about educational attainment in the U.S.
Training after high school is essential, whether it’s an advanced degree or a two-year technical certificate. The median weekly earnings for a high school graduate last year were $678 but rose to $800 a week for an associate degree and $1,137 for a bachelor’s degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The likelihood of being unemployed dropped like a rock as educational attainment rose.
The U.S. has a staggering problem with student debt — $1.3 trillion and counting. It’s not unusual for kids to rack up $50,000 or more during their four years at college. It’s no wonder Sanders’ ideas are popular with the young.
Even some Republicans are beginning to sound just a little bit like the cranky Vermonter.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam pushed through a bill in 2014 that provided young people in his state with two years of free community college. Haslam had a good reason for doing this: Tennessee lags the nation badly in educational attainment. In 2013, only 34% of his state’s working age population had at least an associate degree, compared with 40% for the nation.
In Wisconsin, the number was 41%. And while it’s nice to be above the national average — if only by a smidgen — that’s not nearly good enough.
By the middle of the last century, it was an accepted fact that people had to complete high school. My grandfather, Ray Haynes, was a farmer, and he finished eighth grade in a one-room brick schoolhouse. My dad, DuWayne Haynes, born in 1921, was a factory worker, and he finished high school. But a high school diploma won’t get you very far these days.
“A century ago, people fought an incredible battle — a pretty radical idea — that all kids in America shall have a free public education,” Sanders told us when he stopped by for a visit last Friday. “It is an absolute fact that people need more education.”
Critics of Sanders’ plan, which he framed as “an expansion of public education for a changing world,” say it’s not fair to subsidize families who can afford college for their children. Or that throwing federal money at universities would only encourage inefficiency and waste. Both are fair points. His $70 billion plan would be twothirds federally funded through a tax on Wall Street and one-third paid for by the states. Here’s a reality check: Does anyone really believe that Gov. Scott Walker, who cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of the University of Wisconsin System, would pay for this? He’d sooner be Donald Trump’s hair dresser.
But at a time when Wisconsin businesses are complaining they can’t find enough qualified help and when the state’s biggest business lobby frets about our aging population, Wisconsin should be looking for smart ways to boost its rate of educational attainment whether through a free tuition program or some other way.
“The way change has always come about in this country is when millions of people stand up and fight back,” Sanders told us. “If millions of young people and their parents say, ‘You know what, I don’t want my kid graduating with $50,000 in debt. That’s wrong. You better pass that legislation.’ It will be passed.”
The senator hasn’t sold me. But I do believe this: While 12 years of schooling was good enough for my Dad, it’s not nearly good enough for your kids.