Educational Opportunities for EveryoneMy message this month is a bit off the beaten path, but it’s important to Seafarers and their dependents who definitely want to attend college or who may want to attend some day.
Within the SIU, we often emphasize the educational opportunities available at our affiliated Paul Hall Center in Piney Point, Md. as well as through the annual Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan scholarships. Additionally, Seafarers and their dependents may have chances to take advantage of scholarships offered through Union Plus, an organization founded by the AFL-CIO.
In the bigger picture, through our affiliation with the AFL-CIO, the SIU also is promoting educational opportunities for working families all across the country. The federation’s executive council, on which I serve, recently adopted a resolution in which we committed that the AFL-CIO and its affiliates will lead a national effort to help ensure that all Americans have full access to a diverse range of excellent, affordable higher education opportunities.
This is an important commitment partly because we recognize that higher education will be increasingly vital for workers in the 21st century economy. But it’s also important because America’s higher education system—once the best and most accessible in the world—is in danger of becoming unattainable for working families. Some feel it’s also in danger of losing its quality edge.
America’s higher education system was built on an important public policy consensus. Specifically, it was built on the shared belief that investing in higher education is good for everyone. Going back as far as the years immediately following World War II and up through the 1970s, policy consensus resulted in strong state support for public institutions and an impressive array of two-year, four-year and graduate programs, as well as an extensive system of federal financial aid to equalize educational opportunity.
Not coincidentally, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, the share of the American work force possessing at least a bachelor’s degree doubled. The boost in education also helped to increase wages and combat unemployment. (The export of blue-collar jobs is a separate issue and a topic for another day.)
Over time, though, there’s been some erosion in the public policies that supported the American higher education system, and working families’ access to college has declined as a result. As reported by the AFL-CIO, adjusted for inflation, state and local funding per student at public colleges and universities last year reached its lowest level in 25 years. Cuts in state aid have caused tuition and fees at four-year public universities to increase 52 percent over the past 10 years, while median family income increased only 3 percent. Frankly, in some ways it reminds me of the health-care crisis.
In our resolution, the council noted, “The system for awarding student financial aid now is skewed against working students and provides little support for part-time students.... More students need to take out loans to attend college, and graduates now average debts of $15,000 for attending public institutions, $19,000 for private institutions and $24,000 for attending for-profit colleges.”
What must not be lost in those numbers is their effect on low-income families and prospective students. Right now in the U.S., a low-achieving, high-income student is just as likely to attend college as the highest-achieving, low-income student. I understand the realities of money in society, but we’re also supposed to be an equal-opportunity society. When it comes to education, the numbers say something else.
There is another component to this story. Reductions in state spending on higher education have had a big impact on the academic workplace. Less than one-third of the instructional personnel consist of full-time tenured professors. The rest work from one term or academic year to the next. At the same time, according to the AFL-CIO, graduate students and other faculty without either tenure or collective bargaining rights are staffing more and more classes. Most of them receive extremely low salaries (less than $200 a week for teaching a 15-week course) and few if any benefits.
In the maritime industry, we understand the importance of keeping up with technology and learning as much as possible to help us do the best job possible. I’m also proud to remind everyone that our affiliated school in Piney Point, Md. offers college credits for many courses and college degree programs. The opportunities are plentiful for anyone who wants to start or advance their career.
Nationwide, we’ll be well-served by adopting similar strategies and a greater commitment to higher education. Even the most highly educated workers need to adopt new skills over their lifetimes.
With that in mind, the AFL-CIO, through its state federations and central labor councils, is focused on restoring state support for higher education and curbing tuitions costs. This is a legislative priority for organized labor—one that also will advocate labor-studies programs at public universities.
Unions must and will lead the way in rebuilding America’s commitment to ensuring that all citizens have the chance to pursue a college degree.
Meanwhile, I encourage Seafarers to check out the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan scholarship information on page 14 of this issue of the LOG.
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