Obama's Plan: Checkpoint I

Summary
Next week this space will return to The Plan by Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed to examine its call for “Universal Retirement Savings.” Our expert guest will be Jordan Curry of Northwestern Mutual.


Certain junctures seem to lend themselves to checkpoints. In this case, Mr. Curry needed to borrow my copy of the book and the expert I engaged regarding The Plan’s pre-college educational aspects is unable to meet my timeline. So, we will adjust our sails.


As the previous installment alluded to changes since the book’s publication, this one compares and contrasts The Plan’s 2006 goal of “Universal College Access,” with the current educational agenda espoused by the Obama administration.


We will see that, in sum and especially regarding educational policy, Obama’s current agenda and The Plan’s are virtually identical. This lends merit to our examination of The Plan as a worthwhile pursuit.


Disclaimer?
What concrete indicators show this administration's commitment behind its rhetoric? In just under 3 weeks, President Obama has removed the ban on stem cell research, directed the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, bombed Pakistan, picked a fight with China, assigned and dispatched 2 heavily-credentialed envoys to the Middle East, addressed children’s healthcare and pay inequality in the workplace and is on the verge of delivering an economic stimulus package few can comprehend in size or scope. This is not a complete list of the administration’s documented initiatives or actions. The pace is blistering and intense.


A February 7, 2009, Detroit Free Press article (http://www.freep.com/article/20090207/NEWS15/90207027/1285/Stimulus+compromise+cuts+education+spending) notes that much of the reductions in the stimulus package were from spending marked for education, so by the time this article posts we may have a reaction to that item from the administration. However, a February 7, 2009, opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123396676711659061.html) suggests, convincingly, that much of these educational funds were politically--not economically--motivated and offers a lesson on why Americans should fear a filibuster-proof majority by either party. Politically savvy and pragmatic, Obama will probably not choose this moment to stake his claim on education.

Checkpoint
When Barack Obama and Joe Biden were among those apparently hopeful of finishing second in the nominating process to Hillary Clinton, the former offered these words on November 7, 2007, to a group in Bettendorf, Iowa, that may have well marked the beginning of his surge:

It...means putting a college education within reach of every American...I'll
create a new and fully refundable tax credit worth $4,000 for tuition and fees
every year, which will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public
college or university. I'll also simplify the financial aid application process
so that we don't have a million students who aren't applying for aid because
it's too difficult. I will start by eliminating the current student aid form
altogether - we'll use tax data instead. And I'll tap the tremendous resource of
community colleges, which educate half the undergraduates in this country, by
creating a new Community College Partnership Program. We'll help schools
determine what skills and technical education are needed to help local industry;
we'll expand new degrees for emerging fields; and we'll reward schools that
graduate more students. (http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/07/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_31.php)

As a review of last week’s post will confirm, most of this is a “copy and paste” from The Plan. These words are reinforced in Obama’s current public policy statements, as he promises to create, “a new American Opportunity Tax Credit:”

This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of
a college education is completely free for most Americans, and 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. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/education/)

Harkening back to, and perhaps an adjustment on, The Plan’s call for “Universal Citizen Service,” the Obama policy statement also states that, “Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service.” The statement also promises to heed The Plan’s call for adjustments to the financial aid process, by:

eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling
families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their
tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.

Conclusion
While maintaining positions on unaddressed matters 3 weeks into a Presidency is unremarkable, the completeness of the transference of The Plan’s proposals through a full year of campaigning and into White House policy statements may indicate a high level of commitment and elevated intent to execute.


Future checkpoints on this subject will examine the data behind the proposals and the identity and role of key implementors.

Obama's Plan: Where's Your Opportunity? Part III

Continuing in our analysis and treatment of The Plan by Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed:

Prologue
This installment is privileged with the expertise of Rhonda Sinnema and Jennifer Marshall of College Assistance Plus (http://www.caplusdenver.com/). The author of this blog wishes the reader to know that the blog is not sponsored, by CA Plus or any other entity.

Background on Subject Matter Experts Experts
CA Plus gives students and their families guidance and direction in choosing a college, comparing financial aid packages, and accepting offers to attend. They work with families and prospective collegians to develop strategies to maximize financial aid. CA Plus clients leave schools of their choice with degrees…not debt. Mrs. Sinnema is the Owner of CA Plus Denver; Miss Marshall serves the firm as Director of Education.

Summary
With “Universal College Access,” The Plan seeks to make college available to those who want to go but can’t (“The main reason young people don’t go to college—or don’t finish—is cost.”); the “achievement gap,” i.e. holding colleges accountable for student dropout rates; to “provide lifelong training” for “any worker at any age…at an accredited institution;” and “to strengthen and reform our system of public education in elementary and secondary school,” the latter of which is identified as, “the weakest link in our educational system.”

This installment will acknowledge and summarize the entirety of the initiative as stated in The Plan, but analysis will focus only on the collegiate aspect. To preserve context, the summary provided by the authors is restated here, in its entirety:

We must make a college degree as universal as a high school diploma. More than ever, America’s success depends on what we can learn. We have an education system built in the last century, with a school year left over from the century before that. In this new era, college will be the greatest engine of opportunity for our society and our economy. Just as Abraham Lincoln gave land grants to endow our great public universities, we will give the states tuition grants to make college free for those willing to work, serve, and excel.

“Closing the College Gap”
Here we find a jarring reminder of what has changed since The Plan was published in 2006 as the authors show disdain for the practice of “subsidizing banks;” perhaps ironically preceding the prediction, “In the years to come, with the strength of our economy on the line, going to college will itself be a form of national service.”

The authors propose, first:
[To] simplify the tax code by replacing the five major existing education tax incentives—the Hope Scholarship, the Lifetime Learning Credit, the deduction for higher-education expenses, the exclusion of employer-provided education benefits, and the exclusion for qualified tuition reductions—with a single $3,000-a-year refundable credit for four years of college and two years of graduate school.

Second, The Plan states we should, “pass a truth-in-tuition law that requires colleges to set multiyear tuition and fee levels so that those in each incoming freshman class know in advance exactly what their degree will cost them.”

Finally and “most important,” the authors propose to, “provide Tuition Grants to states,” so they can, “offer free or low-cost tuition to students who work their way through school, excel in class, or commit to careers in critical professions.”

Other Components
To “hold colleges accountable for producing more graduates,” i.e. increasing graduation rates, The Plan prescribes the US adopt “the accountability system in Britain, which holds back a portion of colleges’ public funding until students actually graduate.” In this way The Plan addresses what it calls, “The Other Dropout Problem.”

The Plan also proposes changes to non-collegiate education and non-traditional collegiate education. Sinnema and Marshall agree with The Plan’s assertions that these areas, particularly pre-college education, are in need of immediate improvement. This component will be addressed in a separate and subsequent blog installment.

Relevancy
CA Plus advises that the only significant change to this Plan item in regard to the shift in our economy is that college affordability is even more prevalent an issue. People who saved in a 529 plan or intended to borrow against their house to pay for college now find their house devalued, their ability to borrow diminished and their retirement accounts in decline.

The brunt, say Sinnema and Marshall, is borne by the middle class. Perkins and Stafford Loans along with Pell Grants, the most common forms of financial aid, are awarded based on financial need, typically low end of middle income. Private loans are more difficult to acquire as well: According to http://www.finaid.org/, the number of private lenders facilitating college loans was 60 just last year; now it is 39.


Opportunity Areas
Anyone able to open cash flow opportunities for middle class families will have fast friends. There is a broad chasm of difference between, “How can I help you?” and, “What can I sell you?” Practitioners of the latter have contributed greatly to our current mess, and should not be welcomed in your network. Allow the market to marginalize the dinosaurs seeking transactional relationships learning the wrong lessons from, or ignoring, Enron and Madoff. Transformational, relationship-enriching, “win/win” opportunities can and will be created with increasing frequency. The sun is setting on the day of the one-sided deal.

The Plan does not address how these changes will be implemented. Opportunities exist within implementation, and may avail to entrepreneurial entities proactively seeking implementation avenues.

Regardless, an increased number of college students increases demand for textbooks, and the design, printing, and delivery thereof. Staff—academic, administrative and support--and facilities will need to be expanded. As a number of students and programs will be nontraditional, the number of internet-based programs will increase. The content and structure of curricula will need to be adapted to fit the medium, and a range of technologies will need to be integrated to collegiate systems and maintained. The initiative(s) may also, Sinnema and Marshall argue, increase the perceived selection available, thereby raising demand for options and research.

Of course, these are what occur to a few minds. Input is welcome. Please check in frequently to leave and read comments, and next week for further analysis of The Plan.