State of Education: Big topics in education
It’s been a busy week for education. Vince Gallagher takes a look back at some of the hot topics.
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To begin, there was the annual State of the University Address. One topic from the SUNY Chancellor: student transfers.
"Not only can our students transfer Gen Ed courses between campuses, they can now also transfer 12 or more credits in over 50 majors, there are only a handful of states where this is true,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher.
There was also talk of a new data system that tracks all student credits from high school to graduate work.
"An easy to use tool like this will make it clear to the students every step of the way the courses they need to complete their degree,” said Zimpher.
Another point was how higher education relates to business and social impact.
"The creation of green jobs, workforce retention, preparing more doctors for high need populations, sealing the leaks in the education pipeline, and reducing our carbon footprint," said Zimpher.
But that positive feeling wasn't that strong at a different event this week. The Student Fairness Rally was organized by the Alliance for Quality Education.
"The $800 million the governor and state legislature have already committed, we're saying distribute it in a fair way. That's what the Regents are saying, and that's what we're looking for in the governor's budget next week," said Nikki Jones, Alliance for Quality Education.
Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver also supported this cause on the end that the state's price tag shouldn't be handed to the students
"It was not students who made those terrible gambles that caused this economic hardship," said Silver.
Nearly 540 parents and students came from across the state to lobby on behalf their students. Time will tell further in the governor's budget.