As rural Americans lose access, mass access to higher education crumbles. They are the canary in the coal mine warning us of systemic collapse. We are facing a future where only the wealthy get a true education and the rest of us don't. - ThreadSky

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social • 135 days ago

As rural Americans lose access, mass access to higher education crumbles. They are the canary in the coal mine warning us of systemic collapse. We are facing a future where only the wealthy get a true education and the rest of us don't.

Reposted from Meredith Kolodner

“We are asking rural folks to accept a set of options that folks in cities and suburbs would never accept...“It’s almost like, well, ‘This is what you get to learn, and this is how you get to learn it. And if you don’t like it, you can move.’ ”
hechingerreport.org/easy-to-just...

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athenabird.bsky.social•135 days ago

You mean, a situation that was considered normal until the GI bill and the growth of state universities?

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

Yes, though it is more complicated than that thanks to the Morrill Act, ag extention amendments, and the Smith-Lever Act. This opened the door for rural higher ed though the post-WWII boom opened the campus even more. But, I am unsure of what you are saying with your tweet regarding what I wrote.

athenabird.bsky.social•135 days ago

Just pointing out that what we believe should be the case in the 21st century wasn’t normal in earlier eras. The advantages of higher education were restricted to very few men.

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

Sure, that makes sense of course. Though, since before the Civil War, education for rural folk was a national issue, particularly in the 1890s, and the spread of higher ed into rural America was an intentional political project that predates the 1900s even if success came later.

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

The only reason why I want to be a scholar is because most people have access to higher education liberal arts education. Even if it is only a few courses at the nearby community college for personal growth, this is why I do this. I don't want to be part of system of elites-only education.

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

Every person in this country deserves three right to take college courses and the right to the best education possible. This means studying fluid dynamics and it means studying 19th century poetry. It all matters and everyone has a right to it.

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

Rural students, as always, are among the most important to reach since the low-density of their areas make this really hard to do. It takes money and a continued political commitment to educate ourselves. We allowed monied interests to convince us that we are better off uneducated.

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

So there are some typos and grammar mistakes in this thread, but that is the price for passionate typing on my phone, esp. given that it will insert words or reformat what I'm pecking out with my finger. Sorry!

carlygoodman.bsky.social•135 days ago

I still think about that David Blight oped calling for Yale to look outward, with little appreciation for how Yale grads and others dismantled the very system of public education that allowed for the trajectory and career of David Blight

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

😟

dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social•135 days ago

And one need only look at Trump and Musk to see how education is wasted on the rich.

mzlopate.bsky.social•135 days ago

I wonder who they are going to blame for these losses?

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

Loss of public funding, which led to an increased reliance on tuition followed by declining enrollments so cash-strapped colleges forced to make difficult choices.

mzlopate.bsky.social•135 days ago

Ah, I didn't ask what actually happened. I asked *who* rural Americans are going to blame for this situation.

drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social•135 days ago

Oops, sorry! Presumably a usual target will be prominent: coastal elites. Though, rural folk who aren't white might have a more complex take, as would more progressive ones who taje issue with local elites and state governments.

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