Kerry Skemp

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:35:46 -0500

yeah. it seems like yet another way in which massachusetts is backwards... when your private schools are better funded than your public, what's the point of the public schools, anyway?

Mac

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:26:38 -0500

What a revealing story. I knew from anecdotal evidence that Mass does a poor job of funding its college students, but I had no idea of just how bad it is. To me, what was most significant about the study is the fact that the total grant aid awarded by MA has declined 27% in the last five years, a period during which states on average increased their budget over 42% (despite budget crises, for example, CA has increased almost 50%). The recent decline would be easy enough to blame on Romney, but I see it as a deeper reflection of the state's lack of commitment to its public colleges. While you're right that this situation is even worse for students attending private institutions, those students are likely to see some of the disparity covered by their often munificent institutions. The state continues to kowtow to its admittedly great private colleges, leaving students to the largesse of these institutions. When you allow yourself to be governed by someone who in his worst moments wondered whether the state needed a public university system at all, you have only yourself to blame.

Bostonist: Lots of Schools, Little Money

Kerry Skemp

Mac