Links for 2/8/11

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Nobody deserves tenure, with the possible exception of federal judges…

there are plenty of other ways to safeguard public employees from wrongful dismissal besides guaranteeing them lifetime jobs.

Kevin Carey

To be blunt, I believe the accreditors overseen by NACIQI should not be in the business of deciding whether for-profit colleges and universities should have access to the federal Title IV student aid system…

The existing accreditation system was not designed to accommodate them and it would be a mistake to try to bend or warp its mission to do so. It can’t be done. If accreditors try, they will fail, and they will be blamed for the consequences of that failure…

monolithic accreditation status is currently serving to obscure differences in quality between institutions rather than distinguish them…

Ilana Garon

"I'm not going to college."…

A few years ago, I would have been horrified at this pronouncement. I know there are plenty of teachers and administrators who still would be. But these days, I'm more inclined to be impressed by Danielle's self-awareness, foresight and her implicit understanding of a fact I wish our system leaders would see: that perpetuation of the current "college for all" trend in education is neither economically viable nor beneficial to all students…

Doug Lederman

said Peter Ewell… "there's a difference between prodding and fixing. Nothing fundamental ever changes in higher education without an outside push," he said, and "whatever you can do to scare [higher education leaders] into acting, if you will, is the road to go."...