Like Governor Romney, my father also had a favorite saying: “Words are cheap. Actions speak volumes.” Romney’s article (“Viewpoint: Demand Real Change In Higher Education“) offers a case for reforming U.S. higher education that belies his record as governor of Massachusetts and contradicts recent statements on the campaign trail.
The Associated Press scrutinized Mr. Romney’s higher education overhaul in Massachusetts — a “sweeping plan to overhaul the state’s public college system to cut waste, reduce costs and boost efficiency” — and concluded that his efforts fell short. His cautions about the skyrocketing cost of college are undercut by his track record: college fees soared 63% in Massachusetts because of his cuts to the state’s higher education budget.
Mr. Romney’s pitch to make it easier to attend college stands in stark contrast to what he’s been saying on the stump. Like his response to a student who wanted to know what he would do to help make college affordable: “shop around.” And his pledge to keep the Pell Grant program growing, when the budget written by his running mate Paul Ryan and praised by Mr. Romney would slash Pell Grants for more than 9 million students.
Many Americans today feel like they are losing their shot at college. Addressing this concern requires more than platitudes, and Mr. Romney has offered no plan. On the contrary, the more that we educators hear from Mr. Romney, the more we worry that his vision is reflected in his statement, “get as much education as you can afford.”
Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association, Washington, D.C.