Free College Is Now a Reality in Nearly 30 States

[dfrecore]

Yes, the money could certainly be better spent.

I was just discussing this with my mom. CA public college system. They have 113 CC's, 23 CSU's and 9 UC's. Each has a gazillion dollar budget for much of the same stuff. A tiny little change that could make a HUGE change to the entire system: why are the course numbering systems different? Why don't they switch to a VERY common system which every single school could switch to? Not only would it make things easier for them to transfer - but it would make it a million times easier for students to transfer! Imagine if at every single CC, CSU and UC, Psychology 101 was PSY-101? You would not need all kinds of info about it, you'd know that if school A had it, and school B required it, you could take it at school A and transfer it later without a thought.

It would also make it SO much better for the 4yr schools to show a better graduation rate, because making transfers more seamless is better for EVERYONE involved.

But everyone wants to reinvent the stupid wheel, causing unnecessary confusion and expense all around.

And this is why I have a real hard time with taxes. The government waste is just ridiculous. Always.

[uncapentin]

I've paid tons of taxes for decades with my money going to nonsense. I approve of using my money to educate the country.

You've gotta pay taxes anyway. Why not get something out of it, rather than just watch the military spending budget bloat even more?

+1, I do agree... Having said that, they need a "better" budget and system to utilize the funds more effectively.  Some government divisions are spending money as if it's "nothing" or growing on trees.  Say a government organization needs X million to upgrade their computer systems, instead of looking for a good budget set of systems, they're investing in companies that upsell their products and services.  

I'd like them to propose changes that will make use of money/resources better...  Here's an example, this person spent probably $1,000 on parts for his experiment to see if he can create a $300 iphone, he was successful.  I would have been cheaper just to buy the iphone instead of getting all these extra spare parts.  Government agencies are doing just that, extra fluff and it's not needed... https://gineersnow.com/industries/consum...-parts-300

  1. There's truth to that. At the Gov level, they contract out supplies in many cases. How about  $35 light bulb ? Yes, seriously. A $125 regular door knob ? This is just for the item, not labor to put it in. If a school system "wants" new computer systems for the students they pay higher prices than just buying from Best Buy and then they are over charged for the "right" to use microsoft or whatever program they want/need. The lunch rooms are almost all subbed out now and they're paying upward prices for that crappy stuff they call food that gets served in some schools. It's all quite ridiculous. The same applies to certain vendors with grocery stores and gas stations.... the vendor pays for space at the store, but the store pays for product, which the vendor supplies but the store can't shop their cost for the product and buy cheaper to stock their shelves..... Kinda crazy how some of this works...... How about money that's allocated to a county ? There's so much in taxes and money from the state or fed's. They budget out what goes where and in many cases, they have to spend it all or their needs will be deemed to be less than it was and they get less funding in the future. 
  Free college will mean more in taxes. It's not like they just up and say "Free school for everyone" and nothing changes. Nothing is free when the Govt is involved. The school will stay make their money, the state will make money and we all will pay an increase in taxes..... 
  And in reality, everything that one goes to college for can be on the job trained. That's how it used to be. Nothing wrong with " higher learning" or even paying for it but everyone has a choice to make when it comes to where they choose to learn it. Tax payers shouldn't have to fund everyone's college path because of where they "want" to go.

[Vle045]

As someone who has worked in Accounts Payable for a K-12 school system, I can say with absolute certainty that we did NOT pay higher prices for computers, software, or lunch supplies. We negotiated contracts every few years and companies put in bids to be a provider. And if someone comes in and can deliver the same or better at a lower price, they will get the contract. Might that be different somewhere else? Sure. But independent auditors come in and review those. And the Board reviews everything before any decisions are made. If we paid higher prices, we’d get in trouble. Fiscal Responsibility is take very seriously. And it is all public record. Now, might someone look at a contract for computers and think it might *look* higher than what you think it should be? Maybe. But that computer contract might include free repairs and replacements. Which might be frequent when second graders have 1to 1 laptops.

[uncapentin]

As someone who has worked in Accounts Payable for a K-12 school system, I can say with absolute certainty that we did NOT pay higher prices for computers, software, or lunch supplies.  We negotiated contracts every few years and companies put in bids to be a provider.  And if someone comes in and can deliver the same or better at a lower price, they will get the contract.  Might that be different somewhere else?  Sure.  But independent auditors come in and review those.  And the Board reviews everything before any decisions are made.  If we paid higher prices, we’d get in trouble.  Fiscal Responsibility is take very seriously.  And it is all public record.  Now, might someone look at a contract for computers and think it might *look* higher than what you think it should be?  Maybe.  But that computer contract might include free repairs and replacements.  Which might be frequent when second graders have 1to 1 laptops.

That's great, and yes, I know how some of this works. It is different across the US and I'm certain has other factors in play. I wish Fiscal responsibility was the norm ( perhaps it is and I've just been privy to too many that aren't) and counties could all figure out how to lessen expenditures, save money for future use and NOT be penalized if it *appears* that they didn't need all of the funding.