President Obama’s re-election campaign will promote Race to the Top and college affordability to woo suburban swing voters, predicts Rick Hess in Ten Edu-Stories We’ll Be Reading in 2012. The Republican nominee will stop attacking the Education Department and talk up education reform to appeal to moderates, he adds.
For-profit college entrepreneurs will look to expand overseas in response to “relentless attacks” by the media, the Obama administration and Sen. Tom Harkin, Hess writes. This year, for-profit colleges began screening out high-risk students in response to “gainful employment” regulations. Next year, administration officials will complain the for-profits are narrowing access to higher education, he predicts. Future quote: ”Sure, we’ve promised to punish for-profits if they enroll students who don’t graduate or earn enough after completion, but we just assumed they’d find ways to ensure that these students get a degree and a good job.”
Hess also foresees a backlash against anti-bullying campaigns, reminiscent of the “zero tolerance” reaction, and recognition that “flipped” classes — students watch videos at home and work on problem solving in class — don’t work for homework-dodging slackers.
