Comments on: Time to get real about education in Idaho http://megafrontier.com/2009/12/time-to-get-real-about-education-in-idaho/ Urban life in Western America Sat, 19 May 2012 07:16:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: admin http://megafrontier.com/2009/12/time-to-get-real-about-education-in-idaho/comment-page-1/#comment-95 admin Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:37:13 +0000 http://megafrontier.com/?p=542#comment-95 Nipper - you and I are in total agreement. I have been very critical of the Boise State approach to budget cuts which is to tell all the colleges to cut equally ("across the board cuts"). That is an abdication of strategic thinking by our administrators. Across the board cuts punish those that run lean and produce; they reward those that are bloated underperformers. The University of Idaho on the other hand decided to focus its efforts on programs that made sense, and got rid of entire programs that did not. That is the proper response. At the state legislative level, however, there is just no commitment to higher education - that is the reality. There's 50 years worth of economic development literature that absolutely confirms the link between education and income. Yet, the state does foolish things like the "Albertson Bill" and other targeted tax cuts they think will help grow this economy. I'd argue that the best investment the state could make in growing this economy would be to take a billion bucks and split it up between U of I, BSU, and ISU and let us start battling it out with the regional powerhouses like U of U. That is the way to put this state on the map. Nipper - you and I are in total agreement. I have been very critical of the Boise State approach to budget cuts which is to tell all the colleges to cut equally (”across the board cuts”). That is an abdication of strategic thinking by our administrators. Across the board cuts punish those that run lean and produce; they reward those that are bloated underperformers.

The University of Idaho on the other hand decided to focus its efforts on programs that made sense, and got rid of entire programs that did not. That is the proper response.

At the state legislative level, however, there is just no commitment to higher education - that is the reality. There’s 50 years worth of economic development literature that absolutely confirms the link between education and income. Yet, the state does foolish things like the “Albertson Bill” and other targeted tax cuts they think will help grow this economy. I’d argue that the best investment the state could make in growing this economy would be to take a billion bucks and split it up between U of I, BSU, and ISU and let us start battling it out with the regional powerhouses like U of U. That is the way to put this state on the map.

]]> By: Nipper http://megafrontier.com/2009/12/time-to-get-real-about-education-in-idaho/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Nipper Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:00:42 +0000 http://megafrontier.com/?p=542#comment-94 Rock stars cost money. Are you implying that the universities don't really need to cut budgets? Or that they should cut certain things out of their budgets to buy rock stars? Ultimately, doesn't it come down to what money they have to spend? Perhaps the better question is "what is UNLV doing that lets them afford (invest in) rock stars?" Rock stars cost money. Are you implying that the universities don’t really need to cut budgets? Or that they should cut certain things out of their budgets to buy rock stars? Ultimately, doesn’t it come down to what money they have to spend? Perhaps the better question is “what is UNLV doing that lets them afford (invest in) rock stars?”

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