Department Of Education Roundtable Discussion

Hello Everybody,

Last week Hector and I attended a roundtable discussion with Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education for the Department of Education.  I wanted to use this platform to inform everybody about  the content of the discussion as well as some potential concerns that we can all take back to our communities.  The theme of the discussion centered around both the successes and the struggles that individuals were experiencing within education programs across the United States.  These programs are vast in differences ranging from scholarship programs (such as GEAR UP) to education curriculums in community colleges (such as nursing programs).  For example, some curriculums have extraordinary success and graduation rates, whilst others drastically fail.  Thus, this "open bus tour" gave the Department of Education a chance to attempt cohesion between states' programs and future successes.  The phrase "don't reinvent the wheel" carries precedent here because the successes of programs across the United States are often transparent when applied to similar programs in different States.  Unification of these messages will hopefully skirt some of the disparities between States' education programs.

Gear Up has had extraordinary success.  It is our job to send the message to others to signalize these successes.  Some of the concerns expressed were:  rising cost of textbooks, tuition increase, loan repayment programs, loan interest increase, and falsification of likely outcomes of certain degrees and specialties.  In addition, stark comments were mentioned about the dwindling job market and how that impacted education.  This segment sparked my interest because it gave us the chance (as an individual) to express our personal concerns and reflect from our own experiences.  Here I raise the question to you all, what are your biggest barriers in your communities regarding education?  How can education be more efficient where you live?  What can we, as GUALA Alumni, do for our communities that will help create better education programs?

Lastly, when is our all expense paid Reunion?......just a thought....