Double Whammie

As the saying goes, the poor get poorer.

While nobody is necesarrily getting richer in this economic crunch, today's article from The Daily Evergreen about the education program at Washington State Univerisity is the latest example of an already-struggling sector getting hit even harder.

Budget cuts have forced a lot of downsizing in schools at present, and now appear to be affecting the future of education as well.

College of Education curtails enrollment
DANIELLE HULL
The Daily Evergreen

The elementary education program is feeling the economic toll. Last month, the program cut its enrollment openings in half.

Junior elementary education major Molly Ward was directly affected by the changes when she was denied admission into the program in early January. Ward said her spring semester schedule relied on getting into the program.

“Cuts in this program have not only pushed me behind in school but have caused me to take classes this semester that do not go toward my major,” Ward said. “So now I have to stay longer and pay more money for a fifth year of school. It is already hard to pay for four years, and now it will be even more.”

The elementary education program cut its spring enrollment in half in January, said Christine Sodorff, College of Education director of student services.

“The elementary education undergraduate capacity was 120 students a year, which means 60 students were admitted in the fall and 60 were admitted in the spring,” Sordoff said. “In order to reduce our program because of budget cuts, we cut the spring group to 30 students. The students this January are the first group to be affected by this.”

In recent semesters, the program had fewer than 60 applicants, which allowed all who qualified little or no competition, Sodorff said. However, this semester, 56 students applied for 30 spots, causing more competition.

Problems again arose when 14 students who were admitted in the fall did not start their first session of classes until January. Therefore, 14 of the 30 spots available for new applicants were taken, Sodorff said.

The students were admitted upon a priority-based system, Sodorff said. The applicants were ranked based upon GPA, a timed write and an interview. If applicants had more than three general education requirements to fulfill, they were placed at a lower ranking.

“It is not fair when all these students are qualified and even overqualified for the program,” Ward said. “It shouldn’t be a competitive program when we are in need of teachers. We need people who will be passionate about their jobs, about the kids. It shouldn’t be about the numbers.”

Sodorff said cutting enrollment of the spring semester program would have the smallest effect on the students, as opposed to cutting classes. In recent semesters, the enrollment has not been full.

“We pride ourselves in smaller class sizes, and that was one thing we knew we could not change. To do that, we had to cut down the program,” Sodorff said.

Sophomore elementary education major Eva DiDonato was also denied admission to the program but said she understands that it may be because she has general education requirements to fulfill.

“I wouldn’t have taken the time to apply last semester if I had known they were cutting those out who still had general requirements left to take,” DiDonato said. “I guess I wish they would have told me to expect for the worst, but I didn’t even do that.”

Sodorff said she encouraged those who were not accepted to apply again in February for the fall semester. Students also can work on taking classes for their endorsement or for a minor.

“I am going to reapply for the fall enrollment, but for now I guess I will just get a minor in human development,” Ward said. “I still have a passion for becoming a teacher, and I’m not going to let just this get in my way.”