Obama’s Free College Plan Is About Quantity, Not Quality

President Barack Obama arrives to speak about education during a visit to Pellissippi State College in Knoxville, Tn, on Jan. 9, 2015. Obama wants to make two years of community college free, a proposal he said on Thursday he would flesh out in his State of the Union speech later this month. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Last week, President Obama suggested that we make community college free for anyone who wants to “work” for it.

Excuse me, but we already have a system that allows people to work for a college education — it’s called capitalism and the free market. You work at making something or selling something that people want, and they give you money for it. Then, you take the money and exchange it for a college education.

See how that works? A “free” education through a system we have already in place.

But maybe, I’m being too cynical. Maybe we should take another look at “free education” because it’s worked out so well in regards to high school and grammar school, both of which turned out to be miserable excuses for educated kids on a regular basis.

However, I suggest we do it right. Or at least in a manner that doesn’t sacrifice conservative principles for a few votes. Here’s a compromise that we make with community colleges.

Why don’t we consolidate all the community colleges into high schools and, that way, maybe a high school diploma will actually be worth something?

We can lay off a good amount of redundant administrative people and move high school and community college onto the same campuses. While we are at it, let’s offer classes in the now 6 year high school that can offer people a trade such as welding, or auto repair, and really prepare our kids for the realities of life. Now kids will graduate with the ability to earn with basic careers or advance to college and study more advanced fields.

What a great idea!

It will save states a boat-load of money and make both high school and the community colleges viable again as institutions of learning, rather than places to fritter away an afternoon learning how to weave a basket or how to learn to write about aliens from Mars.

Republicans should jump on this politically. It will piss off the teachers’ unions, alienate the president from one of his core voting blocks and place the GOP squarely in the camp of building a QUALITY education and not a QUANTITY education.

After all, that’s really the goal isn’t it?

Or, at least it should be.

Thomas Purcell is nationally syndicated columnist, author of the book “Shotgun Republic” and is host of the Liberty Never Sleeps podcast. More of his work can be found at LibertyNeverSleeps.com.

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