It’s Time: The National Education Council

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the demise of the US system of higher education. Albeit a tad premature, my point was and remains that our system of higher education has significant ailments that, if left untreated, will lead to decades of ill-health and a painful death. In the real world, of course, … Continue reading It’s Time: The National Education Council

Stimulus Crazy

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Yesterday In recent Week in Review Commentaries, I’ve discussed the difficulty assessing the true nature of the current financial straits we find ourselves in. President Obama has spent an inordinate amount of federal funds trying to rescue the economy, and just this week, the G-20 announced it would infuse an additional $1.1 trillion dollars to the … Continue reading Stimulus Crazy

More Lipstick, More Pig

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute “A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe.” –President Barack Obama, February 4, 2009 Two weeks ago in my Commentary, I wrote about the state of the economy and the stimulus package. Today I will go at it again because I am so dismayed at the way Congress and the Obama … Continue reading More Lipstick, More Pig

A Place Called Hope?

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Tuesday was a special day. Every four years we have a wonderful opportunity to put aside partisan bickering and heal for a moment in an event so uniquely American, but also so important and consequential that the world stops to take notice. This, of course, was not the typical inauguration. It was the inauguration of the … Continue reading A Place Called Hope?

Farewell to a Giant — Senator Pell

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week, Claiborne Pell, a six-term US Senator from Rhode Island, passed away at his home in Newport, Rhode Island. Senator Pell was an extraordinary man whose passing signals the end of an era, in many ways. Most people know Pell because of the namesake grant named after him. According to accounts, the Pell Grant, which … Continue reading Farewell to a Giant — Senator Pell