Idaho's Blueprint for Red State Higher Education Reform | Opinion
Scott Yenor and Anna K. Miller
On 5/7/21 at 6:00 AM EDT
Disruption of higher education is not inevitable. The higher education industry has weathered online education, for-profit schools and the COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps many mid-level liberal arts schools will close down in the next decade, but generous public subsidies may well keep more than a few alive through these troubling times.
Advocates of higher education reform cannot sing lullabies about the unsustainable trajectory of higher education. Concrete action is needed, and red states can lead the way.
Events in Idaho during the past two years should interest all Americans. Idaho is among the reddest of states, with Republican supermajorities in both legislative bodies and a Republican governor. All members of the state board of education, which oversees higher education, are Republican appointees. Yet Republican state board members are part of the education establishment, either pushing or allowing social justice universities to develop on their watch. The legislature has few tools aside from budgetary controls, and many legislators lack the political will. This lamentable pattern allows universities to radicalize with both public funding and public blessing.