THE FEDERAL ROLE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

WHEREAS, the amount and nature of post-secondary education which a person has received has a direct connection to his or her future economic and social well-being; and

WHEREAS, as the industrial base of the United States erodes and the so-called "information revolution" accelerates, the absence of a college or university education will be increasingly determinative of whether a person has the opportunity to participate in main­stream American society or is consigned to second-class status; and

WHEREAS, at the same time, the increase in the educational level required by ever larger numbers of jobs, coupled with the increased education and training needed for full participation in our society, means that the general societal welfare is itself dependent on an increasingly higher general level of education; and

WHEREAS, for these reasons, the federal government must bear an affirmative responsibility to insure equal access to a college or university education and equal opportunities to complete that education, and must concern itself with the cost of a college or university education, the financial resources available to meet that cost, and the quality of elementary and secondary level education preparation:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, urges an active advocacy role for the federal government in such areas as increasing the resources allocated to student aid; monitoring the impact of costs and financial aid with special attention to insuring that financial obstacles to post-secondary education are removed for historically disadvantaged groups such as women, minority groups, and the handicapped; and enforcing statutory prohibitions against discrimination in all areas of institutional functioning for faculty, students, and staff through effective programs of affirmative action; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, vigorously supports efforts to establish access to higher education as an entitlement.