Guest speaker Richard Sims of the NEA interviewed on MPBN radio

Richard Sims, Ph.D., chief economist at the National Education Association, who gave a talk at UNE on March 4, 2010 on "The Future of American Education: An Economic Perspective," was interviewed by Irwin Gratz for MPBN radio before his presentation at the Portland Campus. Sims told Gratz that cuts in school aid in Maine and around the nation will slow the U.S. economy in the long run. Education has taken a greater hit in budget cuts than in the past because of the severity of the current recession, Sims said. Layoffs of education personel mean less spending in the local economy, and larger classes and shorter hours in the classroom mean a less educated workforce for the future. Sims' lecture was sponsored by UNE's Center for Global Humanities.  Listen to the audio.

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.