Career Advice for Parents and Guardians of Prospective Students. 
The Decision to Go to College or to Trade School
Learn the Difference between a a FOR PROFIT and NOT FOR PROFIT School. 

'PLUS' college loans can be a big minus for parents

'PLUS' college loans can be a big minus for parents
Student loan debt is out of control, but really it is the parents we should be most worried about. There is only one type of educational loan available to families that has no restriction on how much can be borrowed and no formula for testing whether the borrower can afford the debt - and it is targeted at parents.

No credit history? No job? Neither is a deterrent to securing the federal government’s Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students program – better known as the PLUS loan. Horror stories abound, including one about an unemployed parent in Arizona who took out $120,000 in student loans to send her youngest to a pricey Midwestern university.

PLUS loans allow borrowers to dig themselves into a very deep hole.

Parents typically take out PLUS loans after exhausting savings and loans in the student's name, which are limited to $5,500 to $7,500 annually, depending on the student's year in college. (There are also private student loans that parents can co-sign, but these are subject to more stringent bank requirements, and also may have higher interest rates.)

The only issue that can disqualify a parent from borrowing through the PLUS program is bad credit involving serious loan delinquencies, foreclosures or default in the past five years. After that cursory credit check, the program allows parents to borrow the entire gap between the child’s education expenses and whatever aid he or she has received – for every year and every child in school.

While a student may be able to justify borrowing because he or she will derive some return on their investment when they enter the workforce, parents do not really get anything out of college funding but the debt (and maybe a T-shirt).

EXTREME CAUTION WARRANTED

Although statistics are limited, about 5 percent of parent borrowers are now in default on loans they took out to send their kids to college - and that figure is likely to double over the course of repayment, said Martindale.

The consequence of a default on a PLUS loan – like default on any government debt – is dire. Tax refunds can be seized, as can Social Security payments. The debt generally cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and the government can tag on all sorts of fees and charges for late payments and collections.

While PLUS loans offer some borrower protections, such as the ability to defer payments when out of work or while your child is still in school, repayment options are more limited than they are for the federal loans granted to students.

WHAT NOW?

If it is already too late, then there is one way to survive the debt, Kantrowitz said, but it is not a quick out. A loophole in the federal education law allows parents to “consolidate” PLUS loans through the federal government’s direct loan program.

That provides access to the so-called income-contingent repayment plan, which sets payments at 20 percent of the borrower’s discretionary income (as determined by a formula).

If you have no discretionary income based on the program’s formula, your payments are set at zero. After 25 years of payments – even if all the payments are $0 – any remaining loan balance is forgiven, said Kantrowitz.

Notably, any forgiven debt is added to income in that tax year, which may generate a tax obligation on the forgiven loan. Still, for a family with insurmountable PLUS debt, a tax bill is likely to add up to only a fraction of the cost of the loan itself.

 

Pull back the curtain back on a very secretive process, exposing things that the admission officers at colleges never wanted anyone to see.

FERPA Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law passed in 1974 and amended several times since. It stipulates that students have a right to see their educational records.

Hello!
This is a FERPA access request. I am requesting access to all documents held by the [insert your college name here] Office of Undergraduate Admission, including without limitation a complete copy of any admissions records kept in my name in any and all university offices, including the Undergraduate Admission Workcard and all associated content (including without limitation the qualitative and quantitative assessments of any 'readers,' demographics data, interview records) ; any e-mails, notes, memoranda, video, audio, or other documentary material maintained by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. I look forward to receiving access to these documents within 45 calendar days.

or

Pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g), I write to request access to and a copy of all documents held by the Stanford University Office of Undergraduate Admission, including without limitation a complete copy of any admissions records kept in my name in any and all university offices, including the Undergraduate Admission Workcard and all associated content (including without limitation the qualitative and quantitative assessments of any 'readers', demographics data, interview records) ; any e-mails, notes, memoranda, video, audio, or other documentary material maintained by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.  
FERPA prohibits the imposition of a fee to review documents (per 34 CFR Sec. 99.11(b)).  
If you choose to redact any portion of any documents responsive to this request, please provide a written explanation for the redaction including a reference to the specific statutory exemption(s) upon which you rely. Also, please provide all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. I understand that I may have previously waived FERPA rights pertaining to recommendations provided through the Common Application. Be advised that, if selected, this waiver pertains solely to recommendations provided through the Common Application system.  
As per 34 CFR Sec. 99.10(b), these records must be made available for my inspection within 45 days of this request.  
I look forward to receiving a full response within 45 calendar days.

or

Please be advised that a failure to provide access to these records within the statutory time limit will result in a complaint to the Office of Postsecondary Education. The penalty for an intentional failure to comply with FERPA's terms is the loss of all federal education funds, as per 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g(a)(2).

Twiddle your thumbs for up to 45 days.

1/16/15 Students Gain Access to Files on Admission to Stanford
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/17/us/students-gain-access-to-files-on-admission-to-stanford.html
Under a federal law that has been on the books for years, some Stanford students have asked the university for copies of their admission records, and the university says it has no choice but to comply, within 45 days. That means the written assessments that admissions officers gave of applicants, the numerical scores those officers assigned them on a range of factors and, in some cases, even the recommendation letters written by their high school teachers and counselors will all be turned over to the students, who can do what they choose with them. 
Only people who actually enrolled at Stanford could see their records, so rejected applicants cannot see why they were turned down.

 

 

The Fountain Hopper's http://fountainhopper.com/ tried and tested Five Step Plan™ for getting hold of your admissions records, including qualitative and quantitative reviews by your admissions readers.
http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c9d7a555374df02a66219b578&id=93a261f1d8

At Stanford, two or three admissions officers review each prospective student’s application, and each writes an assessment of a few https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8904434
hundred words and gives a set of scores, on a scale of 1 to 5, on criteria like test scores, high school record, personal qualities, and how the student fared in an interview. All of that was included in the disclosures Stanford sent to the student, along with pages that have boxes to check for ethnicity, parents who are alumni or big donors, and other factors.  On the Common App used by most top colleges, applicants are asked to check a box waiving their right to ever see the recommendation letters written by their high school teachers and counselors. But students who did not check the box can get copies of those, too.

DO NOT GO

TO A

FOR PROFIT SCHOOL

 

For Profit Schools are publiclly traded on wall street, account for 1/3 of ALL  student loans but only account for 13% of the total higher ed population!

The graduation rate is dismal: see Corinthian College who will sell 100 schools after being prosecuted by the Feds. 2014

For Profits are only allowed to get 90% of their funding from federal loans.

Loophole - Going after Veterins - the other 10% can come from veteran loans / benefits.

For profit colleges received $1.7 billion in Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits IN  2011 - 2013 have even signed up brain injured marines who don't remember what they signed.

For Profit tuition is 5 to 6 times the cost of a community college and 2x the cost of a state university.

For profits spend 1/2 the amount on on teachers then they do on marketing and preying on low income kids who work at McDonalds.

Schools with high default rates may lose eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs.  
This year, 2014 one adult and continuing education school and 20 for-profit schools are subject to loss of eligibility for default rates that were 30% or greater for three consecutive years, more than 40% for the latest year, or both.  Also, all schools with a default rate that is 30% or greater must form a default prevention task force that prepares a plan to identify the factors causing the school’s high default rate and submit that plan to the Department.

Federal Student Aid
The public can search for individual school default rates -- by name, city, state, institution type, or eligibility status -- online.

The Middle-Class Squeeze
A Picture of Stagnant Incomes, Rising Costs, and What We Can Do to Strengthen America’s Middle Class

Thanks to APSCU For Profit lobby there are no regulations.
Thanks to APSCU You might be paying for your college experience for the rest of your life.

Just fill out the form or just copy as is and send it to APSCU@APSCU.ORG
To Whom It May Concern:
I am [NAME HERE], a human being with [DESCRIBE AT LEAST SOME LEVEL OF SENSE]
who is sick of your {SYNONYM FOR BULLSHIT].
Thank you for your time.
[NAME HERE AGAIN]

GET RESCUED
YOU ARE NOT A LOAN

 

 

Predatory institutions fuel the 1.2 Trillion in total student loan debt.

The group is only able to purchase private student debt, not the majority of outstanding U.S. student debt that’s backed by the federal government.  So only go to a NOT FOR PROFIT SCHOOL!

Strike Debt is a nationwide movement of debt resisters fighting for economic justice and democratic freedom. Occupy Wall Street pays off student loans. U.S. to Corinthian Colleges: Forgive $500 million in student loans.

Join the Debt Collective

Creditors profit from the data they have about our loans. We all owe, but we aren’t always sure who really profits from our loan payments. Who is at the end of that paper trail?
 

Join the Debt Collective Every month, we are forced into debt for basic necessities. We have no choice but to enter into contracts under unfair terms. We have little power to bargain or negotiate. Creditors are holding us hostage. When we can’t meet the terms of the contract, we are harassed, we have our wages garnished, and some of us are even imprisoned. The goal of the Debt Collective is to fight back and transform the way we finance basic necessities, such as education, health care, and housing. If you owe the bank thousands of dollars, then the bank owns you. But if you owe the bank millions, then you own the bank.

Collectively, we own the BANK! You are not alone. Join Us!
The goal of the Debt Collective is to create a platform by debtors and for debtors for organization, advocacy, and resistance. Organizing collectively offers many possibilities for building power against creditors.

Jubilee Fund 

The Rolling Jubilee Fund, an initiative of the Occupy movement A bailout of the people by the people:
Abolished $18,591,435.98 of debt SO FAR
Is accepting donations and buying up student loan debt for pennies on the dollar from debt collectors, and then forgiving the loans altogether.
The group has spent about $107,000 to purchase $3.9 million in debt, organizers said. Transparency 
Rolling Jubilee is a project of a group of economic activists called Strike Debt, which formed out of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The group timed today's announcement for the third anniversary of that protest. The word "jubilee" refers to a time decreed in the Bible, every 49th year, when all debts were ritually forgiven, and slaves and prisoners freed.
When people stop paying, debts become delinquent. The original owner, say a bank, eventually writes the debts off and sells them off at bargain-basement prices to third-party collectors. Rolling Jubilee has managed to step in instead and buy some of this secondary market debt, using donations raised online — in this case, buying student loan debt for less than 3 cents on the dollar. But instead of trying to collect this debt, the group makes it disappear. Generally speaking, neither federal nor private student loans are easily discharged through personal bankruptcy.

YOU DON'T ACTUALLY OWE THAT MUCH

HOW DEBT OPERATES

“It punches a hole through the morality of debt, through this idea that you owe X amount of dollars that the 1% says you owe. In reality, that debt is worth significantly less. The 1% is selling it to each other at bargain-based prices. You don’t actually owe that.”  The 1% in this scenario are the companies issuing private student loans and the debt buyers, who often purchase student loan portfolios like the one purchased by the Rolling Jubilee.

At first the movement considered buying loans held by Sallie Mae, the largest lender of private student loans.  “Sallie Mae is just a Bogeyman that is haunting so many people of our generation,” says Gokey.   After multiple attempts to reach someone at Sallie Mae, Gokey says he was finally put through to Douglas St Peters, currently the vice president of portfolio management at Sallie Mae spinoff Navient.   Prior to April of 2014, Navient was a loan management, servicing and asset recovery business within Sallie Mae. The campaign claims that St Peters confirmed that Sallie Mae sells its private loans to two large debt buying companies for as little as 15 cents on the dollar. According to Gokey, as soon as St Peters found out who he was speaking with, he shut down and declined their offer to purchase any of Navient’s portfolios.  “It was like talking to a politician caught in a sex scandal. No matter what I said he, like a robot, was just repeating: ‘I am not going to answer this question or any other questions’,” says Gokey.   “The only reason that they wouldn’t sell it to us is because we aren’t going to collect it. We are the anti-Navient. We are the anti-Sallie Mae.”

institiutional debt

 

There is a glut of colleges and universities fighting over the same protential "customer". They have borrowed and spent on their own  institutions. Those lines of credir have dried up and MOODY'S has started downgrading them and forcast a negative outlook for the entire education sector. Some schools will go into a death spiral. Their spending on managment not faculty wouldn't happen in any other "business" on the planet. How would you like to go to a college that goes out of business? What will happen to the worth of your degree?

BAD PAPER TRICKS OF THE TRADE

'Bad Paper' Explores The Underworld Of Debt Collection where thereis no regulation, where having a criminal background is no barrier to entry. Jake Halpern. His new book is "Bad Paper: Chasing Debt From Wall Street To The Underworld." He explains debt buying and how little regulation gave rise to a chaotic marketplace. What happens is you owe Bank of America, you know, $432, and Bank of America tries to collect on this money for 180 days, at which point, they basically give up on it or it's no longer an asset for the bank. and they tend to sell it off for pennies on the dollar. And that gets into the hands of debt buyers. And there's a food chain here, so the top debt buyers pay the most for this debt, and they try to collect on it. And any of the accounts that they can collect on, they keep that money, and whatever they can't collect on, they sell to the next debt buyer and so on and so forth. And so slowly your debt makes its way to the hands of - buying it for less and less and trying to get some money back on it. 

Threat of legal action, threat of seizure of property, threats of violence.
They are not allowed to threaten legal action unless they are an attorney. They are not allowed to threaten debtors to put them in jail or can't threaten legal action if debt is beyond the statute of limitations. That often is no longer legally enforceable, depending on the state - three to six years or something like that. So you can't say, I'm going to sue you on this 1984 credit card. So there are rules and there's something called the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act, so there are rules of the books but it hasn't been enough, thus far, to kind of create a safe marketplace for the buying and selling and for the collecting of debt.
You get astoundingly little, is what you get. In this case and most of the time what you're talking about essentially is just a spreadsheet with a list of the debtor's names, their addresses, their Social Security numbers, the balances on the accounts, maybe the date that it was opened and closed and that's about it. I mean, the Federal Trade Commission has done a study where they've shown that - they look at the large debt buyers - that only about 6 percent of the time do these purchases come with actual account statements. So you're not talking about much. He's buying an Excel spreadsheet, is really what he's buying.

The problem is, is that when she makes her last payment, when they deduct it from her account for the last time, she can't get back in touch with the company that's taking her money away and she can't, therefore get any proof that she's paid this debt. And when she checks with the credit agencies there's no record on her credit report that she's paid. So here she's put $2,700 and it seems to have vanished into nothing.

There is no uniform registry where when you owe a debt, that's on some one, unified database somewhere and so it can't be sold twice. You know, with houses I mean, there are deeds that are in county courthouses and the mortgages are public documents so there's no dispute as to who actually owns a piece of real estate. But in terms of a debt, it's like whoever - it's just so simple in a computer to copy a list of debtors' addresses and amounts. And so you can have multiple people collecting on the same debt. And you have people - what they say selling, double selling, triple selling, quadruple selling the same file to multiple different buyers. This is especially common in the payday loan industry. But it creates this total sense of chaos. There is no central database that follows debt.

The Global Debt Registry doesn't exist
 Elizabeth Warren says  consumers need to be protected from these predatory lenders and they been doing a good job. They have fairly limited resources in the big picture. I'll give you one quick example of that, so right now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the CFPB, is monitoring and policing 175 of the biggest debt collectors in the business. The catch is there are over 9,600 plus collection agencies in the United States, 42 percent of them are four people or smaller so in order for that enforcement to really cover the full scope of the industry it needs more resources.

 

EVALUATE THE COST OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION

Not Graduating from High School: "Failure of Design" is class-based and didn't really fail at all, according to the 1%.

For the real designers, it has been a stunning success, as revealed by the astonishing concentration of wealth in the top 1 percent, in fact the top 0.1%, while the majority has been reduced to virtual stagnation or decline. ~ Noam Chomsky

The reason for going to an ivy league college isn't for the education but the contacts you make. You are paying to play. You really don't think George Bush, Jeb Bush, and especially Neil Bush have really high IQ's or made 1600 on their SAT's do you? So how do you think they get into Yale?

The CIA recognizes that 1 in 7 people in the US live at or below the poverty line and only 6.24% of the country makes $100k+ per year a very bleak picture.

 

The High School Grad

If your student’s high school grades and SAT or ACT are in the bottom half of his high school class, resist colleges’ attempts to woo him. Their marketing to your child does not indicate that the colleges believe he will succeed there. Colleges make money whether or not a student learns, whether or not she graduates, and whether or not he finds good employment. And if the student is of color, the college may derive special benefits. If a physician recommended a treatment that cost a fortune and required years of effort without disclosing the poor chances of it working, she’d be sued and lose in any court in the land. But colleges--one of America’s most sacred cows -- somehow seem immune.

Forget College
HARD LABOR
IS GOOD

 

 

Mike Rowe is the host of "Dirty Jobs" -- an incredibly entertaining and heartfelt tribute to hard labor.​

It's quite likely that Mike Rowe has held more jobs than any living person. Rowe is a co-creator and the host of the series Dirty Jobs, now in its fifth year on the Discovery Channel. On the show, he learns and performs hundreds of jobs that require, it's fair to say, a little bit of getting dirty -- from chick sexer to mushroom farmer, beekeeper to boiler repairman. He and his show celebrate the sweaty and vital labor that's often hidden behind gleaming office towers.​

We’re Heading into a Jobless Future, No Matter What the Government Does
In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers revived a debate I’d had with futurist Ray Kurzweil in 2012 about the jobless future.

 

YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Financial Literacy and Your FICO Credit Score.

FICO score was created by Fair Isaac and Company. According to Fair Isaac and Company, the FICO score is a composite of the following:

• 35% is made up of your payment history -- How well do you pay your debts on time?
  To increase your credit score, keep your credit card account open after you pay it off. The account will show up as paid and reflect positively in your outstanding debt as zero.
• 30% is your outstanding debts -- Are you maxing out all your credit lines?
  Paying your bills on time with full monthly payments also positively impacts your credit score. Late payments, accounts in collections, judgments, tax liens and bankruptcies can lower your credit score.
• 15% is the length of your credit history -- Have you had credit for a long time, or are you just establishing credit?
• 10% is recent inquiries -- Too many inquires indicate that you may be taking on additional debt.
• 10% is the types of credit you use -- According to myfico.com, the FICO score will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans. It’s not necessary to have each of these types of accounts, and it’s wise not to open accounts you won’t use.
• Through the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit-reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
• DO NOT USE ANNUALCREDITREPORT.COM to get your free credit report because they are irresponsible and allowed themselves to get hacked.
• Your Budget Worksheet or Expense Diary

 

What Workplaces Gain When They Send Their Employees Back to School

 A new analysis SHOWS the results suggest that bosses can get serious mileage out of their workers even after spending up to $12,000 annually per employee on their college educations. Though the report focuses on one company, its findings may tamp down suspicions that the recent spate of company offerings are in effect feel-good PR strategies with limited benefits.

get a GREAT DEGREE in 2 years 

Highest Paying 2 Year Degree Jobs in the US leaving you with very LOW DEBT

Most of us assume those jobs only come when you have a 4-year degree, but don’t discount the 2-year degree. Many high-paying careers offer a good living after putting in just two years of school at a technical or community college.

Associates Degree = A.A. 2 Degree

1. Paralegal
2. Preschool Teacher
3. Civil Engineering Technician
4. Dental Hygienist
5. Registered Nurse
6. Occupational Therapy Assistant
7. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer
 

Medical Careers

Interested in a career in medicine but don’t want to go to school for 8 years or rack up $150,000 in debt?

Registered Nurses typically have 2-year degrees but can earn an average salary of $55,000.

Physical Therapy Assistants can earn $46,000 annually and
Radiologic and X-ray technicians earn on average $52,000.
Not bad, considering a 2-year degree costs less than $9,000 on average.

Another perk, according the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, expected job growth for nurses is 22 percent, job growth is expected at a healthy 17 percent for Radiologic and X-ray Technicians, and job growth in the physical therapy industry is expect to reach 30 percent between 2008 and 2018.

 

Interested in working in a dentist’s office?

A dental hygienist with a 2-year degree can earn $57,000 a year — more with certifications and licenses. Now you know why a teeth cleaning is so expensive.

 

Computers and Technology

Maybe you’re into computers and technology. Well, computer support specialists can make between $46,000 and $60,000 a year, depending on their specialization. Enjoy designing websites? A web designer with a 2-year degree can make an average of $47,000 annually. A graphic designer can make between $40,000 and $50,000 a year or more if their own their own firm.

Construction and Engineering

If you enjoy building things, such as homes or infrastructure, you have options as well. Engineering technicians can make between $41,000 and $52,000 a year, depending on the engineering area. Environmental engineering technicians make the least, while aerospace engineering technicians make the most. But it’s still a good wage for an Associate’s degree. If you are looking for a gig in green technology, solar panel consultants and installers can make over $50,000 a year. Electrical technicians can make well over $40,000 as well.

Paralegals, police detectives, and hospitality workers all earn on average more than $40,000 a year. And not to be outdone, a Funeral Director can bring home over $52,000 a year.

It is important to mention that with many of these careers, additional certifications or licenses are required (nurses, x-ray technicians, dental hygienists all require a certification or license), but your 2-year degree should prepare you to take these exams. In some careers, such as electrical technicians and funeral directors, an apprenticeship can be at least partially substituted for a 2-year degree.

A 2-year degree could get you where you want to go offering excellent medical, engineering, computer and graphic design salaries.

Source: http://www.bls.gov

YOU HAVE CHOICES

 

Career Advisor Marty Nemko You Have Choices! So, let the buyer beware. 

Consider non-degree options:

• apprenticeship programs
•  
• short career-preparation programs at community colleges
•  
• the military
•  
• on-the-job training, especially at the elbow of a successful small business owner, non-profit director, etc.

 

FINANCE COLLEGE

 

2013 The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has advised parents not to co-sign student loans.

A December 14, 2012 article on the AARP website said: "Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show a shocking trend: Americans 60 and older are now the fastest-growing owners of college debt. Student loan debt for this group has skyrocketed to $43 billion, more than fivefold since 2005, mainly because parents are cosigning for their children's college loans. Private student loans are the worst. They have higher interest rates and, unlike federal student loans, there are no provisions for forgiveness. Neither private nor federal student loans can be written off in bankruptcy court, so the debt absolutely must be repaid. Some seniors are paying student loans with their Social Security checks. Others are forced to cut expenses or live with their kids in old age. Avoid these scenarios by just saying no to cosigning student loans for others."

What Happens If You Default on Federal Student Loans – Tips to Avoid It

When someone defaults on their federal loans, life quickly becomes quite difficult, and more barriers to achieve financial stability are imposed. Just how quickly can a person default? Most federal loans go from being delinquent to default status after nine months of no payments.

COMMON CORE CORRUPTS

 

Thanks to the K12 Common Core Standards our kids won't be learning much and lot's of parents hate them.

Who are the "Enemies" of Common Core? ​

Flow Chart Exposes Common Core's Myriad Corporate Connections 9/6/13

[ . . . . McDermott mentions a number of corporations and organizations prying for influence over the Common Core standards. Among them is Achieve Inc., a company widely funded by ALEC members, including Boeing and State Farm, among others. McDermott also points to peer-reviewed academic research originally published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation by Fenwick English titled "The Ten Most Wanted Enemies of American Public Education's School Leadership." In his research English looks at many of the players involved in the same network that McDermott maps with clarity, writing of the Eli Broad Foundation that: Broad money is sloshed behind the scenes to elect or select candidates who "buy" the Broad corporate agenda in education. ... Broad's enemies are teacher unions, school boards, and schools of education. What all three have in common is that they eschew corporate, top-down control required in the Broad business model. According to McDermott, America's Choice, another part of Common Core's corporate web, originally was founded as a program of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. But in 2004, the group was reorganized as a for-profit subsidiary of NCEE. ]

Carol Burris  has written an article for Valerie Strauss’ The Answer Sheet in the Washington Post in which she reviews the effort by Arne Duncan and New York’s John King to identify the “enemies” of Common Core.

Duncan and King cast the advocates of Common Core (the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? the Business Roundtable? Jeb Bush? Themselves?) as bold champions of the civil rights issue of our time. What is that issue? Higher and higher standards that produce astronomical failure rates. In New York, only 31% of children in grades 3-8 “passed” the Common Core tests in reading and math. In reading, only 3% of ELLs passed; only 5% of children with disabilities; only 16% of black students; only 18% of Hispanic students. The scores in urban and poor districts were lowest. The scores in low-need districts were highest.

Can anyone explain in what sense the drive to impose high-stakes testing that most kids will fail is a civil rights issue? Of course the kids who are headed for the top universities will do well. But doesn’t our society need people who can be plumbers, mechanics, nurses, nurses’ aides, retail clerks, and fill the many other occupations that do not require an Ivy League degree? If we design an education system that denies a diploma to all those who do not pass the Common Core tests, what will become of them?

A HIGH SCHOOL
DROP OUT

 

 

Whistle Blower High School Drop Out Edward Snowden described his public high school experience as "wretched."

Halfway through 10th grade, during the 1998-99 school year, Snowden dropped out of Arundel High School, where he had made little impression. Neither the principal nor the teachers who taught his favorite subjects remember him. He took pride in building a career without having climbed the ordinary rungs of an American education. Snowden dipped in and out of course work over the next dozen years, taking classes at Anne Arundel Community College, the University of Maryland’s University College, the University of Liverpool and the Computer Career Institute, a for-profit college then affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.
He became a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert — a status the computer giant offers as a gateway to tech jobs — but Snowden felt stuck in those first years of adulthood, describing himself on the Ars Technica site as someone "without a degree or clearance who lives in Maryland. Read that as 'unemployed.' "
He became a security guard to security clearance, from a lowly position of the sort that high school dropouts find themselves in to a job with double the salary. His new position with the CIA put him on the path to extensive travel, a six-figure income and extraordinary access to classified material. Snowden spent about three years in Geneva and then in Japan, working, he said, for the CIA and later for a contractor, in both cases on computer network security.
At 22, Snowden was confident enough to take on the role of career-advice maven, describing how to parlay any IT job, no matter how lowly, into a lucrative position: “Listen to what they say about networking.. . . If somebody likes you, it doesn’t even matter if you put your pants on before your underwear in the morning — you will get the job. "I have $0 in debt from student loans, I make $70k, I just had to turn down offers for $83k and $180k. . . . Employers fight over me. And I’m 22." Snowden wrote about using the Foreign Service as a path to success: "It’s an amazing deal if you can swing it. I’m not talking Foreign Service Officer, either, just standard IT specialist positions. They pay for your (ridiculously nice) housing and since you’ll be posted overseas, the first ~$80k you make will be tax-free."