The real problem lies in the economy. What with a marked rise in the cost of living, an alarming increase in divorce creating the need for dual-household income, outsourcing, multinationals that are richer than most countries creating CEOs that earn 1500% more than their generational predecessors, and so on. It’s just gotten downright ugly.

It used to be that with one job you could buy a house, a couple cars, and provide the essentials for your family. Now with both parents working in 70% of U.S. homes, it still doesn’t provide financial security. Like the get-a-college-degree-job-security myth that many still feed in to, even with both parents working the safety-in-numbers myth provides little security as well.

Why?

Consider this, the top three reasons why there are over two million foreclosures in the U.S. are divorce, job loss, and illness. Regardless that it was a 40-year low in interest rates that got most there, outside of this there lies another, more deep-seeded problem. One income cannot do it anymore. Even two are struggling to get by. Here’s a sobering report from Elizabeth Warren, author of “The Middle Class on the Precipice” (Harvard Magazine, Jan. / Feb 2006).

“By 2004, the family budget looks very different. As noted earlier, although a man is making nearly $800 less than his counterpart a generation ago, his wife’s paycheck brings the family to a combined income that is $73,770-a 75 percent increase. But higher expenses have more than eroded that apparent financial advantage. Their annual mortgage payments are more than $10,500. If they have a child in elementary school who goes to daycare after school and in the summers, the family will spend $5,660. If their second child is a preschooler, the cost is even higher-$6,920 a year. With both people in the workforce, the family spends more than $8,000 a year on its two vehicles. Health insurance costs the family $1,970, and taxes now take 30 percent [ it's actually 42 to 50%] of its money. The bottom line: today’s median-earning, median-spending middle-class family sends two people into the workforce, but at the end of the day they have about $1,500 less for discretionary spending than their one-income counterparts of a generation ago.”

More and more middle-class citizens are falling into the lower class, many by way of foreclosure. I was watching the news last night with my wife at a friend’s house. A man and woman had just lost their home and were sitting outside their new trailer home with transplanted lawn jockey, pots, and planters. Through teared-up sobs, the man explained how disheartening it was to work so hard for a dream only to see it lost with little chance of recovery.

What is the solution? Well, instead of going to a job factory (university / college) to learn a craft or skill only to end up working for the government (40 to 50% taken in taxes), banks, and credit card companies (average American owes $10,000) our students should be learning about finances, more specifically, how to own a business and invest.

Time and time and time again, I have gone to wealth seminars and heard former mortgage brokers, insurance agents, Kentucky Fried Chicken managers, teachers, the homeless (sometime the same–I know!), talk about dire times, skimming for nickels and dimes in the change jar to pay for groceries. It is a sad state of affairs, and some, like Hillary, feel that the government needs to do something about it. Well, if you know how the government moves, I’m not waiting. So what do we do?

Instead of working for a company, one which tells you when to come, when to go, how much your worth, and whether or not you’ll be working; instead of never even seeing 45% of your income; instead of being caught in the education matrix; instead of relying on the pain of scrimp and save to no safe solution; the only alternative is to let your money and the government work for you. Here’s how.

Consider the following trend. Most micro-business owners represent:

99% of all employers

50% of all employees

44% of all payroll dollars

70% of all net new jobs

Today, one out of six people that you meet are taking matters into their own hands and have joined the ranks of the “better-off,” if not secure.

If you want to get your taxes down to single digits, start a business. It can even be a part-time online business selling knitting techniques. Really! The tax write offs alone are worth it. Here’s a few examples:

Home Office Deduction: You no longer have any non-deductible commute. All of your mileage is now business related.

Pay your child up to $5000 to help you run your business and pay no taxes (fica, fed., state) and get $2500 back from Uncle Sam.

Convert other medical expenses from itemized deductions to business expenses. Convert limited health insurance deductions into fully deductible business expenses. You save not only on federal income taxes but reduce self employment taxes as well. Save up to 45% by deducting payments that you are already making.

For retirement, up to $45,000 / year can be deferred. Invest in your future and the IRS will reward you with lower taxes.

Why let your Bad Uncle take your money when your Good Uncle is only a business idea away?

How else can you win the money game? Real estate . The government wants you to do two things: start a business to create jobs and feed the economy and to provide affordable housing. And you don’t have to be “The Don” when it comes to real estate. But keep in mind that 7 out of 10 millionaires own real estate. It’s the safest and most profitable way to make passive or leveraged income. And by the way, the government is dying to give away money, provide the down payment, even forgive loans (yes, there are forgivable loans that don’t have to be paid back; hell, they’re forgiven!).

Need a home? Here’s a possibility. Try the 203 (b). It’s the purchase of a four-plex, where you move in to manage for a year before selling or keeping as an investment. And the good part? You live for free as you build equity.

Bottom line, the government wants you to help out, and if you do, they’ll help you, in a big way . There’s many ways of getting ahead. The limit is only in your ability to imagine.

So even though there’s a lot of bad news out there (foreclosures, job loss, cost of living increase), if you keep your eyes open there’s always a way out. With a little shift in thinking, a willingness to change, you can not only get back on top but rise higher than before. Good luck and God bless.

There are six regional accreditation agencies, but there are also national accreditation and specialized accreditation agencies. The six regional accrediting agencies cover the United States and review the programs, campuses, and education delivery of their respective, regionally located colleges and universities. National accrediting agencies perform the same functions as the regional agencies; however, they generally focus on for-profit schools. Some of the national accrediting agencies are Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT), Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), and Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). They also accredit faith-based colleges and universities. Lastly, students studying in such fields as dentistry, medicine, nursing, and law generally need to graduate from accredited programs with specialized accreditation from professional associations.

When people speak of accreditation, they generally are referring to the regional accrediting agencies because they cover the majority of traditional colleges and universities. And for some reason, students and parents believe that because an institution is accredited that if they study a particular curriculum it is preparing them for a particular career. Not always the case.

Personally, my undergrad and graduate degree are in English; however, none of the courses prepared me for teaching: composition, literature, technical writing, critical thinking, and so on, or that which I have taught (a point of note is that I was not required to take one grammar or composition course as an English major). Even when I studied to obtain a position in the computer field, the curriculum did little to prepare me for the type of programming I ended up doing. In addition, I have met, spoken to, and read about numerous business professionals who mention that their business degree has been of little use to them. Even my lawyer friend-the program he enrolled in received specialized accreditation-speaks to the fact that there is a great difference between what he learned in school and what he is now doing on the job.

My point being that, certainly, there is a great difference between theory and application, but more importantly, the majority of time students attend a college or university believing that the education received will prepare them for a particular career. That is often not the case, except in more rigorous or specialized fields like medicine and law. In order to be successful, to avoid wasting years and leaving 100s of thousands of dollars on the table in lost salary, it is critical that students do their research to discover not only what they want to do but what the job they’ll be doing requires. And this involves more work than one may initially perceive.

To limit the poor education to job or career match, first one must thoroughly know one’s talents, abilities, and gifts, for it is here where one will not only find a career but in exploiting these personal attributes find life-satisfaction and self-actualization. But this is an involved process and even after discovering what one was put here to do, it is imperative that he or she stick to it.

For example, Albert Einstein knew what he was put here to do; however, he went a good decade of seeing his great insights ignored. At times he was so despondent he felt little desire to carry on. At one point he even considered going into sales. Imagine seeing Einstein at your door selling encyclopedias. Even the great politician Abraham Lincoln had to put aside his talents, ambitions, desires, and gifts for close to three decades as he failed time and again to get elected to office. He finally succeeded at the young age of fifty-two. Imagine where this country would be if he had given up?

So after one truly discovers and, most importantly, commits to exploiting one’s talents, abilities, and gifts, he or she must understand the success principles involved that will aid in the achieving of one’s goals: self-control, focus, accountability, doing more than one’s asked, how to profit from failure, and so many more.

Bottom line, it is the individual’s responsibility to know the limitations of education, what he or she was put here to do, how to stick to the plan or goal of exploiting and capitalizing on those gifts and talents, and to build an accurate match between education and career. No accrediting institution will do this work for you. And equally important is to avoid going into a career simply because a parent has done so or they advises you to go into a career against your better judgment (for how can you do that which will occupy one-third of your life without passion?), or because that’s simply where the prestige or the money is, and so on; go into a career because you know that is where you need to be to not only satisfy your desires but to come to the aid of all those you may touch as you apply your craft in a focused and impassioned manor.

Please choose wisely and knowingly, for the world is in great need of those who do more than the minimum. Pick up your torch, the reason you were put here, and through your passion build a better community, state, country, even nation and world.

Here’s to your success!

First, to set the stage, let’s start by saying that most believe education to be critical. Education here meaning high school since it is compulsory and everyone is required to attend. But specifically the content of the “education” spoken to by the majority is quite different from what is essential to survive in today’s competitive world. (More on this later.) Nevertheless, the popular content of the general high school curriculum those in the media, political and public arenas speak of entails arithmetic, science, language, phys ed, history, and English.

And most have been conditioned to believe that this type of education is necessary or critical or that a child without a high school education and, in most cases today, a college education limits the average child’s chance for success in the job market. And this is true to a degree but less so than most believe. But to continue our definition, it should be pointed out here that education gained usually translates to “job,” meaning that the belief is that high school and / or college are preparing the student for her life’s work. But this is not true and our youth are being shortchanged. For after twelve maybe sixteen years of education, then what? Education stops because institutional education is complete?

Today such thinking is disastrous, for with the opening of the global job market and greater competition–therefore the greater creative destruction of capitalism–one needs to be on the ball and constantly updating skills, even deleting and re-learning new skills, a situation that requires less of educational standards and a greater understanding of the critical need for developing one’s self-education skills that readies one for the great changes ahead–not only numerous jobs but careers that are sure to come. Never before has it been more critical for students and workers to understand the need to keep one’s skills, attitudes, and knowledge in tip-top shape, up to date and forever expanding.

And of course, as I’ve mentioned before numerous times-but bears repeating-high school grads and even college grads are lacking fundamental skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are more critical today than ever before: self-educating skills (as mentioned), critical and intuitive thinking, financial IQ, honesty, integrity, work ethic, success principles (upwards of 64 of them!), ability to work well with others, public speaking / leadership skills, and so much more.

Why are these intangibles, these often over looked skills, knowledge, and attitudes so important? Well, it is just the foundation of these very intangibles-which are rarely addressed in education-that will keep the average graduate on solid footing in regards to the many career changes guaranteed to come. After all this is, as Allen Greenspan states, the age of turbulence. The new grad must be adaptive, focused, work ready, and basically a company of one, ready and able to adapt as change occurs on the job, in the world national and international, and in ever changing career shifts. How market ready are you? How valuable and adaptive are your insights, skills, and attitudes? No longer can one rely on just one degree, skill, or job to see them through to retirement and its pension (by the way, pensions will have nearly evaporated by the time those who are just entering the work force have retired if current trends continue–they already are weakened and dissappearing).

This now brings us to the current state of education and belief that a standard high school education is necessary. Let’s bear down on the point at hand.

We often hear that schools are doing poorly or doing well in regards to testing and grades in the standard disciplines mentioned above–math, science, English, etc.. And it is generally taken for granted that we need these courses and that our children will benefit by taking them. However, how do we know this? What tangible evidence, research and verification tells us that what our children study is benefiting them five, ten, twenty years down the road?

As far as I know, there is none. To ensure that an education is critical it first must have value for the consumer, for if it holds none its hold on the consumer will be short lived. If we looked at the truth, we will find that not only are most not using that which they’ve learned in school and even college but they have little to no desire to retain it in the first place. Here are a few direct quotes from current and former students of mine.

“Got labs today. Can’t wait to purge this junk once the test is over.”

“Dude, that class is a joke. Do what we all do. Get the grade, dump the junk, and get on with your life.”

“Whoever thought we needed half this crap [knowledge gained from classes taken] should be shot, run over, then shot again.”

Some of these statements I’ve overheard or seen posted on various social media. (I’ve left out  the numerous comments that have an “R” rating or higher.) The point being that there’s a lot of precious “knowledge” out there that has little value for many in high school and college.

Why is this allowed to happen in the first place?

Well, most education is not for profit, meaning that if it were there would be a lot of asking of the customer what she likes and doesn’t like, as well as what is useful and not useful to not only retain  customers but to encourage them to come back. There’s little if any of that concern in education at any level. For emphasis, just consider where you get optimum service, at the DMV, US Post Office, or INS? Or maybe more so at Blockbusters, Wells Fargo, or Vons Supermarket? Yes, where the customer is king, in the private sector.

Most education is run by states and, therefore, talked about by those governing the country–those with short-term agendas to get elected or re-elected–not with the long-term picture in mind. And this bears out the point that most have little interest in or concern for what happens to grads after they’re gone and whether or not what they’ve studied is needed or necessary. Even schools and colleges are guilty of this offense. Have you ever been approached by your school or college with a survey to discern your consumer satisfaction? Then my question is, how do they have any idea that what they are doing is right? Good? Of merit or quality? Of need, even?
On top of it all, students attending school and college and their parents just take it for granted that authorities and governing bodies (regional accreditors that are academically oriented and not tied into the realities of the private sector) have selected curriculum that is appropriate for ever child’s needs, a ridiculous proposal at best. Does anyone ever question what they or their child is taking in school and / or college and how it specifically applies to them, their abilities, talents, character, skills, and desires? Trusting so much in governing bodies that do little to no checking to see if that which they are requiring students in schools and college is beneficial years later? If private companies were run like this they’d be out of business quicker than you could say “failed thinking.”

It is critical today more than ever before that consumers-students-understand thoroughly not only what education means, and its limitations, but what they need to ensure success not only in the workforce, but in their families, society, and spiritual life. There is so much that so many are missing out on with the current state of the education nation. It is in a sad state indeed and only its privatization or the seeking of a proper, thorough and adequate education by individuals in the know of what is needed will truly reform education. As consumers of education, we certainly need to be better trained in what we are receiving, what we need, and how to go about getting it.

Going with our original example, now flash forward a couple decades or more, what do you see? Around the age of thirty, maybe thirty-five your words and phrases, and mannerisms become familiar, and for good reason. Why it takes so long for us to realize (or are these things time released?) that who we are hearing and seeing is our parents I don’t know. It is our mom or dad or both. We may hear them when we get mad at our kids, run into frustration at work, or even in the joy we express; it is our parents coming alive in our own words and actions.

Now let’s get to the issue at hand: best teacher ever, greatest influence in our lives.

Well, of all the dozens of teachers I’ve had through elementary, high school, college, into grad school, who do I remember? Who stands out in my mind? Some teacher I think of now and again as I learn and move forward in life? Not one of them. But there is one teacher who comes back to me time and again through the good and the bad and the ugly, for our relationship as student / teacher was never a smooth one, yet one of the most personal teacher / student relationships I’ve ever had.

It is funny to me all the praise and great value we place on school teachers, as if their influence and words will be remembered through the years. It is like a great conqueror who desires to be remembered through the ages when he is lucky if people give him a few thoughts a few times a year for all his bloodshed and efforts. Greatness is fleeting if it is sought after without the focus being on the giving not the taking. And the best school teacher is one who works in the shadows to the betterment of the student.

“A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.” ~~ Thomas Carruthers

“The kids in our classroom are infinitely more significant than the subject matter we teach.” ~~ Meladee McCarty

“The teacher is but the catalyst, the poker and prodder, the tweeker standing quite in the shadows, a magician casting spells, the child thinking she has done it all herself.” ~~ Jeff Brown

“Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he learns and the way he understands it.” ~~ Soren Kierkegaard

But my teacher is one I remember, my father, for he was with me always. Little did he leave my mind when I was younger, and little does he leave my mind now as I achieve, as I come to understand it was the curiosity and imagination he instilled in me; the discipline he formed; the tenacity laid in foundation; the honor and honesty that keep me at my best; responsibility and sticking to the task at hand, all that he taught me, my greatest, my only teacher, that has enabled me to succeed at work, in public, and at home. For what school teacher is close enough to teach the essentials, the critical lessons of life, love, and home to make the better man the best-of-all men?

“The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions.” ~~ Bishop Mandell Creighton

“He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.” ~~ Joseph Joubert

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” ~~ Clay P. Bedford

My father taught me those things no teacher can, things of the heart that are not, unfortunately, fiscally in demand but oh so much more important.

“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” ~~ C. S. Lewis

As the years go by, school teachers we’ve had over the years will fade in our minds, few if any ever coming to the forefront again. So if you want your child to succeed, if you want the best education your child can have to come to light, teach him all that you know and everything will turn out alright in your imperfect educational role, a parental delight.

“Spoon feeding, in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” ~~ E.M. Forster

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~~ Aristotle

“Children learn to smile from their parents.” ~~ Shinichi Suzuki

“It is the responsibility of every adult to make sure that children hear what we have learned from the lessons of life and to hear over and over that we love them.” ~~ Marian W. Edelman

If we desire our children to get the best education, then we must desire the best from us and to pass it on, to encourage and instill in the child a solid sense of self, character, responsibility, work ethic, honesty, honor, accountability, tenacity, discipline, focus and all that goes along with success, for if we don’t prepare the vessel and prepare it adequately regardless of what we put in it, that which is so secondary, it will not matter. For the vessel will spill over all that it has taken in and never achieve regardless of all the knowledge, ability, skill, gifts and desire.

It is time for parents to take responsibility for teaching their children and teaching them well all that they need to know to prosper them to the end of their time.

Teach your children well,

Their father’s hell did slowly go by,

And feed them on your dreams

The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.

Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,

So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

Crosby Stills Nash Young — “Teach Your Children

According to Kathy Kristof, “Crushed by College,” the above attorneys were “victims of an unfolding education hoax on the middle class that’s just as insidious, and nearly as sweeping, as the housing debacle The ingredients are strikingly similar, too: Misguided easy-money policies that are encouraging the masses to go into debt; a self-serving establishment trading in half-truths that exaggerate the value of its product; plus a Wall Street money machine dabbling in outright fraud as it foists unaffordable debt on the most vulnerable marks” (Forbes, Feb 2, 2009).

There’s also the myth that if you go to college you make about $1 million more on average than a high school grad, once again, failed thinking. The belief is that it is college that is enabling the individual to make more money. Maybe it’s just that smart people go to college and are more likely to make more money than high school grads because of their smarts, and it has little to nothing to do with the degree. It’s failed cause effect thinking. There are many who have never gone to college or dropped out, like Bill Gates from Harvard, who don’t have a degree who are making cash hand over fist.

Even if you get a degree, there’s no promise that you’ll use it, need it, or that it will prepare you for the work you desire to take up. For example, I hear time and again that those who are now in business have little use for their business degree. Personally, I obtained a certificate in programming and had to get in at the entry level shuffling reports. I eventually got into programming, but I didn’t use any of the languages I learned and acquired all of my know-how on the job. Even my BA and MA in English did little to nothing to prepare me to teach grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and composition, all of which I learned on the job, once again. Interesting to note that an English major was not required to take even one grammar or composition class.

But there’s more to the story.

If you add the expense of going to college (tuition, fees, books, room & board: $46, 700 / yr. public schools; $99,000 yr. / private schools) what isn’t taken into consideration is that the “$1 million college over high school grad” advantage doesn’t kick in until the grad has been out of school twelve years or more (don’t forget to include the four years of college where no money is earned) before the loan is paid off.That is if you graduate (half entering college never do), don’t default on your loan (17% write offs), aren’t delinquent (upwards of 24%) and pay without interruption (many defer payments or file for hardships while interest continues to accrue).

On top of all this is the fact that private lenders add 10% “origination fees” onto 18% variable interest rates (there’s no legal limit). These private loans are now twice as profitable as government loans and has attracted financial institutions like Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.

The arm of abuse extends far, for according to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, investigations have discovered “troubling, deceptive and often illegal practices . . . involving lenders, educational institutions and financial aid officials.” So those “sacrosanct” college and university staff are not as many perceive them to be.

Another thing that colleges, universities, and other institutions of learning (for profit) don’t tell American Dream hopefuls is the reality of what their degree can actually get them. Often times, as stated above, the curriculum to job or reality match is not even close. Some students are preached to about the great paying jobs they’ll get only to discover that it is those with years of experience or a greater degree and years of struggle that has “ensured” said success.

Here’s another sobering factoid:

“One in four college grads takes home considerably less than the top quartile of high school grads, according to a College Board study” (Kathy Kristof, “Crushed by College”).

Also, if you’re thinking of taking the traditional path to “job security” and the American Dream through being a doctor and opening up your private practice, think again.

In a recent survey only 18% of physicians deemed their practices financially stable. What with liability, exorbitant student loan debt ($155,000 average which has jumped from 20% of their average pay to 60%) and the fact that the self-employed don’t get considerable tax breaks like business owners or investors, the American dream here has moved into nightmare territory.

One day at a McDonalds, my wife and I were sitting next to a nanny with two children. Speaking in Spanish, she told us that she worked for a couple with private practices. They worked from seven in the morning until seven in the evening seeing their children for an hour before putting them to bed and going to bed themselves.Why? To survive.

Another consideration is a single income stream and its overall disadvantage. Even if the employee happens to be a college grad who has optimized her income (some $30,000 / yr. over what high school grads make), what happens when that steam dries up in these economically challenging times? where cost of living to income ration is the worst it’s ever been for single income employees. Never before has it been so challenging just to pay the bills never mind put away a little money for a “rainy day.” If the employee can’t work any longer for whatever reason (health, business or industry collapse, competition), what is a single-stream income employee to do?

It’s old thinking, out-dated thinking, failed thinking, and most of all, dangerous thinking. Never before has it been so critical, so essential that the individual understand that he is responsible for his financial future and that financial IQ is one of the most important elements of his ongoing education.

The American Dream has changed along with the economy and few are aware. There needs to be an awakening to the facts that achievement of the American Dream through college and “job security” are things of the past and that people need to quickly get up to speed as to what needs to be done to survive financially through the working years into retirement. Little of what is needed relies on a college degree. Just ask the experienced. They’ll tell you the truth. No lie.

Teachers . . .

If you listen without judgment and with your child’s best interest in mind, they can tell you a lot. And remember, they are not the enemy. What? You think they went into teaching for the power, fame, glory, and prestige of it all? No. They do it because they love teaching and they love your children. Help them by listening to what they have to say below. This is a compilation of thought from experienced teachers from several states.

But if we really want to improve education, we may turn to another source . . .

Students.

What’s wrong with the system? Since they are on the receiving end, you’d be amazed what they can tell you. Maybe adults too far removed from the process in experience and in mind (PhDs over-thinking with impractical theory) don’t really get it.

Why we’ve stopped listening and supporting teachers and never really gone to the source in asking students what’s wrong may just be two of the most important steps we can take in improving education.

So take a listen at this juncture to at least hear what one half of the solution has to say, won’t you?

What Your Child’s Teacher Won’t Tell You

1. My first year of teaching, a fifth-grader actually threw a chair at me. I saw him recently, and he told me he just graduated from college. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

2. I have parents who are CEOs of their own companies come in and tell me how to run my classroom. I would never think to go to their office and tell them how to do their jobs.

3. We don’t arrive at school 10 minutes before your child does. And we don’t leave the minute they get back on the bus. Many of us put in extra hours before and after school.

4. We are not the enemy. Parents and teachers really are on the same side.

5. The truth is simple: Your kid will lie to get out of trouble.

6. Encourage your child to keep reading. That’s key to success in the classroom at any age.

7. We can tell the difference between a parent helping their child with homework and doing it for them (especially when they’re clueless in class the next day).

8. Teaching is a calling. There’s not a teacher alive who will say she went into this for the money.

9. Just because your child says he did his homework doesn’t mean it’s true. You must check. Every night.

10. Teaching is not as joyful as it once was for many of us; we get jaded too. Disrespectful students and belligerent parents take a toll on us.

11. Parents give their kids the pricey gadgets and labels, but what kids really crave is for you to talk to them. They want to know you are interested in their lives.

12. We spend money out of our own pockets to buy things our students need, such as school supplies and even shoes.

13. Supportive, involved parents are crucial. But some are “helicopter parents”–they hover too much.

14. Having the summer off is great, but many of us have to take on extra jobs–teaching summer school, tutoring–to make ends meet.

15. Success is not achieved by just making kids memorize flash cards and prepping them for an Ivy League school. Sensible parents know there is a college for every kid, and that responsibility and good citizenship are what really drive success.

16. Nobody says “the dog ate my homework” anymore, but we hear a lot of “I left it on the kitchen table.” And then Mom will send in a note to back up the story.

17. We wish parents would make their kids own up to their actions instead of pressuring us to bend the rules.

18. Please stop doing everything for your child and allow them to make mistakes. How else will they learn? Kids are not motivated to succeed because they feel their parents will bail them out every time.

19. There are days when I just want to quit, but then that one smile from that one kid, changes it all.

Sources: American Federation of Teachers; interviews with elementary and middle school teachers in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, and Texas. Adapted from interviews with teachers by Neena Samuel

The term “No child left behind” is often bandied about by politicians when talking reform. But can that federal ideal be achieved? when how children are educated and what they learn is not determined at the state level or even the district level-of which nationally there are roughly 15,000-but rather at the school and classroom level, even.

Why is this true? To get to the answer, let’s get a little history first.

Teachers used to determine on their own how to teach the chosen content going from one fashionable method to another: from students sitting in rows and columns to circles; from quiet classroom to lively, controlled classrooms; and so on. But amongst all this, it was still up to teachers as to what should be taught as well.

However, over the last 20 years states have generally begun to agree on standards, but the problem is defining clear and teachable standards that are not too broad or too narrow which often creates confusion. Ironically, this confusion often results in the states putting the responsibility of what to teach back on the teacher.

But even if a “standard” is determined, how is it determined? It’s generally done so by groups consisting of teachers and content experts. However, the proof is in the pudding. How do these groups know that what they are having children learn is actually used in the workforce to the greatest degree? Are these education-standard decision makers lost in pie-in-the-sky academic theory or feet-on-the-ground practical application?

How practical and useful is the education today’s grads receive?

Personally, I’ve done informal surveys in my classes and have asked students if they feel they will have a “great need” in their lives / careers for, say, algebra, geometry, chemistry, biology, English literature, history, and so on. Rarely do I see more than a hand or two go up for any discipline I choose. An interesting result.

Administrators and trustees may come up with educational guidelines and content standards, but how many surveys are taken five years or so after graduation to determine how much of what was learned is used by students and to what degree? Maybe a realistic analysis will not only take the guesswork out of building curricula but also motivate teachers and administrators to teach to a “practical” standard curriculum.

To take the informal analysis a step further, let’s look at what’s being taught and whether or not it’s actually needed by the majority who go into the workforce. Let’s begin with science and math, certainly twin stars in the eyes of educators and parents alike (”If only my little Johnny were into math or science . . . ahhhhhhhh . . .).

Let’s be practical. It’s wishful thinking to believe that the majority will use higher math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc.) or science. Of course, the current desire by our government to encourage more math and science centered students is merely economical. It believes that the more people we can get into high-tech jobs the more competitive (read more money) America will be. Bottom line, will we catch up with the six countries we lag behind.

Certainly there are jobs in major occupational groups such as computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering; life, physical, and social sciences; but according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics that’s roughly about 5% of the labor force, give or take a few percentage points. The majority of jobs are in management, sales, health-care, protective services, food preparation and service, office and administrative support, construction, maintenance, production, and transportation. When is this reality ever addressed?

As an aside here, one reason we get lost in an inadequate perception of educational need is the peer pressure put on teachers and administrators to not only support popular ideas but to perpetuate their own jobs through self-fulfilling propaganda. Here’s an example:

According to Karin Chenoweth, senior writer with the Education Trust and author of How It’s Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools, she states that “To be ready for, say, a plumbing apprenticeship or to get a job on an automobile assembly line or as a sales representative requires that students have fairly high reading and writing levels and have mastered math at least through Algebra II.”

Hardly.

If they desire to move up out of these positions, maybe. However, sometimes even the very successful need little education or desire to be educated beyond relevant or specific knowledge that directly pertains to their skill.

I personally know a man who did graduate from college–a prestigious California college– barely, and avoids books like the plague, but has developed a successful commercial real estate business. Another friend of mine never graduated from high school but runs a successful tree business that employs 80. And how about Bill Bartmann? a high school dropout who eventually went to college and graduated without a grade higher than “C,” then went onto law school, graduated to became a lawyer, quit that job and moved into business where he has made billions.

Learning how to learn, to think well (critically, intuitively, creatively, etc.), to build one’s knowledge base, skills, a productive attitude and good character are critical to success. But a formal, standard secondary education? One needs to understand its limitations, first and foremost. And the fact that no student is going to be forced to learn, or better yet, retain anything that is not of interest must be considered. Therefore, schools that unrealistically focus on what “We want kids to learn” is failed thinking and leaves out the most important part of the equation: the recipient. Do schools ever really focus on what the student wants? For once the formal institution’s influence is gone, the student left alone unto herself will in most cases begin to see what she desires and focus and build from there regardless of any institution’s “want.”

Another often forgotten point is the fact that even if a child loves a particular discipline all is lost if that knowledge is not kept fresh through constant use. Consider that within 24 hours 80% of what one reads is forgotten if not reviewed, then where does a high school grad stand months after graduation, especially graduation with grades that represent knowledge crammed in and spit out as quickly as possible after testing? An all too common event. Very rarely if ever do I run into students who focus on knowledge gained. The majority work to the grade not to the knowledge (another issue educators don’t address or overlook all too often).

But let’s get back to the national focus on math and science and finish our thinking on this issue.

Sure, I’d like an ideal world where we all have great paying, challenging jobs (utilizing high-end math skills, science and so on), but it’s not practical. The majority of jobs don’t require anything beyond arithmetic, something the majority of politicians, school board members, and parents don’t talk about. Math is pushed like everyone should learn it and that once that happens we’re in a safe haven, it’s the end-all and cure-all, life is good. Utopia here we come. But believing that marketing and selling math and science will get more interested, forget it, I’ve seen the level of math anxiety of anti-math students. It’s not a realistic fit. And also consider that less than a third of incoming college freshman are proficient, I said proficient, in basic math and writing skills, therein lies a major inhibitor in the belief that we are going to have an abundance of math and science students to fill the void.

Nevertheless, there should be a standard, and what the specifics of that standard entail should be determined by following graduates into the workforce seeing what is greatly needed and what is not. But once that’s accomplished that’s only the beginning.

Next, you have to get every teacher in every school in the nation on the same page which will greatly smooth out transition for the millions of students who move to a new school each year. Consider that not only does the new student have to adjust to a new culture, routine, students, but new curriculum as well. With a national standard, at least here the student will find familiarity.

By creating a national standard that means that teachers will have to collaborate. However, that’s not something that is part of the teacher’s professional development. And certainly teachers get together for meetings, but these meetings are often unfocused and waste time. By getting together with other teachers to discuss how to teach the new national standard, consult with each other and experts about a systematic, detailed way to teach it is, unfortunately, going against the norm. A complete overhaul of educating educators will have to be made in this regard.

And in order to get these norming sessions into practical action, teachers must focus on the controllable and on instruction not wandering into complaining or gossiping or rambling on about things not addressing instruction.

But other issues concerning what is not taught in schools that is so essential to our youth’s education that goes beyond standard curriculum are rarely addressed. Here’s a short list:

1) Finance: few students have the slightest inkling as to what they will need to survive on or thrive on while working toward and through retirement. Financial IQ is such an essential aspect of a responsible citizen of society it should go without saying, yet with the average American $10,000 in credit card debt and 95% of retirees relying on family, government, friends, and poor paying jobs to get by you’d think someone would have added this to high school curricula decades ago.

2) Relationships: One’s ability to get along with others is priceless. The number of employers, colleagues, and peers who prefer likability over skill and know-how (much more easily taught) should point to the dire need for relations and relationship building to be taught in high schools. And with the foundation of any society relying on the family and with the divorce rate hovering around 50% . . . need I say more?

3) How to Deal With Adversity: What happens when one loses their job? What happens when a business goes under? What happens when a rift occurs at the work place? These critical situations must be discussed and worked through as best as one can without having actually experienced them to at least prepare the individual so he / she is not completely caught off guard when a difficulty in this regard arises.

4) Character: No amount of education, talent, ability, skill or gift can compensate or make up for the self-sabotaging nature of poor character.

5) Ongoing personal development

6) Understanding and utilizing motivation

7) Self-improvement for personal and professional gain

Leadership skills to optimize one’s overall potential

9) Goal setting and achieving to optimize one’s knowledge, skills, attitudes

10) Self-confidence

11) Imagination and critical / intuitive thinking

12) Self-control; concentration / focus

13) Tolerance

So there’s a lot of work to be done, a lot of rethinking, retraining, and re-opening of minds needed. This issue is complex, critical, and won’t go away. All of what I listed in this article and much, much more is involved in getting our children up to speed for their transition from the dream / theory based world of academia to that of the harsh work world. May those with insight, courage, and level heads lead us to where our education system needs to be for the benefit of our children and all our children’s children.

Here we’re not talking about faculty or staff but those who make the decisions. They are trustees (board members) and presidents. And this is a problem. Why? Because they do not live lives similar to that of students, faculty, or staff. Most live in comparative luxury looking to better their lot by keeping themselves–decision makers–around. If cuts need to be made, they will be done at the low end, getting rid of adjunct and fulltime faculty, staff, and by increasing fees, tuition, and so on.

Here’s an example to elaborate.

Years ago, I was working at a community college and joined a group to get a union on campus, for without one teachers will get near nothing. Even with one they often don’t get enough, but a union helps. But sometimes they even help in major ways, life saving even. In my case, I was between insurances when I was told I had cancer. And only with the help of the union was I able to get health insurance. The union had ensured people in my situation that even with one foot in the grave they would get access to good insurance. Most employers do not have such strong insurance obtainment policies for employees. To this day, I am literally alive because of the AFT (American Federation of Teachers). After that the AFT continued to help me on several occasions to obtain fair treatment. To continue the example.

At the time I was attending board meetings, the economy took a dive and cuts had to be made. Who was affected most? Faculty, staff, students. Classes were cut, adjuncts (non-guaranteed, semester to semester contracts) were left unemployed, fulltime were asked to retire early, and tuition fees were hiked. That may not be so bad in itself, but on the other end, I sat in meetings during this time while the president gave herself consecutive, back to back annual $25,000 increases while board members were giving themselves $7000, $10,000, $14,000 annual increases and so on.

More recently, during the fiscal pay-calendar shift (where pay is usually the last of the month but shifts in July to the 10th so teachers are going more than five weeks without pay), teacher after teacher was discovering that their pay was not coming on the 10th of July but the 31st, basically going two months without pay.

Upon calling the AFT, I was told that Payroll intentionally did not specifically warn instructors with a memo about the change (it was buried in the new contract with some vague language, that which the chair of my department had to read several times before she could make sense of it) because the district wanted to cause hardships so that the teachers would complain thus enabling a greater opportunity for additional monies to be place in the state budget for community colleges. Of course here we’re talking about monies that would not necessarily be distributed to faculty or staff. It may be earmarked for them, but monies allocated by the state do not always get to their intended targets.

In effect, since the change was stated in the contract, no matter how vague, the AFT couldn’t do anything, at least according to the president of the AFT local I spoke to.

Another thing to consider in your child’s mistreatment and lack of regard expressed by the actions or inactions of the trustees is the fact that part-time faculty or adjuncts outnumber full time faculty by 60 to 40. The majority of teachers are adjuncts or temporary, semester by semester employees of a district so that money can be saved (i.e.: less money spent on pensions and benefits). This is solely done to save the district money.

Sounds good?

Guess again.

Because of this, along with the rule that an adjunct cannot teach more than 9 units in any given district, adjuncts (the majority of teachers) become freeway flyers, often going not only from college to college to college but district to district to make enough money to pay for the necessities. Along with this, most are not compensated for office time to meet with students. Some districts do compensate for an hour a week, but that’s rare. Most give nothing or one district pays for one hour a month. Not many student issues can be addressed in such a short period of time.

So the problem is that students don’t get the attention they deserve and teachers don’t get the motivation they need to keep teaching. It’s basically a lose / lose situation.

There are other injustices being incurred by your children too numerous to mention here, but the next time you hear colleges spouting a great mission statement be careful of the hype that most likely lies beneath it.

Nothing is as it seems? Yes, we can say that here, for certain.

Let’s begin by dispelling the myth that teachers (for now let’s talk primary and secondary) are all that and a bag of chips. Teachers are not only given too much credit, they are given too much of the blame. Currently, the move is toward greater teacher accountability for student outcomes based on assessment criteria. What’s all that arcane jargon mean? Simply that teachers are to a greater and greater degree being held responsible for students’ grades. That, my friend, is a good one. Almost as funny as the one where a minister, priest and rabbi walk into a bar . . . OK, forget the joke, let me explain.

To a great degree, teachers (k through 12) have a workload that even the toughest laborer would bend and break under. They not only have to prepare lessons, attend meetings (teacher, administrative, parent), and have a life-if they can fit it in-they have a workload that has them averaging 57 hours worked per week ¹. On top of that, consider that working as a teacher is stressful because there is no time to relax. As a teacher, you are in charge of teaching, policing, cajoling, organizing, coaching, motivating, disciplining, and so on. From start to finish of the school day there is little time to relax, and you are working at full sensory capacity most of the time. That is why there is such great teacher burn out. You have very little time to kick back and recede into yourself (like a desk jockey or cubical cubby). So, on top of all this, teachers are now to be responsible for chasing 100 to 200 students to make sure they are doing their homework and are learning what they need to learn. Good luck.

But consider that there are other factors now that weaken the teacher physically, emotionally, and authoritatively. It is the last item I desire to focus on here. Students and parents, to a great degree, have sapped the teacher’s strength as the authoritative figure, one of the reasons why 3 out of 5 teachers now entering the field (K through 12) look at teaching as a stepping stone. I have a lawyer friend who did just that.

When he began teaching, he was told by a grizzled veteran that “you will either give into the student’s demands or you will quit.” To cite an example of this loss of control, at a general assembly a student was acting up. My friend told the student, who was not his, to settle down. The student challenged him and said, “I don’t care. You can even call the police. Nothing’s going to happen to me.” Another friend, a fellow classmate in graduate school, told me she was no longer a high school teacher because after 13 years her authority in the classroom had nearly vanished. Add to this parents who no longer, to a great degree, support teachers. Many a parent, if their child receives a bad grade, places the blame entirely on the teacher, the student getting off scot-free.

Teachers are not, should not, or ever be seen as the main educators, motivators, keepers of their students or children. Children? What does that word naturally imply? Of course, parents. It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that their children are doing their homework and doing it well, getting off the couch and being the teachers they should be.

I have numerous friends who have taken back the teaching of their children by home teaching. An issue of much discussion, but I mention it here to show how the problems of the K-12 school system has gotten so out of control that parents are taking the issue into their own hands. Many parents have discovered that the education system is failing and is not preparing their children for the work-a-day world. This is an issue in and of itself, not to be gone into detail here, however.

But what is the role of the parent even if he or she decides not to home school?

It is essential that parents not only teach academics (meaning, bare minimum checking homework) but other vitally important issues of concern, concerns that last a lifetime beyond all the math, science, history, and English that is all too soon forgotten. A few things that should exist on that list are a work ethic, accountability, patience, perseverance, manors / respect for authority, cooperation, tolerance for difference, sacrifice, charity, humility, and more. If these things were taught by parents, as they should be, perhaps the number of problems we now face in school and society would be reduced.

Continuing with the issue of educational necessity and change, I’d like to propose an academic overhaul. This issue is quit complex and something I go into greater depth in my upcoming book Education is a Waste of Time, but I’d like to touch on a few points here.

Consider that in 24 hours we forget 80% of what we read if we don’t review, and even more so if we don’t pay attention, have acquired the skill of better retention, and, most importantly, don’t care, how much does our no-student-left-behind retain? Well, according to my eight-plus years of teaching, mostly at the college level, and concurring statistical evidence, less than 1/3 of all students entering college have sufficient math, reading, and writing skills. The key word here is “sufficient.” Considering that there is a push for more math and science majors to keep up with the 6 countries that produce students that exceed our student’s preparedness, it appears we don’t have much hope. Even though the push for students is ill-founded because of the small number of existing careers that require high level math skills, the numbers do not bode well.

Taking all this into consideration, how important is it that we teach our students specific, locked in studies: math, science, history, English, and so on. I often will address this point by asking my students to regurgitate on queue, from the first minute to last, all that they learned in a class that day before coming to my class. Most if not all come up completely empty handed. One thing we don’t teach or inspire our students to do is to pay attention and acquire skills that will aid in focusing on key material and being able to recall it. Where is that class in high school? We merely throw it at ‘em and hope it sticks.

Something else we’ve forgotten to do, like any good marketer in the business world know, is to simply ask. What has happened to our empowered, “no-student-left-behind” student? The overly liberal shift of power from teacher to student is being wasted if we don’t ask the empowered what they want? And if they don’t know, well, now that they’ve been given the power, they by all means should work on it. Many a parent, teacher, administrator will say, “Well, they’re children. They aren’t mature enough to know.” Well, if we don’t ask them we’ll never know. And we shouldn’t just ask them once, for they are developing and changing rapidly at this time. How ‘bout this. We ask ‘em often and we ask ‘em early. Consider the following. Please bare with me.

On average, 1 in 10,000 has perfect musical pitch. In many Asian countries, where pitch determines meaning (i.e.: going up at the end of a word means one thing, down another) 1 in 100 has perfect pitch. My point? Practice. If we get students thinking early and often what they want to do with their life, and more know than not, then that’s where they need to focus and not struggling, spending a majority of their time in classes they don’t care about, aren’t motivated to participate in, and bottom line, will end up wasting a lot of time in. Consider this, within ten years, 70% of college grads will be working in fields they were not educated in (regarding personal acquaintances, that number is low). And considering that many employers now only use a college degree as a dividing line (a way of weeding out candidates with less potential), why not get a degree in something you love? Don’t waste those four years.

There is a lot more to this topic, such as incorporating financial classes, inter-personal skills classes, success classes, and so on, but our K through 16 system is in serious need of repair and upgrading. And this must be done now before too much time passes and more time, money, and effort is wasted. I know that this magnitude of change is challenging but its essential and critical to the long-term welfare of our children; nevertheless, it is a goal or target that we have to shoot for. We have no alternative, remembering that it is not perfection that we seek but betterment.

¹ Teacher’s Workloads Diary Survey, BMRB Social Research, Sept. 2006

This is one of the main reasons people like myself and others, of course, have gone private to help our floundering youth with their educational goals, if they are aware of any in the first place.

Enclosed is a letter to Mayor Villaraigosa that I wrote in an effort to bring some solutions to the problems to a city and county that is floundering. Because of the extreme hole the Los Angeles education system is in Mr. Villaraigosa has made education a priority, of course. That’s good but bad because so many who are not steeped in the finer understanding of the real issues may just kowtow to popular opinion, meaning a band aid will be applied and not a solid solution.

Mayor Villaraigosa,

Regarding the School Educational Model for Alliance College-Ready Public Schools . . .

First, I would like to say that I am in agreement with the Alliance College-Ready Public School model, specifically and in summary: (statements in parenthesis are mine)

• small class sizes
• student-centered learning
• learning to outcomes (understanding of whys essential)
• teaching of interpersonal and communication skills (greater development needed here)
• critical thinking (critical)
• learning how to learn (too overlooked by most curriculums)
• parents as partners (greatest emphasis needed here)
• work experience (also critical in today’s competitive global job market)

These are essential to any child’s education and essential preparation for not only college but the work environment. However, in my years of working (three careers: computer field, entertainment, academia) and teaching ten years at the college level, I have been disturbed enough by the essentials students lack in preparation for college, career, and life, so much so that that I have formed my coaching company, Inner Projection, LLC.

As stated above, the above program is exemplary, but I’d like to take it a step or two further.

One of the core issues with any education is learning not only the three R’s but going beyond to critical skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed in today’s turbulent global economy job market:

• awareness & understanding of the new global economy
• how to learn from failure and prosper
• financial IQ appropriate for today’s ever increasing cost of living and shrinking savings rate
• interpersonal skills going beyond those of the workplace (emphasis on marriage / family responsibility and its effect on the health of any society)
• Building on individual strengths and eliminating major weaknesses
• success skills (self-control; specific goals; self-confidence; habit of saving; initiative & leadership; freedom from fear, sustained hope, and faith in achievement; do more than you’re asked; concentration & focus; seeking help when needed; tolerance and fair treatment of not only others but new ideas)
• critical / creative thinking, problem solving, intuitive insight, critical skills for today’s employee who requires the entrepreneurial mindset (today’s grad will have 3 to 5 careers & potentially as many as 10 which requires thinking as a company of one)

In addition to these issues are the great difference not only between school and college but college and the work environment. The American workforce is adrift in unprepared college grads who are little prepared for-or even aware of-not only what the general work environment holds but specific environments related to grad’s career. More generally, employers complain that young workers are not disciplined enough or understand how to accomplish given tasks / assignments promptly and effectively, amongst other issues.

In addition, now more than ever, students must learn how to think critically, intuitively, and creatively. Less and less can students rely on companies for job security or pensions; therefore, students must learn how to problem solve and to synthesize existing knowledge with intuitive insight. More than ever before, students must be ahead of those with simple job skills and must put themselves at the forefront of consideration for employment amongst those competing for jobs through being a superior problem solver. This is critical.

But the issue is not just those coming up through the school ranks to college, but current grads and all those in the workforce who lack these fundamental skills. Far too many come to college unprepared and except for the knowledge gained still leave skill and attitude poor leading to 70% of grads within 5 to 10 years no longer working in fields related to their majors.

What is needed is a student-centered focus that begins early, at least freshman year in high school. The advisor or counselor must work with the student to pull from him or her strengths that will if not guarantee success at least ensure greater student / career match. And then character must be addressed, for no amount of talent, ability, or gifts can overcome the self-sabotage of poor character.

These issues and more are at the forefront of what is ailing in our schools and colleges. Unfortunately, the majority of what is essential is not addressed. My company, Inner Projection, and specifically the proprietary Success, Design, and Preparation system will fill in the 80 to 90% missing from our pre- and post-college students.

Thank you for your time.

Jeffrey P. Brown

CEO Inner Projection, LLC