Advisors
carefully studied the market and we signed a document which clearly stated that
we understood, based on statistics and job trends, that a job might or might
not be available to us after four years of study. There was no guarantee of
success and nobody demanded instant financial equality without effort or merit,
we had to work hard.
The
university organized job fairs every week and prospective employers sent
representatives to campus to make a first contact interview with interested
students. We scanned each week the list of companies and positions available.
I
remember interviewing with a particular branch of government who needed
translators with a business background. I did not get very far since I answered
honestly that I could not betray my basic core beliefs if asked to do so.
When
I came to the university from my country, officials looked at my transcript and
did not give me credit for courses such as Philosophy of Socialism, Scientific
Socialism, Socialist Economy, and Dialectical Materialism. They told me flatly
that they were just communist propaganda. Funny how today, if I had had the
same courses, not only would I have been given credit, I probably would have
been congratulated for having taken those classes and hired by a government
branch staffed heavily with people who believe in socialism.
College
costs have exploded and, in order to attract more students, advisors entice
students with the false promise of a six-figure job, knowing that the
unemployment rate is very high among college graduates. Almost 25% are either
unemployment or underemployed.
Students
on campuses around the nation demand re-distribution of wealth but never
question the ever-escalating tuition and the fat salaries of college
administrators and of “desirable” and in-demand professors, the money makers
who bring in research grants. The darlings of the conference circuit around the
world, they also write the liberal textbooks for the rest of the country.
Hillsdale
College students made a video in which they asked students at a major
university how they felt about distributing a few points of their high GPA to
students who were doing poorly and were in danger of not graduating. As it was
expected, those performing poorly were in total agreement with the idea. Those
at the top refused on the basis that they earned the GPA and it is ridiculous
to give anything to those who did not work hard. One solitaire die-hard Marxist
student agreed to give up points to someone who had a low GPA. Not
surprisingly, You Tube removed the video under the excuse, “This video has been
removed because its content violated the You Tube’s Terms of Service.” Really? http://www.youtube.com/watch? feature=player_embedded&v= OKc4vduADeU
The
EKU chapter for Young Americans for Liberty gave out fliers to those attending
graduation ceremonies at Eastern Kentucky University on May 11, 2013. “Good
luck finding your first job. Only 47 percent of you will be able to find a job
in your preferred field, so I hope you’re still on good terms with your
parents.”
College
graduates with strange liberal majors have little chance of finding a job, they
are practically unemployable. Graduates with $100,000 plus in tuition debt, who
found themselves on the outskirts of a bad economy, were prompted by our
President, in a recent speech at Ohio State, to seek their fortune in politics.
An ever-expanding government may become the largest employer in some areas.
The
value of a college degree has diminished considerably because the number of
graduates has increased, the quality of graduates has decreased, and graduation
standards have deteriorated as a result of watering down the curriculum. McDonald’s
advertised recently a cashier’s job with a college degree.
No
work experience and a worthless degree in a heavily unemployed, stagnant
economy is a formula for disaster. What is a college graduate to do? The answer
is simple, teach. Good teachers with an excellent grasp of a solid major are
always in high demand. There is a little inconvenient problem though, no matter
how many degrees or experience in a field of expertise, prospects must have a teaching
license issued by the State Department of Education. How hard can that be?
There are many terrible teachers out there who do have a license and scant
knowledge. On the other hand, I have met fantastic teachers who were not
certified to teach in K-12.
One
of my students who recently pursued certification in Virginia (each state has
its own standards and type of tests) was surprised how worthless his degrees seemed
upon taking the standardized test for teachers. Did it really measure anything?
Did he really learn anything from it? Would he become a better classroom
teacher after taking the two required tests? His answer to all of these
questions was NO.
After
imprinting the veins on both hands, taking his picture, locking up personal
belongings, subjecting him to a metal detector, providing no breaks for the
four-hour test (minutes were counted against the test taker if he chose to take
a bathroom break), the “jail” effect was overwhelming. The security I.D. checks
felt like prison yet voters are not required to show proof of I.D. to vote and scream discrimination if
asked to provide an I.D. Just recently Virginia barely passed the voter I.D.
law.
Holder
of three college degrees in Arts and Sciences and teaching experience at the
college level, he now awaits the standardized test results. The questions he
had to answer on the test bore no resemblance to what he learned in school. When
he passes, he must take more College of Education courses and student-teach for
nine months under the supervision of a “seasoned” College of Education
professor.
Not
taking into account the cost of these additional classes and his time, he may have
to substitute before he actually finds a teaching job in a public school or volunteer
for Teach for America. He may choose to train as an International Baccalaureate
World School teacher, helping to “fundamentally transform” American students
into “global citizens” who study no American history but learn how to better change
society into a “social justice” paradise.
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