The Student Debt Crisis

Student debt is a very real crisis in America and a growing concern in nations like the UK. When I graduated from law school in May 2013 I had borrowed a staggering $138,943. This original principal amount paid for my total cost of attendance, which included: tuition, fees, and housing. It should be noted; I even had a graduate program scholarship worth several thousand dollars that reduced the amount I had to borrow.

The intensity of a professional degree makes working during the school year very difficult. The summers are reserved for unpaid internships, which are the number one way students land jobs upon graduation. After all, the goal of this highly expensive education is to end up practicing law and making enough money to repay said debt.  

Unlike many students, I managed to graduate from my undergrad debt free with the aid of scholarships and summer jobs and had even saved enough to travel Europe for the summer after commencement. Additionally, I not only earned an LL.B. degree, but also two LL.M.s, which means my total cost of attendance on average, per year, was less than $30,000. I do not mind repaying what I borrowed, but the hyper interest and fees the government levied seems outrageous to say the least. Not to mention it being a super tax on poor students who borrowed to improve their lot and their family’s lot in life. See tax burden chart for Delta County.

Sitting two and a half years after graduation, my debt burden has grown to $231,930.[1] Difficulty with the bar exam and the lingering effects of the financial crisis on the legal services industry has made finding a job in law incredibly challenging. The tenuous realities of the economy were noted when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) opting to keep the Fed rate at 0%-0.25% - where they have been for the seven years since the financial crisis.[2]

While it may seem insane, the interest rates on my student loans range from 8.5% to 9.5%. Tack on fees and that is how the principal has grown by 60% in 2.5 years! As of 8 Dec. 2015, even the bank prime loan interest rate was 3.25%.[3] Although the Federal Reserve has no direct role in setting the prime rate, many banks choose to set their prime rates based partly on the target level of the federal funds rate--the rate that banks charge each other for short-term loans--established by the FOMC.[4]

The Fed has kept interest rates low to making capital easier to acquire. While student interest rates are over 10-times higher than the Fed rate, the fact that the loans are originated from a government lender has made raising the capital to earn a degree much easier.

Unlike other loans, student loans cannot be included in a bankruptcy. This means that if a graduate encounters a financial hardship, such as long-term unemployment, health related hardships, or general changes in the industry or world which effects entering the labor force, there is no recourse for restructuring and setting aside certain obligations. It should be noted, that law does permit setting aside some student loan obligations for permanent disabilities which did not exist at the time of the origination of the loan.

The Fed’s goals are maximum employment and an inflation rate of 2%.[5] The FOMC looks to any Federal Unemployment Rate of 5% or less per annum as full national employment. This is regardless of the Labor Force Participation Rate, which sheds light on the discouraged workers and long-term unemployed who are no longer filing for unemployment benefits.

Congress has created income-based debt repayment schemes to help those who are struggling to make the minimum monthly amounts. While this scheme has helped reduce the monthly repayment costs, the interest continues to accrue at an alarming rate. This is harmful to the borrower, because the reason for borrowing was because the borrower was poor. Maintaining high rates of interest for the term of the loan means an original $138,943 loan over a 30 year period means $281,648 will have been paid in interest. However, the repayment scheme for those facing financial hardship is even worse, as forbearance rolls unpaid interest into the principal. Thus, my Dec. 2015 re-adjusted student debt obligation of $231,930 will turn into $702,070 over a 30 year period, with $470,140 being additional interest. All in all, an original principal amount of $138,943 will, over a 30 year term, generate $751,788 in interest income for the U.S. government.

The other scheme Congress has is what is called the 10 year plan. This plan allows for debt forgiveness to occur after 10 years of working for the government or a non-profit entity. The policy purpose being that these jobs pay less than the private sector and would be challenged for the debtor to repay the burden. The other policy idea is to encourage smart, but non-wealthy students to earn graduate and post-graduate degrees. For forgiveness to be effective, in addition to the above, there must be 120 consecutive minimum payments made to the Department of Education.

For example, my Department of Education minimum payment is set at $2,760 per month. Assuming I follow the 30% Rule[6], the economic idea that a maximum of only 30% of a person’s income should go to rent or mortgage payments, I’d need to earn at least $4,667, presuming my rent was near the Denver, Colorado average of $1,400 per month.[7] This seems entirely doable, since that would be $56,000 per annum. After subtracting $33,120 for the yearly student loan minimum repayment and $16,800 for total rents, also don’t forget taxes, which between state and federal would be about $11,356. Add these three items up and each year you are going in red by at least $5,276. All this assumes you are not eating, commuting, having to buy clothes, or pay for emergencies.

The reality is that a person would need to earn over $100,000 in their government or non-profit job for ten years to survive financially. Even at $100,000, a borrower in my shoes would really just be surviving, as utilities, food, heath expenses, clothing, costs of children or dependents, insurance, etc. adds up very quickly, even if you are as frugal as someone who survived the Great Depression.

A problem for many policy makers is what if a young person goes off to law school or med school or engineering or business school and wants to come back to a poorer, rural region to serve the legal or medical or business needs of a small community. This debt burdened professional is not working for the government or a non-profit, thus one repayment play is off the table. Yet, should these communities be entitled to professionals who would serve the needs of that region? Often debt saddled student-borrowers are forced to work in the cities, leaving a void in poor, rural areas, where incomes wouldn’t be high enough to make payments, live, and support a family. 

I would like to see a plan that throws back the obligation to the original principal amount, then ties repayment to income and the Fed Rate. Considering the policy that student loans help smart, but poor students achieve careers in the learned professions which in turn helps elevate families to higher income brackets, thus leading to more tax generation. It is also a matter of fairness not to use forbearance provisions to hike up the aggregate repayment amount. High interest on loans is essentially a tax on poorer students who had to borrow to attend professional schools. The interest also punishes hard work and success by rewarding these borrowers less than their wealthier cohort who may make less, but would have more disposable income to spend, adding to the national GDP. Creating ways to allow for greater social mobility is a good idea; however using these methods to punish those who seek a better life seems highly unethical.

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[1] U.S. Dept. of Education, Loan Servicing. Navient-SallieMae Account of Matthew Soper. 29 Nov. 2015 Print.

[2] Neate, Rupert. “Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged but hints at December rise.” The Guardian 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

[3] Federal Reserve System. Selected Interest Rates -- H.15. 8 Dec. 2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.

[4] Federal Reserve System. FAQ – Credit, Loans, Mortgages. 2 Aug. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.

[5] Neate, Rupert. “Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged but hints at December rise.” The Guardian 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

[6] See: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-07-17/housings-30-percent-of-income-rule-is-near-useless accessed 9 Dec. 2015.

[7] See: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_29013199/average-metro-denver-apartment-rent-drops-5-downtown accessed 9 Dec. 2015.

On being dyslexic: learning to learn

“52.18,” I read on the computer screen, and then began to write it on a piece of paper. As I wrote, I thought, “It was 52.18, wasn’t it?” I glanced back, nope, the number I was coping was 52.81.”

Being a dyslexic is challenging, as what I see at first instance can be a completely different word upon review. When typing, I will omit words or endings, which at the time of typing I had thought I had included. It is nearly impossible to edit whilst I am writing. As a writer, this makes me want to yell out to the world in frustration.

David Boies visiting with Matt Soper.
© 2013 UNH School of Law.

In the book, David and Goliath (2015 ed), by Malcom Gladwell, famed appellate lawyer David Boies, is quoted as saying, “My wife gave me an iPad a year and a half ago, which was my first

computer-like device, and one of the things that was interesting is that my attempt to spell many words is not close enough for spell-check to find the correct spelling[.] . . . I can’t tell you how many times I get the little message that says, ‘No spelling suggestions.’”(p107-08) Boies, who is dyslexic, told the aforementioned to illustrate his dyslexia and how it impacts his daily life. Boies is remarkable, as he found tools, strategies, and mechanisms for strengthening other aspects of he learns and retains information. Boies chose litigation, as it had the least reading within the profession of law and allowed him to use his memory and thinking stills to over compensate what is compensated for by dyslexia. Boies is one of the frequently sought lawyers to argue cases in front of the US Supreme Court.

Reading takes much longer than my cohorts. Recently on a flight with my girlfriend we were both reading similar books on the plane. As I was quite proud of making it to page 50 when we landed, I glanced over and realized she was nearly finished with her book of approximately 400 pages. Likewise, reading text in a movie / TV show is annoying – as the words disappears before you can read the entire message.

While dyslexia has the appearance of making me slow, my written works have been published in academic journals, established newspapers, and online blogs. To tackle my dyslexia I have had to become a tremendous listener. This is not to say I am an audio-learner. What is meant by developing listening skills is being able to listen, for example, to the audio of a Supreme Court debate, then memorizing, through memorializing key points on paper and later reviewing and repeating the those  points.

A trademark element of dyslexia is what appears to be poor short-term memory. Developing a strong long-term memory is the strategy for coping with dyslexia. To say dyslexia is ‘not having a good short-term memory’ is incorrect. It is more that the processing speed of the mind is what causes problems for taking-in and learning information on first impression. For example, a dyslexic has difficulty processing rapid auditory inputs, which makes remembering a phone number challenging without writing it down quickly.

A major problem for a dyslexic is the inability to revisualize the gestalt of the word. Dyseidetic dyslexia, also known as visual dyslexia, effects reading and spelling patterns by causing confusion with letter orientation, limits on sight vocabulary, losing place while reading because you don’t instantly recognize what you already read, omitting letters and words because they were not visually noticed, along with difficulty trying to sound out and spell irregular words. For me, it is irritating to sound out a word phonetically, only to have spell check tell you that you miss spelled it.

Foreign languages present a unique challenge for a dyslexic. During my Edinburgh years, I began studying French as mental relaxation from law. I found whilst I could hear the sounds and pronounce words correctly, even with the proper accent, the spelling proved horrific. I found I would think of a word, then drop of letters that were not pronounced when writing. French highlighted the difficulty of remembering phonetically regular and irregular letter combinations, along with difficulties analysing unknown words.

Dyslexia is more than just a passing term to dismiss laps of the memory. As a dyslexic, I find objectives hard in a world that doesn’t understand the challenges I face daily. Yet, seeing the world in a different light is far from a weakness.

Old College’s new library plans are bittersweet

Old College, The University of Edinburgh

It is exciting to see the University of Edinburgh finally renovating Old College – home of the School of Law. Being a traditionalist, it is sad to see the old staircase walked by students and professors since the 1790s retired and the library moved from the second and third floors to the first floor.

If I had the money, I’d donate to renovate the Old College with research space on the second floor, as it gets pretty depressing in winter without much sunlight. I’d also push for more Georgian décor and elegance.

The author graduating from Edinburgh's
Law School, which is in Old College.

The new interior will be lots of glass and the thin, shiny desks popular in Scandinavian design. Perhaps the result will be a chiaroscuro of Old World façade and Modern European interior. The Old Library and Lecture Theatres had a certain homey feel, which will be fondly missed, as the more modern design looks quite institutionalized.

Studying in the Law Library. circa 2010.

I wish the law student library could be as grand as the Playfair, Trinity College Library, Bodleian Library or the Schwarzman NYC library on the interior.

My fear is that the Scandinavian Modern design will be out of vogue in a decade or so and that even if not, there is a high likelihood it will not stand up well to the wear and tear of student and academic use.

Staircase to library. The steps
are worn from 225 years of
students climbing to the library.

As far as funding goes, I am surprised Edinburgh did not seek the help of a billionaire underwriter, someone like a Stephen Schwarzman, who founded Schwarzman Scholars and donated to have the NYC Mid-Manhattan library restored to its full glory.

I’m pleased to send in my small donation, but it seems the leadership of the University has not fully tapped the big money floating in the private sector.

When the work is completed I look forward to visiting my alma mater and seeing Old College.

The quadrangle project was fantastic, so perhaps, the library, faculty offices, and lecture theatres will be the same.

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M. Soper, Letters: Old College’s new library plans are bittersweet. Edinburgh Evening News (Edinburgh, Scotland) 3 July 2014.  http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/letters-old-college-s-new-library-plans-are-bittersweet-1-3463708 accessed 4 July 2014.

Vote No on Prop 103: Bad for business, won't improve education

Proposition 103 seeks to amend the Colorado Revised Statues by increasing individual and business income tax by nearly 8% (from 4.63% to 5.00%) and the sales and use tax rate will be increased by over 3% (from 2.93% to 3.00%) for five years. The proposition would require additional tax revenue to be spent on public education. The fiscal note indicates revenue of nearly $3 billion.

The proposition is bad because it fails to direct the legislature on what aspect of “public education” the revenue is to be allocated. Public education is broadly defined to include everything from pre-schools to colleges and universities, along with libraries and museums, not to mention community education. In addition to the definition difficulties and the lack of direction as to allocation of resources, the proposition also fails to offer a plan as to how an increase in revenue will improve education.

Raising taxes on the middle class during tough economic times is not the answer to our state’s and our nation’s lag educationally speaking behind the rest of the world, most notably the EU nations, Japan and South Korea. Students should learn to spend more time in the libraries reading and teachers should be empowered to actually teach. Parents are the third party in the ‘educational contract’ and need to encourage their children and explore the world of knowledge in literature, science, the arts, history, geography, civics et cetera.

Unemployment in Colorado is officially hovering just under 10%, the local unemployment rate is slightly lower. However, a study by the Economics International Corporation suggests consumer spending and business investments will decrease as a direct result of the proposition 103 tax hike, leading to circa 30,500 jobs being eliminated by fiscal year 2017. Such incriminating evidence is allegedly why Governor John Hickenlooper is unwilling to publicly support the proposition.

Election Day is Tuesday, 1 November 2011. Ballots must be received in the County Clerk's Office by 7:00 PM.

Common sense: a new approach for society?

A wise person is made, not born. So then, what are the virtues of a wise person? King Solomon (c 1011-931 BC) described a wise person as one who is clever and has a discerning mind to judge the difference between a right and wrong decision. A wise person learns from wise teachers. Wisdom depends on experience and not just any experience: you need the time to get to know the people you are serving; permission to be allowed to improvise; the ability to try new things; and the ability to learn from failures. Without wisdom, brilliance is not enough.

The education system in Chicago is structured such that every teacher must be on the same page of the curricula, on the same day and instructions are given as to what teachers are to say and which questions to avoid. Such a system is an insurance policy against complete failure, but stifles wisdom, lacks virtue and doesn’t instil character into students. This is why when legislators say students need to focus on reading, writing and maths, then science, history and the arts get swept under the rug and the US stands astonished that European students who attain a proper well-rounded education surpass the American students on exams and performance.

The cutting edge in America has been creativity and the ability to make dreams happen to not collapse when the antagonists say nay. This entrepreneurial spirit is what creates the American Dream. Barry Schwartz mentions two tools society uses when rules fail: (i) more rules and (ii) change the incentives. Neither of which tap: virtue, morality, character or common sense. When one class fails, the rules are tightened, the curriculum becomes more rigid and the pay structure reflects not wavering from the prescribed text. Pretty soon the mould is cast and to think outside the box is undesirable. It is no surprise that with limited science and foreign language classes in formative years, few American students pursue careers in those directions. An over focus on reading and writing has not produced great readers or authors, but college drop-outs who never acquired a virtuous passion for learning. This is where rules and incentives have failed.

The solution is to provide students early on with as wide a range of learning categories as possible and empower teachers to use their wisdom to inspire students to engage in subjects which fits their interest and aptitude. A child may hate reading, until s/he discovers a book on NASA, outer-space and rockets. Without question certain subjects must be taught and within those there are important texts which are of the utmost importance to be learnt. The American elementary curricula should not be so rigid as to not allow giving students the incentive to want to learn or not allowing a teacher go into more depth when doing so is only for the benefit of the students. A little more common sense would be appropriate in a society driven by more rules and traditional incentives.

Nancy Hovde for DMEA

The Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) elections are upon us and it fundamental for members to vote! Ballots will be mailed on Monday, May 23 and for your vote to count it must be received by Wednesday, June 15. Member may vote in-person at the annual general meeting on Thursday, June 16. DMEA is our rural electric cooperative governed by a board of directors, elected by the member-owners of the entity.

One candidate is very deserving of our vote – Nancy Hovde (whose name appears at the bottom of the ballot) – has been excellent director, representing member-owner values, maintaining her commitment to keeping energy bills affordable, promoting energy efficiency within the home, and advocating local energy resources.

Nancy is worthy of re-election. Her previous experiences of serving on the Colorado Rural Electric Association and Western United Electric Board, and as a director for Tri-State Generation and Transmission have been a major asset to DMEA. During her tenure, Nancy has promoted energy efficiency and affordable renewable options. In 2010, Nancy was named one of the top 20-energy leaders in the US and was selected to attend classes at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, graduating with the title of Energy Executive. Nancy has refused to rest on her laurels.

Looking towards the future, Nancy will built on her experience and education and push for renewable and energy efficiency programmes which benefit DMEA members. Maintaining low electricity rates, while keeping service quality high has been a hallmark which Nancy will continue. She will also work with local businesses in promoting energy efficiency and distributive generation, which will subsequently create more local jobs.

For these reasons, I wholeheartedly encourage friends and neighbours to support Nancy “bottom of the ballot” Hovde. The future looks bright with Nancy Hovde representing us on the DMEA board – remember to vote!

Colorado Mesa University? Are you kidding me?

Colorado Mesa University was selected as the new name of Mesa State College by the Board of Trustees, subject to Colorado General Assembly approval. I am not impressed, as the name sounds more like an Internet program or one with an unnatural sequence of words.

My concerns are still valid, though at this stage irrelevant. The formula implemented for selecting a name was mathematically geared to produce the two finalists, as those were the only names which met the three-tier test of the naming criteria – heritage, geographic anchor, and brand equity and clarity. Just because you find a name or two which match the test, does not mean that name sounds like a good brand name.

During the survey period of the selection process I took part in the online survey and recall reading through the names of potential names and felt Colorado Mesa University sound like a lesser value than the rest, so was surprised when the Board selected it as the finalist. In my personal opinion, could the Board have chosen a weirder sounding name? Perhaps a different order of the words would sound more natural to the ears.

I mentioned the name to several of my colleagues here at the University of Edinburgh and they concurred that the name sounded more like a cheesy Internet “university” or fictitious location linked to Mesa Verde, rather than a lauded institution of higher education. Perhaps these are merely initial impressions which will fade as the institution rebrands and remarkets its image. Noting the history of Mesa State, it seems name changes happen rather frequently, so perhaps in 20 or 30 years the brand name and image will need tweaking once again to reflect its status as a research facility or specialist institution or perhaps the bequeathing of a substantial sum from a generous benefactor.

Perhaps my logic is wrong, but I find it difficult that the finalists from the surveys of stakeholders was thought flawed as their choices did not conform to the three-tier test established for selecting a name. It is too bad Mesa didn't have a name like Harvard, as then that way the only change could have been deleting the word college and replacing it with university. That said, if such a criteria had been used when Harvard made their name change a while ago, then it would have been something like Massachusetts Harvard University, so everyone would recognize the institution by the state name. Basically Mesa is wanting to ride the brand name of "Colorado", so that when surveys are done in Texas and California of potential students who have heard of the institution, a higher number will say yes, as they recognize the name Colorado and thus assume they have heard of the university.

Beyond the Crash: an evening with Gordon Brown

Tonight, a friend of mine, Magda, and I listened to a speech followed by a question and answer session with the former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Since Labour losing the parliamentary election of 6 May 2010 to a Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government, Gordon Brown has stepped down as his party’s leader and taken his ranks among the back benchers. The former prime minster, an alumnus of the University of Edinburgh and Scottish native, has been making the case for a global response to national problems.

The beginning of Mr Brown’s speech focused around memorable highlights of his 28 year career in the House of Commons – which included ten years as Chancellor of the Exchequer and the previous four as Prime Minister of Her Majesty’s Government. The speech was hosted by the University of Edinburgh and Blackwell’s bookshop in the George Square lecture theatre and featured a sold-out crowd of well over 300 people, many of whom were from the academic community of Edinburgh. Magda and I sat front and centre with only an agent of the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Protection separating us from the former head of government. Brown looked at the crowd and immediately told the story of his first campaign for parliament, back in 1983, in which only three people attended the meet and greet, including him. Brown said that his journey through politics could be summed up by the custodian at the university telling him, “Mr Brown, I’m sure glad you remembered your roots on the way up and then again on the way down.” Mr Brown studied history and politics at the University of Edinburgh, earning a BA (Hon), MA and PhD while serving a three year stint as Rector of the University.[1]

Brown talked about how 300 years ago the first Scottish banking crisis resulted in a nationalized bail-out and the merger of the Scottish and English houses of parliament. He described this as a national solution to a local problem. In 2008, when news broke that Northern Rock, followed by Bradford & Bingley and the Royal Bank of Scotland were to be nationalized, along with the forced merger (shotgun wedding) of Lloyds TSB and Halifax-Bank of Scotland to stabilized the British economy[2] it became apparent that while these banks were headquartered in the UK, much of the risky investments, such as the purchasing of debt bundles from American sub-prime mortgages, were outwith the purview of British regulators at the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

“In every forum, my theme was that the financial crisis reflected a global problem that could not be resolved by one nation alone but needed a global solution”, Gordon Brown emphasised numerous times during the evening.[3] Brown called for addressing the problems posed by 2007-2009 crises in public international law, creating an international banking tax scheme, along with national regulations creating higher reserves and criminal laws for bad faith and undue-diligence. The former prime minister also called for the shutting down of international tax havens, calling them loopholes for circumventing national revenue tax collectors. This was a point I disagreed with, as the UK is in a good position to compete head-to-head with these so called tax havens, by lowering business taxes and creating a more favourable investing climate to stimulate the private sector to keep assets within the British Isles.

Mr Brown said he accepted full responsibility for what happened, as he was the Chancellor of the Exchequer the decade prior to the financial crisis. He went on to explain that what was known was limited and his office was preparing for an inflation crisis and had no warnings that an even greater threat existed, which was the concept of many banks failing at once due to poor liquidity and the purchasing of foreign toxic debt and speculations which were tantamount to gaming with Briton’s savings and investments. He averred that the problem requires global solutions, especially went banks are linked internationally. Mr Brown’s solution is a global banking tax to create a reserve fund for such an event as a global financial windfall.

“The American dream is one of the most powerful and enduring stories of hope that continues to inspire the world,” writes the former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in the opening sentence of chapter six of his new book, Beyond the Crash.[4] Before a joint-session of the US Congress, Brown said, “[E]arly in my life I came to understand that America is not just the indispensible nation, it is the irrepressible nation.”[5] Brown warns, the American dream is under new and unique pressures with consequences not just for the US but for the world, “The manifestations of this are high unemployment, falling middle-class incomes, and concern about educational opportunities and upward mobility amid rising competitive pressures from Asia.”[6] Brown explained the crunch on the middle class is an area of the economy to watch out for, as they are the ones who have been the biggest contributors to fuelling economic growth and providing a standard for morals.

Mr Brown concluded the evening by saying he was optimistic about the future, as new markets emerging in Asia would create demand for western made goods and services allowing for increased economic growth in both the service and manufacturing sectors. He said to stay abreast of the east, the US and EU must invest in higher education to train the specialists of the next decade, look for ways to create jobs – as to prevent another lost decade as he saw in Britain during the 1980s, and fund science and technology.

After the speech and question time I approached Mr Brown, shook his hand as he was taking off his microphone and he said to me, "...there, now I can talk to you." I asked if I could have a photo taken with him and he agreed, telling me how much he admired America and was happy to see the exchange and diffusion of knowledge across the pond. He then signed my copy of Beyond the Crash and shook my hand saying, “thank you.”

Magda and I walk out of the lecture theatre chatting about his talk, debating the pros and cons of his averments and observations along with chuckling about the number of times he said “global solutions” in the course of an hour. All in all I was very impressed with his address and am very proud to of had the honour of meeting a British prime minister.

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[1] “Gordon Brown as Rector”, http://www.archives.lib.ed.ac.uk/gallery/brown.shtml (accessed:17 February 2011)
[2] UK House of Commons, Finance Report Re the Banking Crisis of 2008, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmtreasy/956/956.pdf (assessed: 17 February 2010)
[3] G Brown, Beyond the Crash: overcoming the first crisis of globalisation (Simon & Schuster, London 2010) 45
[4] G Brown, Beyond the Crash, 143
[5] Since the 1st US Congress in 1789, only 105 foreign heads of state, government or diplomats have addressed a Joint-Session of Congress.
[6] G Brown, Beyond the Crash, 143

K-12 education needs to be reformed the right way

Having witnessed firsthand the success of students who have emerged from what is known as A-Levels and Highers (advanced testing and studies which determines which universities a child can proceed to read a subject), in England and Scotland respectively. Prima facie, British students appear to be more academically prepared and equipped than their American counterparts. The current educational system in the United States and especially Colorado needs to raise the level of demands and expectations from students, beginning with kindergarten.

During my time as a trustee on the Mesa State College Board of Trustees, I viewed the number of remedial courses being offered as appalling; incoming college freshmen should be prepared to compete and succeed in a rigorous academic environment. The recent decision by the Joint 50-J School Board is amiable, especially since students were given no incentive to strive hard and achieve the highest grade possible on the C-SAP. At the same time, teachers should be given the leverage to inspire independent learning, rather than “teaching to the test” (which is not teaching at all). Unfortunately the problem is far beyond the power of our local school board to add or detract.

The C-SAPs are not the answer to Colorado and the country’s lag behind the rest of the world in terms of student academic performance. S.B. 191, which passed the Senate and has moved to the House, would tie 50 per cent of an evaluation for principals and teachers to student academic growth, while this sounds like a noble concept, many factors and issues have not been addressed in the committee chambers or on the assembly floor. One factor is that student’s who do not care about a university degree could jeopardize a career of a passionate teacher. The bill also fails to consider a student’s background, learning disabilities, or socio-economic situation.

Our legislators stopping messing around with a messy, hastily researched, and ill motivated bill which is only designed to give Colorado a shot at winning $175 million in the federal Race to the Top education-fund competition. The analogy is akin to buying several lotto tickets in hopes of paying off your mortgage. Winning does not mean you will actually spend the money on what you had planned originally.

True education reform needs to be comprehensive and wisely planed and written. Creating a bigger mess of our K-12 educational system in hopes of winning a federal grant is not the answer.

See: Delta County Independent