Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS): A phrase created by me to describe a phenomenon taking place across the United States, affecting both privately and publicly funded schools, from Kindergarten all the way through University levels.
“If you grow up low income and manage to get higher education, which few people manage to do, the potential for that to lift you solidly up into the middle-class and upper-middle class is more limited than we thought.”-Brad Hershbein, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment
A Brookings Institute study (A college degree is worth less if you are raised poor) revealed some surprising data about what is now obviously the ‘lie’ of higher education: Using decades worth of data the researchers discovered that having a four year college degree does absolutely nothing to help low income people get out of poverty! It seems only people from wealthy families benefit from a college degree!
Incomplete list of publicly announced education layoffs & school shutdowns, and crimes, February 2016:
Arizona: Phoenix based Apollo Education Group selling off its failing University of Phoenix after losing more than 50-thousand students in 2015! The loss of students was the result of the U.S. Department of Education investigating claims of false promises of finding jobs after graduation, and the U.S. Department of Defense banning military personnel from taking University of Phoenix courses!
California: Inland Early Steps issued a shutdown WARN for their Corona operation, 79 jobs lost by April. B&H Education shutdown their Whittier ops, 73 jobs gone. After four years the Malibu Bank of Books shutting down in April. The owner blames lack of sales and points out that the landlord actually tried to helped the bookstore. In San Francisco, Pearson Education eliminated 34 jobs. UTi shutting down their automotive school in Long Beach, 64 jobs gone by April. Pinecrest Schools finally revealed how many jobs will be lost by their mass shutdown of campuses; 176 by June! Greedy Ojai Unified School District is deciding the fate of five elementary schools due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome and (this is so typical of California) the school’s property values! Local news reports say school administrators have already met with local real estate agents about selling off the schools!
Florida: In Palm Beach, after 35 years the Jupiter Academy private school shutting down, they can’t afford to renew the lease. For profit Mattia College shutting down, 1-hundred jobs lost and more than 7-hundred nursing students looking for a new home. No word on an official shutdown date, but local news says pay for teachers has been cut off! This is the second nursing school in The Sunshine State, in the past two years, to shutdown. The top administrator of that other nursing school, Dade Medical, was recently arrested. This is all part of the U.S. Department of Education’s crackdown on schools that promise their students ‘The Moon’.
Idaho: State Senate Education Committee rejecting science education standards for K thru 12 students, saying they’re too hard! However, some local news reports suggested that the ‘christian lawmakers’ rejected the new standards (without any discussion by-the-way) because they include evolutionary concepts like the Big Bang (never mind that scientists have just proven Big Bang with discovery of gravitational waves). As I’ve written before looks like we’re entering a new Dark Age. I remember when my kids were attending junior high school in District 25 (just a decade ago) and their science books opened with the statement “One day man will walk on the moon.” You ‘christians’ are so dumb, no wonder it’s so easy for ‘The Good Shepard’ to lead you ‘lambs’ to your slaughter!
Illinois: Western Illinois University eliminating an additional 1-hundred jobs! They laid off 30 people in January. Eastern Illinois University quietly issuing layoff notices to non-instructional staff (latest reports say as many as 2-hundred!). It’s blamed on the state ‘lawmakers’ failing to come up with a budget. The layoffs will start in March, university administrators say the state owes them at least $40-million USD. In connection, the Test Center had to shut down temporarily “in order to train the remaining staff in the building to assume the duties of the lost positions”. Chicago State University has warned all 9-hundred employees of impending layoffs due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to create a new budget! Chicago Public Schools (CPS) warning of even more layoffs after the teacher union rejected their latest offer. The Failed State system CPS claims it is lacking $500-million for its latest budget, but they’re actually $1-billion ‘in the hole’, structurally! Danville Area Community College eliminating at least four jobs, offering early retirement and eliminating their Automotive and Sustainability programs: “These are challenging times, and it’s challenging because of the uncertainty”-Alice Jacobs, DACC President
School District 205 eliminating stipends for club sponsors and eliminating 109 jobs! The district is short $2.6-million USD, blaming lack of taxpayer funding caused by what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome. For the first time in 25 years Parkland College eliminating jobs, administrators blame the state ‘lawmakers’ for dragging their feet on taxpayer funding for the next school year. Sycamore School District 427 eliminating at least 56 jobs: “We see other businesses where employees are just being told to do more with less, and unfortunately, that seems to be the mentality of our state government when incomes to education.”-Jim Dombek, District 427
Iowa: In Keokuk, the local Sheriff’s Department, and even the federal FBI, have shutdown the so called ‘therapeutic’ Midwest Academy after at least 80 cases of torture, including starvation, isolation and sex abuse. Get this, police raided the torture chamber in January, but are only now telling the public about it. Female victims told the Associated Press the ‘school’ was “hell”, with many students trying to kill themselves. One girl was tortured for having a belly button ring! Don’t confuse the Keokuk Midwest Academy with several others of the same name. Midwest Academy is a privately funded “therapeutic boarding school”, which refers to its torture tactics as a “powerful, proven and unique system”.
Mississippi: Hattiesburg Public Schools cutting pay and eliminating jobs “immediately”. No details about how many jobs will be lost, local news reports say employees have not been notified.
Montana: More job killing at University of Montana; 27 jobs gone by the end of June, due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS).
New Jersey: Sussex County Community College eliminating 20 full time jobs due to crashing enrollments. Upper Saddle River based Pearson Education finally revealed plans to eliminate 4-thousand jobs across the U.S.! Administrators refused to give specifics about where those layoffs will impact: “Out of respect for all of our employees, it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss the number of job cuts in a specific location before we inform our employees across the rest of our workforce.”
New York: God powerless to stop ‘his’ Albany Roman Catholic Diocese from shutting down ‘his’ Saint Augustine school in Lansingburgh. Church leaders blamed the state government for refusing to give them taxpayer funding (which would be a violation of the U.S. 1st Amendment). In Hamburg, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Immaculate Academy. It’s blamed on lack of students, “changing realities within the congregation” and only one Nun on staff. The Smithtown Board of Education forced to shutdown Branch Brook Elementary School by 2017. Administrators revealed that student enrollment has been declining since 2009. NYC Department of Education shutting down three charter schools; Beginning with Children, Lefferts Garden and Staten Island Community. “The Department of Education overturned a principal’s firing and gave her more than a year’s back pay so she wouldn’t file legal actions charging ethics violations by the DOE’s new top lawyer, sources say.”–New York Post, Education officials ‘bought off’ principal…
Pennsylvania: Penn State University warned all 1-thousand 1-hundred Ag Ex employees of mass layoffs, due to state ‘lawmakers’ failing to pay the 2015-16 agricultural extension subsidies! News sources reporting that some ‘lawmakers’ have revealed that tax revenues are so tight they must choose between funding higher education and grade schools! God powerless to stop the Diocese of Erie from shutting down four of ‘his’ grade schools; Venango Catholic high school and Saint Boniface, Saint Peter Cathedral and Our Lady of Mount Carmel elementary schools. Church leaders blame The Rapture, I mean low enrollment. Pennsylvania University School of Nursing shutting down, 96 jobs lost by the end of March. Administrators for the second largest cyber charter school in the state, Agora, admitted they eliminated jobs at the beginning of the month, but they refuse to say how many. Local news reports say former employees report between 1-hundred and 150 people were fired without warning! Cyber school administrators blame lack of state taxpayer funding due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to pass a budget. However, local news media also published a direct quote from an Agora chairwoman, made back in December: “We have no plans to cut or furlough staff due to the lack of funds we are currently receiving. Please do not fear for your position here at Agora.”-Mary Steffey
South Dakota: The editors of the Rapid City Journal are calling for a hike in state taxes to support the governor’s proposed education funding plan. This shows you how uneducated the Rapid City Journal is. Tax revenues are down across the board, across the country, due to the bad economy. Many political scientist will tell you that jacking up taxes during a down economy is a sign of a Fail State. Many economist will tell you that jacking up taxes during a down economy will only snowball the downward spiral. There is no ‘return’ on more education spending when fewer and fewer people are able to find a job that pays a ‘living wage’, and the small business environment is such that it’s not worth it to even try and start a small business. (I’ve heard the mo-funding, mo-funding mantra for education for more than 30 years now and it’s plain to see that overall education has only gotten worse as more money is spent) Grant-Deuel School District shutting down the school in Revillo, due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS): “You talk to any smaller school, smaller town and they are basically losing enrollment…..”-Paulette Grube, Dean of Students
Tennessee: More proof the real ‘god’ is money; God refuses to stop the shutdown of three of ‘his’ LifeWay Christian Store on Southern Baptist seminary campuses. It’s blamed on the sale of Southern Baptist Convention property and changing spending habits of Christian students.
Utah: A fine example of no matter how much money ‘lawmakers’ promise to spend on education, if there ain’t no tax revenues (due to a bad economy) it ain’t gonna happen: “A committee of lawmakers settled last week on a preliminary funding proposal ….with more than $266 million of it as ongoing funding….. …..But dollar amounts in the final education budget could likely fall short….Revised income tax revenue estimates won’t be available until the end of February, and they’re projected to produce less than the $266 million of ongoing funds included in the subcommittee’s proposal.”–Deseret News, Slicing and dicing money for your child’s education
Virginia: In Woodbridge, C&W Books shutdown: “After 25 years in your community, C & W Used Books will be closing on Feb. 29. Our lease is up and we cannot afford the rent increase.”
Washington: In Gig Harbor, after 47 years Mostly Books shutting down due to the property owner wanting to sell.
West Virginia: Cabell County Schools eliminating 61 jobs and transferring another 97! It’s blamed on the loss of 2-hundred students since 2014! Kanawha County School Board eliminating 25 jobs due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS). Local news reports say DSS is the number one reason for education layoffs in southern West Virginia. McDowell County Board of Education eliminating 30 jobs due to loosing $1.5-million in state and local tax funding, caused by loosing an average of 1-hundred students per year (that’s what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome)! Boone County Schools eliminating 77 jobs after the bad economy caused tax revenues to be cut by more than half: “There were signs that it was happening….just didn’t expect it all at once…came on very quickly….we just didn’t realize the enormity of it.”-Jerry Pcholinsky, Boone County Education president
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin System-Extension eliminating 80 jobs due to a sudden and unexpected budget cut by Right to Work (you over) Scott Walker. 40 of the jobs were already vacant.
Dumbing Down the United States, January 2016: “…in the end, you have to say ‘it’s not working.’”