It must be noted that I started documenting these education shutdowns at the beginning of 2014, in that year I posted the reports biannually (every six months). In 2015 education cutbacks ramped up and I posted quarterly (every three months). For the past seven months of 2016 there have been so many education cutbacks that I’ve posted a report every month!
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.
Incomplete list of publicly announced education related layoffs & school shutdowns, August 2016:
California: Iconic film and photography school Brooks Institute forced to shutdown their Ventura campus due to a sudden crash in enrollment, 169 jobs lost! News reports say Brooks suddenly stopped lease required remodeling work and failed to pay $70-thousand USD in rent on the city owned property! The city of Ventura will probably sue the college. In San Diego, Museum of Contemporary Art laid off 28 people and shutting down their La Jolla campus, saying it’s part of their planned “expansion”.
Connecticut: Bridgeport Public Schools laid off two School Resource Officers (cops).
Georgia: Albany State University and Darton State College eliminating 110 jobs! It’s blamed on non-stop Disapearing Students Syndrome. God can’t stop the administrators of ‘his’ Piane College from eliminating 15 jobs due to what I call Disapearing Students Syndrome (it’s The Rapture eyes tells ya). God’s ‘christian’ college will also reduce many employee’s pay to within 10% of minimum wage!
Idaho: Idaho State University (ISU) laying off 34 people at its Research and Innovation in Science and Engineering Complex (RISE), officially due to contract expiration. Unnamed employees told local news sources that the RISE was being shutdown due to lack of money, but ISU admin denied the rumor. More proof that throwing a lot of money at a problem doesn’t fix anything! After eight years, the state Department of Education’s $135-million USD campaign to increase math scores failed, big time! 8th graders considered at or above grade level dropped from 38% to 34% last year! 4th graders dropped from 41% to 38%! The Education Commission of the States says Idaho’s taxpayer funding of education fails because “…the current formula did not contemplate a variety of different learning modalities, the increasing mobility of students and the states move toward mastery-based education.” The 2016 Idaho Ready for Change survey says 73% of Idahoans prefer charter, or private schools, over traditional taxpayer funded schools. Seven years later CenturyLink and Education Networks of America (ENA) now suing the state Department of Education over the scandalous Idaho Education Network project. State Supreme Court rulings invalidated the IEN contracts, and the whole IEN broadband project was scrapped. CenturyLink and ENA claim they lost $18.5-million USD as a result! Idaho public schools are also struggling financially after a court ruling (last year) revealed that the fees Idaho schools have been charging for decades violate the state constitution. School District 151 revealed the illegal fees they were charging would’ve amounted to $140-thousand for the current school year. School District 411 spent taxpayer funding on an attorney to find ways to continue to charge ‘fees’ without violating the state constitution. Parents from school districts 2 and 25 (my district) are now suing for a refund of the illegal fees.
Illinois: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) issued layoff notices to 1-thousand and 29 employees! Administrators claim that the layoffs are at schools experiencing crashing enrollment, but that other schools will actually be hiring. In Pilsen, Benito Juarez Community Academy laid off ten people as part of the CPS funding cuts. Elgin Community College laid off 15 employees and warned more layoffs are in the works as state taxpayer funding keeps getting cut. In Wrigleyville, after 32 years Bookworks shutdown their brick-n-mortar store and will focus on internet sales only. The owners blame their declining brick-n-mortar book sales not on internet competition, but on jacked up rents, which in turn have changed the local brick-n-mortar landscape: “…the bar scene increased dramatically. For a number of years now it seems like every space that has gone for rent has eventually become a bar. It really has changed the atmosphere and focus of the neighborhood…”-Bob Roschke, co-owner
Indiana: The U.S. Department of Education is now banning Carmel based ITT Tech from accepting new students who rely on federal education loans or grants!
Iowa: Iowa State University eliminated 30 InfoTech jobs. At the same time, university administrators claim their reorganization of their IT department actually created eight jobs.
Kansas: Proof that taxpayer funding does not directly equal student performance? The Kansas Association of School Boards reports that student performance is ranked 10th for the United States, despite funding being ranked 29th!
Kentucky: In Louisville, Speed Art Museum laid off seven people and reduced full-time employees to part-time. It’s blamed on crashing attendance and $60-million USD in renovation costs.
Maryland: God’s Notre Dame laid off 12 people and shutdown 14 vacant positions.
Minnesota: After 103 years God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Crossroads College (International Christian Bible College), after the Fall Semester! ‘Christian’ administrators blame it on what I call Disapearing Students Syndrome (it’s The Rapture eyes tells ya).
Ohio: In Beavercreek, education supply store Tools 4 Learning shutdown.
Oregon: After almost 40 years non-profit Arts Central-Art Station-VanGo-Artists in Schools shutdown its education programs in Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties.
Pennsylvania: Fiscally ignorant NAACP suing the state, saying the additional $260-million in education funding (on top of the state’s supposed “historic” funding levels) is not enough (see Idaho and Kansas above for proof that mo-money doesn’t equal mo-education)! California University of Pennsylvania has warned its employees of layoffs at the end of the 2016-17 school year, due to crashing enrollment. A former university instructor reveals that state universities and local police are working together to ‘cheat’ on internet testing for future law enforcement personnel: “Many who earn their Penn State degrees through World Campus, particularly those serving in the military, eventually pursue careers in law enforcement. The removal of the exam-proctoring safeguard signaled to students that cheating in online courses was not only tolerated, but to some extent, also encouraged by Penn State.”-Shane Ralston
South Carolina: It’s been revealed that PowerBall Lottery funding for state college scholarships is down: “We did not intend for the general fund to cover lottery scholarships to the extent it has. You can’t just tell someone we’re out of money.”-Chip Limehouse, weak-willed state Representative
It was also revealed that many of the state scholarships officially meant for low income students are actually going to students from wealthy families: “It’s an indecent practice! ….you’re sending kids to college on poor folks’ money, but you can’t figure out how to fund schools in Jasper County?”-Reverand Joe Darby
Wisconsin: Half Price Books shutting down their Highland Plaza store: “…during this changing time for our industry, we have to be smart about the business decisions we make. We have great customers here in Milwaukee, but unfortunately the customer traffic hasn’t been high enough to allow us to stay, so we are focusing our resources on our other Milwaukee-area locations.”
July 2016: “WE ARE GOING DOWN…”