How Can I Make My Private Student Loan More Affordable?

While there are numerous programs available for federal loan forgiveness, there are not many options for private student loan forgiveness. Students who have taken federal loans have more flexible terms due to the loans being connected to the government and, therefore, connected to public sector forgiveness opportunities to help aid career shortage regions.

If you feel like you’re drowning in private student loan debt, you are not alone. Don’t let the lack of private student loan forgiveness programs make you feel helpless! If your employer does not offer student loan forgiveness incentives, try the following tactics to make your private loans more affordable and manageable.

Negotiate With the Lender

Discuss your circumstances with your lender to see if you can reach a better agreement. Be prepared to submit banking and credit card information to your lender to further prove that you cannot afford the monthly payments. The lender may offer the suggestion of extending the loan to lower your monthly payments. If you need relief in the short-term this may be a wise decision and you can always prepay on months you are ahead to help reduce your term.

If you need further help, see if you can get late penalties waived or see if your lender offers interest only payments until you can get back on your feet. If you can get through the hard times and avoid a student loan default this will produce a positive impact on your financial future.

Look Into Refinancing

Refinancing and consolidating your private student loans with a new lender can unlock significant savings if you are eligible for a lower interest rate. This process will also help manage your payment if you have multiple loans with multiple lenders. Be sure to shop around and consider adding a cosigner on your loans in order to qualify for the best rate possible. Compare refinancing offers with a site like Credible to maximize your refinancing savings.

You can choose to save money with a variable interest rate loan since rates are currently much lower now compared to fixed. If your rate begins to rise, you can always refinance again and lock in at a fixed rate and enjoy the saving and lower payment when you were at a variable rate.

Private Student Loan Discharge

Under extreme and rare circumstances, a private student loan might be discharged. Discharge is awarded in the event of a death or permanent disability which affects how you earn an income. Some private lenders have this discharge written in their terms, while others may require you to bring up your case with a judge.                   

While repaying your private loan is challenging when finances are tight, do everything possible to avoid late payments and missed payments. Forgoing payment on your loans will not help your financial situation and will decrease your chances of being able to negotiate with the lender or refinance your loan and ultimately get ahead of your student loans.

As an independent, transparent marketplace for student loans, Credible helps borrowers understand all of their student loan repayment options.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/credible/how-can-i-get-private-stu_b_7547208.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education

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Education Department Announces Plans To Erase Student Debt For Corinthian Students

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government will erase much of the debt of students who attended the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges, officials announced Monday, as part of a new plan that could cost taxpayers as much as $3.6 billion.

Corinthian Colleges was one of the largest for-profit schools when it nearly collapsed last year and became a symbol of fraud in the world of higher education and student loans. According to investigators, Corinthian schools charged exorbitant fees, lied about job prospects for its graduates and, in some cases, encouraged students to lie about their circumstances to get more federal aid.

In a plan orchestrated by the Department of Education, some of the Corinthian schools closed while others were sold before the chain filed for bankruptcy this spring. The biggest question has been what should happen to the debt incurred by students whose schools were sold. The law already provides for debt relief for students of schools that close, so long as they apply within 120 days.

The latest plan expands debt relief to students who attended a now-closed school as far back as a year ago. And it streamlines the process for students whose schools were sold but believe they were victims of fraud.

"We will make this process as easy as possible for them, including by considering claims in groups wherever possible, and hold institutions accountable," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.

As an example, the department said it has already found that many programs at a California subsidiary of Corinthian Colleges, known as Heald College, were "misrepresented" to students. So any student enrolled in that school between 2010 and 2015 would likely qualify for relief.

The amount of debt relief could be staggering. Officials estimate that some 40,000 borrowers at the Heald College alone took on more than $540 million in loans that potentially qualify for debt relief.

But the final amount could climb significantly when looking across all Corinthian Schools, which include Everest and WyoTech. In all, the department estimates that about $3.6 billion in federal loans was given to Corinthian students.

Duncan told reporters in a phone call on Monday that the department has no way of knowing how many students will come forward and ask for help.

"It's an unknown quantity at this point," he said of the final price tag.

Former officials at Corinthian Colleges couldn't be immediately reached for comment. A former lawyer for the school said he no longer represents the chain of colleges since it went bankrupt.

Most of the company's assets have been sold and its stock worthless.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., praised the move by the administration, even as it left glaring questions about whether the government could have done more to protect students in the first place.

"It is our responsibility to hold servicers and colleges accountable to prevent future students from having to endure anything like this debacle ever again," Cummings said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/erase-student-debt-corinthian_n_7538978.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education

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Michelle Obama Delivers Emotional Commencement Address At Chicago High School

“I know the struggles many of you face, how you walk the long way home to avoid the gangs; how you fight to concentrate on your schoolwork when there's too much noise at home; how you keep it together when your family's having a hard time making ends meet. But more importantly, I know the strength of this community.”

Those were the words spoken by first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday to the graduates of King College Prep High School in Chicago’s South Side.

Obama grew up near the school, and during her emotional commencement address, she said she wanted to share “the real story” about the South Side, a story about resilience and courage in the face of adversity.

She also honored Hadiya Pendleton, a student of King College Prep who was shot dead two years ago at the age of 15.

“I know that many of you have already dealt with some serious losses in your lives,” Obama told the students. “Maybe you’ve lost someone you love, someone you desperately wish could be here with you tonight. And I know that many of you are thinking about Hadiya right now and feeling the hole that she’s left in your hearts.”

Pendleton was shot in the back in January 2013 while hanging out with friends in a park. Just the week before, the honor student had performed at an event in Washington D.C. to celebrate President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

The teen’s killing, which occurred shortly after the Newtown school massacre, rattled not just Chicago, but the nation. The first lady even spoke at Pendleton’s funeral.

On Tuesday, an empty chair was left for Pendleton at what would have been her graduation. The chair was draped in purple, the teen’s favorite color, and adorned with fresh flowers. Obama told the students that Pendleton’s memory “is truly a blessing and an inspiration.”

Using the teen's life and legacy as an example, Obama then urged the graduating glass to not be defined by the violence and economic hardship they may have endured, but by the success they’ve achieved in spite of it.

“I want you to understand that every scar that you have is a reminder not just that you got hurt, but that you survived,” Obama said, adding: “If Hadiya’s friends and family could survive their heartbreak and pain, if they could found organizations to honor her unfulfilled dreams, if they could inspire folks across this country to wear orange to protest gun violence, then I know you all can live your life with the same determination and joy that Hadiya lived her life. I know you all can dig deep and keep on fighting to fulfill your own dreams.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, all of King College Prep’s 177 graduates have been accepted to college.

“You embody all of the courage and love, all of the hunger and hope that have always defined these communities -- our communities,” Obama said in the conclusion of her speech. “And I am so proud of you all, and I stay inspired because of you, and I can’t wait to see everything you all achieve in the years ahead.”

The First Lady chose to speak at King College Prep after the school won a video contest promoting student applications for college financial aid, The Associated Press reported. The school's winning video featured a spoof of the ABC show "Scandal." On Tuesday, Obama brought a surprise video for the students in which the show's cast members congratulated the graduates.

Watch part of Michelle Obama's commencement address in the video above. Readthe full transcript here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/michelle-obama-commencement-address-chicago-high-school_n_7549704.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education

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Nevada Abandons Public Education

Nevada has made its bid for a gold medal in the race to the bottom of the barrel for public education. The state's GOP legislature, with help from Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education (a name that belongs in Orwellian annals right next to "Peacekeeper Missile"), has created an all-state voucher system.

This is the full deal. No foot-in-the-door program for poor, disabled, or trapped-in-failing-school students. Next fall every single student in Nevada gets a taxpayer-funded voucher to spend at the school whose marketing most appeals to that student's parents.

The backers of the bill are as delighted as they are divorced from reality. Here's bill sponsor Senator Scott Hammond, quoted in the Washington Post:

Nothing works better than competition.

This statement belongs in the annals of baseless expressions of faith, right next to "I'm sure that he'll leave his wife soon" or "Everything should be fine now that the government guy is here to help us" or "Go ahead and hand me that basket of vipers; I'm sure God will protect me."

In point of fact, not only do many things work better than competition, but competition doesn't really work all that well. And competition certainly does not work well when we're talking about providing an important public service to all people-- not just the ones who win the competition. It's true that when it comes to winning the race or getting the VP job or convincing that hot human to marry you, there can be only one. But what does that have to do with public education? Does Senator Hammond believe there should only be one great school in Nevada and only some students should get to succeed?

There are so many ways in which competition does not belong in public education.Building is a better metaphor than racing. Competition doesn't even foster traditional conservative values. The free market often resists quality rather than fostering it. The market doesn't know what to do with "losers." Charter school competition does not create pressure for excellence. Market competition creates perverse incentives to game the system, and tends to put the wrong people in charge. Choice twists the product in an involuntary market. Voucher system disenfranchise the taxpayers, literally creating taxation without representation and pitting taxpayers against parents. The whole inefficient system depends on lies and fantasies for financing. And if you think competition fosters excellence, just go take a look at your cable tv. Or take a look at how it has worked out in the college market. Finally, don't forget that time that Dr. Raymond of CREDO (charter and choice fans par excellence) declared that the free market doesn't work in education.

Like many school choice programs, Nevada's will actually be a school's choice program. The vouchers will provide poor students with a whopping $5,700. Want to go to Shiny Rich Prep Academy, high-poverty students? So sorry. It turns out your voucher just doesn't quite bring in enough money. Are you a student with issues, problems, or a disability? Sorry-- it's too hard to make money educating you, so we're going to find some means of making you go away.

Though it should be noted-- in one potential windfall for families that aren't all that into the whole edumacation thing, the voucher can be spent on home school supplies.

All of you who can't get into a Really Nice School? You are all welcome to go back to a public school. You know-- the public school that had to cut pretty much everything because it lost a ton of money to vouchers. Have a great time, you reject, but take comfort in knowing that the voucher program made it possible for rich families who were going to send their kids to SRPA anyway to have a bit more money to finance that trip to Paris this summer.

Of course, no piece about FEE's devotion to helping states screw over poor students would be complete without a quote from the reformsters own Dolores Umbridge:

"This is the wave of the future," said Levesque, whose foundation helped Nevada legislators draft the measure while its nonprofit sister organization, Excel National, lobbied to get it passed. "In all aspects of our [meaning we deserving wealthy folks] life, we look for ways to customize and give individuals [who are the right kind of people] more control over their path and destiny [while freeing them from any requirement to help Those People]. . . . This is a fundamental shift in how we make decisions about education [in the sense that we are allowing the Right People more choice and taking choices and resources away from Those People who really don't deserve them]."

I edited her quote slightly to make sure her meaning was a little more clear.

Nevada was already well-positioned for the Race to the Bottom prize, consistently ranking among the bottom ten states for education funding. With this bold step, they have insured that even that little bit of money will be spent in the most in efficient, wasteful manner possible. Not only will they be duplicating services (can you run two households with the same money it takes to run one?), but by draining funds away from public schools, they can guarantee that those public schools will struggle with fewer resources than ever.

This is not out of character for Nevada. Las Vegas has long been notorious as a place where folks want their tourist industry to be well staffed with lots of cheap labor, but they don't want those workers to be able to actually live in Vegas. Many would prefer that workers simply vanish after they punch out. We want Those People to be in the casinos, serving us drinks, showing skin, and looking happy-- but we don't want Those People to live in our shiny city. While what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, those who make it happen are not.

Levesque is correct in one respect-- this really is a fundamental shift in how Nevada handles public education, in the sense that this is Nevada throwing up its hands and saying, "Screw it. We're not even going to pretend to try to provide a quality public education for all children in the state."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/nevada-abandons-public-ed_b_7546858.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education

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This Author Called For A Student Loan Boycott, And CNBC Was Not Having It

Lee Siegel, an author who defaulted on his student loan debts, appeared on CNBC’s morning talk show "Squawk Box" on Monday to defend his choice. It would have been hard for him to find a less sympathetic audience.

Facing the finance program's three co-hosts, Siegel presented an argument rooted in the world of business: Many of the country’s most famous multimillionaires, including Donald Trump and Ahmed Zayat, the owner of Triple Crown-winning horse American Pharaoh, have declared bankruptcy. So why, he asked, is it only an issue of morality when it comes to students?

The short answer from the hosts: It just is.

Siegel published an op-ed about his experience in Sunday's New York Times. He stopped short of calling for a student loan boycott in the piece, but told the "Squawk Box" hosts such a boycott would be a good way to protest an unfairly expensive education system.

"I do think that in an ideal situation, it would not be the worst thing in the world to have a national boycott like that," Siegel said.

Siegel also endorsed a proposal Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has introduced, which would finance tuition at state colleges and universities through a tax on financial transactions.

Siegel said his decision to default on his own loans was based on a conclusion that the U.S. student debt system is fundamentally unfair. He noted that student debtors have fewer options for reorganizing their debts compared to wealthier debtors.

"It is a fact that student loans are the only kind of debt that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy," Siegel said.

When Siegel pointed out that by contrast, Trump and others have famously declared bankruptcy, co-host Joe Kernen pushed back, claiming that Trump’s bankruptcy was different because it was corporate, rather than personal. Siegel maintained that the example still shows how wealthy individuals enjoy bankruptcy protections that students lack altogether.

In fact, Trump has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times, but never for personal bankruptcy.

John Pottow, a bankruptcy expert and law professor at the University of Michigan Law School, confirmed that Siegel's description of the bankruptcy status of student debt is essentially correct.

"It is fair to say that the debtor does not get the same type of bankruptcy for student debt that is afforded to other debtors," Pottow said. "It is true that 99 out of 100 debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy."

Pottow noted, though, that some tax debts are also not dischargeable.

Another host of the show, Andrew Ross Sorkin, conceded that college should be more affordable, but argued that people who default on their student loans are only hurting those who try to repay theirs.

“You don’t think it is completely unfair to all those people who actually pay their loan that you’re just saying, ‘Screw it?’” Sorkin asked.

Siegel argued that he did not dismiss his loan obligation from the get-go, but rather that his default was the result of choosing a career he was passionate about.

"I decided not to go into the Army or anything like that in order to pay off my loans," Siegel said. "I decided that I would become what I wanted to become and I went into default. And I suffered because of that. I do think that for me that was a better choice than having to go harness myself in a job or three jobs to pay off a loan that I found pointless and overbearing."

Addressing student loan debt and the high cost of a college education has become a top political priority among Democratic politicians and progressive activists. In addition to Sanders’ proposal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation that would allow student debtors to refinance their loans at lower rates.

National progressive groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee want to make college "debt-free," meaning students wouldn't need to take out loans for any college-related expenses. Among Democratic presidential candidates, former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.) has endorsed debt-free college. Hillary Clinton spoke about making higher education "as debt-free as possible" while on the campaign trail in Iowa.

Total student loan debt reached $1.2 trillion in the last quarter of 2014, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/cnbc-student-loan-boycott_n_7537432.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education

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Buzz Aldrin to students: You, too, should reach for the moon and beyond

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Buzz Aldrin Elementary students surround the school's namesake after he talked as part of the 20th anniversary of the school June 8, 2015 in Reston, Va. Clockwise from Astronaut Buzz Aldrin are Dante Tosada, Thomas Cosby, Maddie Brockman, Cadance Godshalk, Sydney Pina, Gunner Philbert and Carioux Thomas. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

When Gina Ross was a young girl, she watched on television as U.S. astronauts landed on the moon, a sight that electrified her and left an impression that has endured for decades in her career as an educator.

Ross became the founding principal of Aldrin Elementary School in 1994, lobbying hard to have the school in Reston, Va., named for Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut who was the second man to step foot on the moon.

“I was very much into the space program,” said Ross, who has since retired. “When you delve into space and science, it opens up a whole new world for the children.”

Ross hoped that the school would raise a new generation of astronauts, though the nation’s space program has been curtailed significantly since its heyday. She thought that naming the school for Aldrin might inspire students in the same way he had for a generation of youths who pursued science and engineering.

That curiosity — and awe — was on the faces of students who gathered around Aldrin on Monday as he visited the school to celebrate its 20th year. After he spoke to students, they peppered him with questions and advised him on how to parachute out of a spacecraft. (“Push the button!”)

Kindergartner Thomas Cosby, who says he wants to be an astronaut, listens intently to Buzz Aldrin who was addressing the students during an assembly to celebrate Buzz Aldrin Elementary School’s 20th anniversary. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

The gravelly voiced Aldrin, 85, still has broad shoulders, but he effuses grandfatherly warmth around children. He wears a necklace with beads that spell out his name and a watch with two faces — one for the East Coast and one for the West. On Monday, he donned a colorful tie bearing the medallions of various space missions.

“How did you get home from the moon alive?” one boy asked.

“You’re smart!” Aldrin exclaimed, leaning down to talk to the boy face-to-face. “We had a lot of help.”

“Did you eat ice cream out there?” a girl asked.

“You mean that fake stuff?” Aldrin replied. “No ice cream, no. Just hot coffee.”

And he went on.

“We slept a little bit. No beds. We would float around and hit our heads on the ceiling,” he joked. The children giggled.

Aldrin has dedicated himself to several causes during his semi-retirement, among them lobbying NASA to develop a plan for a manned mission to Mars. But education remains close to his heart. He started a nonprofit to bolster science and engineering education and has written children’s books. He worries that children who have a fascination with science and science fiction at a young age will lose it later.

“Second grade, third grade: ‘Star Trek.’ Then they grow out of that,” he said.

Speaking in the school’s cafeteria Monday afternoon, Aldrin waved at students and beamed as they sang “Aldrin, Aldrin,” the school anthem set to the tune of “Ode to Joy.”

He talked a little bit about his journey to space, which began when he was a schoolboy in New Jersey, where as a sixth-grader he played the Wizard of Oz in a play.

“You’re going to leave here, and you’re going to remember your teachers,” Aldrin said. “I hope you will because they have given a little bit of their lives for your education. Without education, doors won’t open for you.

“How does a little kid grow up a towhead and have a school named after him? What’s the last line of your song?” Aldrin asked, referencing the school anthem. “No dream is too high for —”

“You!” the crowd of students shouted in unison.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/buzz-aldrin-to-students-you-too-should-reach-for-the-moon-and-beyond/2015/06/08/5f5ef18e-0e27-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html

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Bill Nye the Science Guy Talks Keeping Teens Interested in STEM

If wearing a tie-dye lab coat gets students interested in science, technology, engineering and math, that's what teachers should do.

Winners of one the largest K-12 science competitions showcased their projects to industry executives and members of Congress in Washington last week.

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For some high schoolers, science isn't an abstract topic they learn about in class, but the key to solving problems that affect the globe.

"If you're on blood thinners and you get a cut, your blood is just going to flow without stopping because you don’t have the properties necessary to heal the wound," says Bradley Nokes, 17, who, along with fellow students at West Salem High School in Oregon, helped design a prototype of a system that could one day help people with this problem.

Their project won first place in the nationwide Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision K-12 science competition, one of the world’s largest, for grades 10 to 12. National winners of the competition, which was administered by the National Science Teachers Association, were honored at events in Washington last week. Members of the first-place national teams ​were each awarded a $10,000 savings bond.

Bill Nye – ​known for his 1990s educational show "Bill Nye the Science Guy," which began​ streaming online last month via the on-demand video service Netflix​ – has been involved with the competition for more than a decade.

He spoke to U.S. News about keeping the spark for science, technology, engineering and math ​alive in teens. The interview was edited for length and clarity. 

Do you think it is harder for teachers to keep teens interested in STEM as opposed to younger students?

Well, it's really easy with young students. ​As a science educator, I've never had any trouble engaging people because you got props, you blow stuff up. ​Come on, what's cooler than that? ​What is it that you loved about your favorite teacher? This is not a trick question, it was his or her passion, right?

So when I'm king of the forest, which is a ways off, we would enable school systems to hire teachers of physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology to make as much money as say, a software engineer, and it would attract people who are very competent and passionate. This would lead to a better tomorrow for all humankind, at a very reasonable cost.

What advice would you give to a teacher who is struggling to keep his or her students interested in these topics?

Let your passion come through, that's what I tell everybody. Go for it. Don't be embarrassed. Go wild. Whatever it is, whatever it is within you, let it out. If you have a tie-dye lab coat, go for it. If you want to wear a perfectly starched lab coat, crisp with a bow tie, I say embrace it. If you are wearing a bow tie – another thing I'll say, just as an aside – I think you should also wear a shirt. It's up to you.​

What role do parents play in helping high schoolers stay interested in science and math?

Well, just keep in mind that the role of parents is to make sure kids do their homework. You do that by way of example. If you come home as a parent and check out and just start watching television, don't expect your kid to not feel that that's OK. It's very easy for me to say – ​it's a hard thing to actually do.

But a tradition of academic excellence is passed down. As we say all the time, it's not what you say, it's what you do. Children are watching you all the time if you are a grown-up. If you conduct your life in a dissolute, ​lazy way, don't expect your kids not to do the same thing.

What are the future consequences for a teen who has lost his or her enthusiasm for science and math?​

Your life won’t be as much fun, that's all I'll tell you. It just won't be as much fun. It won't be as interesting.

Do you think the competitive aspect of a competition​ like ExploraVision gets students interested?

Everybody. You ask anybody, 'Oh I love losing.' Nobody says that – everybody likes to win. Everybody competes and this is deep within us. ​This is evolution, ​man. ​Our ancestors who did not compete, are not our ancestors; ​they got eliminated a long time ago.

Competition is not bad, emphasizing anything too much is probably bad because you de-emphasize other important things. ​But nevertheless, if you are diligent as a student in ExploraVision you can get a scholarship and go to college and almost certainly have a higher quality of life than if you didn't.

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2015/06/08/bill-nye-the-science-guy-talks-keeping-teens-interested-in-stem

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This Is Where School Funding Is The Least 'Fair,' According To New Reports

In Mississippi's Carroll County school district, there are no advanced placement courses, no foreign language classes and not enough textbooks for children to take home at night. Until last year, students on the high school football team had to change clothes in a makeshift room that previously functioned as a chicken coop. Two years ago, the district's superintendent, Billy Joe Ferguson, cut his own salary from $87,000 to $18,000 in order to free up funds for the schools.
Schools in Mississippi are provided with some of the lowest levels of state and local funding in the nation, according to two reports released simultaneously Monday detailing disparities in school resources around the country. For most of the past 10 years, the state has failed to live up to its own law requiring certain funding levels for schools.
Unfortunate circumstances like the ones in Carroll County can be seen across the country, say the reports from the Leadership Conference Education Fund and the Education Law Center, a New Jersey legal and advocacy group. The first report, from both groups, takes a qualitative approach, using anecdotes to show how inequities in school funding shortchange the nation's most vulnerable children. The other report, from the Education Law Center only, evaluates the level of school funding "fairness" in each state, focusing on four measures using 2012 data: funding level (the average state and local revenue spent per pupil), funding distribution (how funds are distributed between high and low-income areas), effort (how much a state spends on education relative to its gross domestic product) and coverage (the proportion of a state's children in public schools versus private schools).
The idea, according to the report, is to see if states "support equal educational opportunity for all students and, in particular, for low-income students in school districts with concentrated poverty."
Indeed, at a time when an increasing number of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch nationwide, the disparities in school resources across zip codes are deep.
"In too many places -- urban, suburban, and rural -- our schools are struggling to find the resources they need to serve all children well. This is especially true in communities that serve students most at-risk, including children from low-income families and children of color," says the groups' report.
The chart below details how states did on two of the four funding fairness measures: funding distribution and effort, according to the Education Law Center. On measures of funding distribution, states like South Dakota, Delaware, Minnesota and New Jersey scored near the top. On measures of effort, states like Vermont, West Virginia and New Jersey scored highly. But the context surrounding this data demands further interrogation. For example, North Carolina improved on measures of funding distribution in 2012, but only because the state slashed funding for wealthy districts while maintaining its levels of funding for poor districts.

Overall, the report notes, only two states score relatively well in all four fairness indicators: Massachusetts and New Jersey. Still, on a call with reporters, report authors noted that this data is from 2012, and New Jersey's standing since then may have slipped under the Chris Christie administration. Missouri, Alabama and Virginia were consistently low scoring.
The Education Law Center report also looks at indicators like wage competitiveness, pupil-to-teacher ratios and early childhood education enrollment when evaluating how state funding impacts educational resources. The below map shows where teachers have competitive wages by age 45, compared to non-teachers with similar education levels, experience and hours. In the state with the most competitive wages for teachers, Wyoming, educators make 94 percent of what non-teachers make.

Data released by the Department of Education earlier this year bolster the reports' findings, showing that during the 2011-2012 school year, 23 states spent more per pupil in affluent districts than high-poverty school districts. After the Great Recession, many states slashed their education budgets. By 2012, many states still had not restored these funds, even while the economy had improved, say the reports.
"The children who need the most seem to be getting less and less, and the children who need the least are getting more and more," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in March.
Funding disparities lead to a lack of education opportunities, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, suggested in a statement.
"Teachers across the country will tell you that kids thrive when they have art, music, physical education and extracurricular activities; services to meet physical, mental, social and emotional needs; and multiple pathways to high school graduation and good jobs, like those we see in today's career and technical education programs. But none of this is possible unless we reduce the unconscionable funding disparities. Only then can we help every child in America succeed," said Weingarten.


www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/07/school-funding-fairness_n_7530790.html?utm_hp_ref=education

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What I Wish I Could Write in My Students' Yearbooks

Do you remember Melissa Joan Hart's character in 1998's romantic teen comedy Can't Hardly Wait? She was the one who frantically -- and annoyingly -- ran around the party trying to get every last person to sign her yearbook. More or less, "Yearbook Girl" (they didn't even give her character an actual name) was modeled after me. (Okay, not technically because I graduated high school in 2002, but whatever. And I say "whatever" by forming the letter "w" with my thumbs and forefingers. Oh wait, that was from Clueless. Wow, my generation has quite the repertoire of romantic comedies.)
Anyway, I was that girl who scoured the halls of my high school looking for anyone and everyone, even if I didn't really know them, to sign my yearbook. I was not satisfied with just a signature, however. I wanted a little message in which you told me how much I meant to you, that we made class so fun, that I should keep smiling, never change, and here is my number, K.I.T. (That's "keep in touch" to those of you who are not yearbook aficionados.)
I needed those individual and lasting marks on the pages of my book so that I could remember my classmates forever. I didn't want to forget any of them -- not the girl I sat next to in math, not my teammate on the volleyball team, not the lunch lady who made my pizza, not the girl who passed me on the steps and sometimes smiled at me on the way to fourth period.
You see, I am very sentimental.
Perhaps that is why I turn into a fretful ball of nerves when we get to the end of the school year and my students ask me the question, "Will you sign my yearbook?" It creates enough pressure for me to say with confidence that it is one of the most difficult parts of my job.
How can I summarize, Student, everything you have meant to me over the past eight months in just one little yearbook blurb?
I know your reading level. I know your standardized test scores. I know your learning style. I know your top three multiple intelligences. I know your strengths. I know your weaknesses. I know the title of your favorite book. I know your hobbies. I know where you like to shop. I know what you like to eat. I know you are a Belieber. I know you would never admit that to anyone.
I know who your friends are. I know who your friends aren't and I wish you would stay away from them. I know your parent's divorce was really hard on you. I know you miss your brother who is fighting overseas. I know if you had your way you would not have to go to math class. I know you are good at illustrating flowers and rainbows, but struggle with drawing people. I know who your crush is. I know the name of all three of your dogs.
I know that you squirm whenever we have fundraisers because I know that your family does not have the means to give you even a dollar for you to contribute. I know you are really hungry in the morning because you haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch. I know you moved six times in the last four years.
I know that your favorite color is green. I know that you want to be a lawyer. I confiscated a note from you last week, so I know that your boyfriend just dumped you because you won't hold hands with him for more than three seconds. I know that that is the best thing that could have happened to you.
I have pored over your work to learn as much as I can about you. I have sat through meetings with other teachers to figure out how to motivate you. I have stayed up late and spent time away from my family working to figure out what I could do to help you to learn. I cried when I failed you, and jumped for joy when I watched you succeed.
I have put so much energy into you -- into being able to teach you to the best of my ability.
You have no idea how much you mean to me.
You have no idea how much I will miss you. You have become like one of my own children. I want you to be able to read what I write in 20 years and know that I truly meant it when I said that it was you who taught me so much, and it was you that made the difference in my life.
Yes, I will sign your yearbook. And I will never forget you.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristy-l-moore/what-i-wish-i-could-write-in-my-students-yearbooks_b_7543726.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education

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