When a school closes: what happens to the students? An Education Issue

In the last couple of years there have been some high profile school closings or near closings. And for the record it has not always been for-profit schools. There are public schools, private non-profit schools on that list.

Often there are internal politics, outside politics, and other agendas involved in these closings; sometimes it is just because the school was run really badly. (I have mentioned before that having a leadership title does not automatically make you a leader)

During all this struggle and fighting, the people we seem to hear the least from are the students. What is the solution for the students? Even if their debt was forgiven, many students have put years of work into a degree that they cannot finish, and those students cannot or will not be going anywhere else.

The recent high profile closing of ITT and Corinthian have and will continue to have a big effect on the industry in general because the accreditor ACICS is also in jeopardy.

So back to my original statement/question: what is the long range plan for students? What is the plan to truly help the students fulfill their dreams and goals? Are there any ideas floating around that might work?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Sharing and article 9/5/2016: An Education issue

There are several bothersome things about the article starting with the reason why the mother is in jail: FOR WANTING A GOOD EDUCATION FOR HER KIDS. Yes, that is the reason.

Why are we still at this point in this very rich country where schools are so unequal that parents have feel they have to lie about where they live?

What is also sad are the mean comments you see in the article, people focusing on the wrong things. This was not justice! This lady will not be able to teach in her state now because of a felony conviction!

Punishment is not justice and this does not help our society at all!

“Mom jailed for enrolling kids in wrong school district”

“An Ohio mother is in jail after being convicted of tampering with records to enroll her children in a better school district.”

“Kelley Williams-Bolar, 40, of Akron, illegally registered her two daughters at her father's address in suburban Copley Township to get them into the Copley-Fairlawn school district rather than the urban Akron district, a jury decided.”

“The Akron City school district met only four of 26 standards on the latest Ohio Department of Education Report Card and had a 76% graduation rate. Copley-Fairlawn City Schools met 26 of 26 standards and had a 97.5% graduation rate.”

Read the rest of this outrageous story here: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/26/mom-jailed-for-enrolling-kids-in-wrong-school-district/

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Do not lie to your employees: Lessons from an MBA class

Companies sometimes get bad news and it is not uncommon for this bad news to affect employees. Obviously the news must be disseminated in a timely manner, however, there are some companies whose company culture it is to practice a dangerous form of deception with their employees: they lie to them.

When you lie to your employees, all you are doing is sweeping the trash into the closet, and that closet will eventually be opened. When you lie to your employees, you are saying you do not value them or trust them. When you lie to your employees you are missing an opportunity to solicit some potential solution from your staff; believe me, if the vested in the company they want to help see the problem fixed.

Your employees know the pulse of your company, especially if they have been around for a little while; they know the cycles, and they can quickly separate the truth from falsehood. After all, they run the day to day operation of the place.

Tell them the truth, ask for their help, and you might be pleasantly surprised by the helpful responses.

Today’s lesson,

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

We worship the wrong things: an educational observation

This post has nothing to do with religion, but religion will be touched upon; it does have everything to do with the perceived priorities of many people.

Definition of Religion according to Merriam-Webster:

·    the belief in a god or in a group of gods

·    an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods

·    an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

Definition of a god according to Merriam-Webster:

·    the perfect and all-powerful spirit or being that is worshipped especially by Christians, Jews, and Muslims as the one who created and rules the universe

·    a spirit or being that has great power, strength, knowledge, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people: one of various spirits or beings worshipped in some religions

·    a person and especially a man who is greatly loved or admired

How often have these attributes been attributed to athletes? Check for yourself, it does not take much to see how athletes are viewed in United States. When I used to teach middle school, fantasy baseball was introduced in math class in order to get students interested in numbers. A clever idea right? But sad in some ways if you think about it.

Definition of Perfection according to Merriam-Webster:

·    the state or condition of being perfect

·    the act of making something perfect or better: the act of perfecting something

·    something that cannot be improved: something that is perfect

We expect perfection from the things we worship: athletes, politicians, Hollywood crowd. However, we love to see them fail because all this provides entertainment.

Definition of Entertainment according to Merriam-Webster:

·    amusement or pleasure that comes from watching a performer, playing a game, etc.

·    the act of amusing or entertaining people

Since when has politics become entertainment? Since when has the future direction of our country become a side show? It is also sad because mainstream media perpetuates this state of “entertainment”.

We focus on the wrong things; we get outraged by the wrongs things! There is a whole list of things we should be concerned about but we are concerned about the things we worship instead.

Teacher salary, student debt, social justice, gender equality, prison reform, a steady economy, etc. It is things like this that the average person such as myself are concerned about, but we do not talk about these things in a meaningful manner. Our discussions of these things are reduced to social media bites in which the ugly side of humanity comes out because people feel safe in their anonymity.

Going to church once a week does not mean you believe in a god, and as educators, getting a degree does not mean we are doing everything we can to educate. We must lead this discussion, we must force our students to think and think for themselves; in short we must educate!

My thought for the day but my hope for life.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

The Artful Dodge of an Apology: lesson from an MBA program

In my experience, most apologies are given to make the person apologizing feel better, and societal norms in this country say we must accept that apology and not hold a grudge, etc. What is not factored in is the human factor; the fact that we are thinking, breathing and feeling creatures.

How you treat your employees before they leave and how you treat your colleagues before you part ways will have a lot to do with how that apology is truly received. If you had made the effort beforehand, you probably will not have to apologize later, or give false platitudes such as “it is nice to see you”.

This sounds cynical, I know, however, the point of this write up is to prevent these issues from becoming issues in the first place, and it starts with authentic leadership.

Some things to think about that get taught in class every day, but do not necessarily get put into practice.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Awareness on life choices - Teaching how to survive in a world of crisis

ETeam Guest Writer: Debbra Smith

As life evolves our world is growing into a deeper crisis of addictions and suicides. As God called me to write "Why Me God?", it is all about the awareness of real life choices and how a girl with so much potential got swallowed up by her addictions. 

We must teach our children about these issues in school and how to learn what wrong choices can cost them. Educators can be the only hope a lot of these kids have now. We must act now! Everyone seems to know someone now. Life has changed so we must add more learning skills. 

Debbra Smith, Author

www.whymegod.org

Writers are welcome!

Do you write articles about education issues or educational leadership? Do you want to grow your audience and help grow a fledgling blog into a large one?

The ETeam welcomes writers (and before you ask, not there is no charge) to contribute to our blog!

Go to: http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/contact-us.html fill out the contact me or email direct to: principal@theeteamconsulting.com

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Let’s make a difference, let’s change the world!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam