Obama's War on For-Profit, Profession-Focused Colleges

On September 6th, ITT Tech was forced to shut down all if its national schools after President Obama's Department of Education pulled the plug on federal student loan support for their students.  This action slammed the door on 35,000 students and 8,000 employees.  One of the primary reasons for the Department of Ed's action was overly-stated promises of job placement.

In January, Obama's Federal Trade Commission effectively put DeVry University's national schools out of business for misleading students on career placement availability and expected incomes.  Similarly, Corinthian Colleges were sued out of existence for misleading students.  First by the California State's Attorney General, and then, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Almost 80,000 students were affected by these actions; leaving them with the option to transfer their credits to another school.  However, the chances that another school would accept all credits is probably low since, in effect, ITT Tech, Corinthian, and DeVry are types of "trade" schools with a more focused profession-oriented curriculum.

In my opinion, the Federal Government could have handled this differently by forcing the schools to rectify any problems they may have had.  Then, giving the students the option of continuing at those schools or dropping out. Instead, most of these student may have lost months or years that they have invested towards their education.

References:

ITT Tech shuts down all its schools; one student says he's 'angry times 10 million': http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-itt-tech-20160906-snap-story.html

Feds Sue DeVry University, Alleging For-Profit College Misled Students: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/feds-sue-devry-university_us_56a904c7e4b0f7179928af63

Corinthian Colleges must pay nearly $1.2 billion for false advertising and lending practices: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-corinthian-colleges-judgment-false-advertising-20160323-story.html

The Federal Government's One-Size-Fits-All-Mentality Strikes Our School Cafeterias

People who have read this blog know that I rail against federal legislation that carries fixed values without regard to variables that may exist throughout these broad United States.  More than once I have complained that setting a fixed number for a minimum wage is just stupid because it doesn't take into consideration the costs of living that varies so greatly by states, cities, and communities within major cities. 

When I heard that school children were rebelling against the new cafeteria standards as part of Michele Obama's pushed legislation, The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, I just knew it had to be because the government, once again, decided on a one-size-fits-all solution.

Under the law, the USDA is given the responsibility of setting calorie sizes for meals served in school cafeterias.  So, in the summer of this year they released these new calorie limits for breakfast and lunches being served in our nation's schools:

As you can see, the calorie values are simply set by age.  So, a 6-foot tall, 16-year old male will be getting the same amount of food that a 5-foot tall female of the same age. There is also no consideration of activity levels, rates of metabolism or BMI, gender, or any health conditions.  This is another perfect example of why government needs to stay out of our lives and stop trying to turn America into a European-style nanny-state.

Lastly... This stupid regulation was passed into law in 2010 by the same Democrat controlled Congress and the same Democrat President that gave us ObamaCare.  Also, my guess is that our kids will just get fatter because they will ultimately make up for the loss of calories at school with more junk food outside of school.  This is because, drastic dieting and food deprivation can result in binge eating the "forbidden foods" they once enjoyed.

References:

-- USDA/Department of Education: Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act 2010: Nutrition Standards: New Meal Pattern Requirements (released: The Summer of 2012): http://www.upsd.org/68098930103610/lib/68098930103610/New%20Meal%20Regulations/Meal%20Pattern%20New%20PPPresentation%20PDE%202012.pdf

-- Fox News: High school students boycott school cafeteria over new lunch restrictions: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/09/18/high-school-students-boycott-school-cafeteria-over-new-lunch-restrictions/