#education

Higher Education Inquirer : When Was Higher Education Truly a Public Good? (Glen McGhee) https://share.google/PIXN0IS46fsIbmcoF

Quite possibly the worst run school division in America. Gutless leaders who have no concept of how to support the sanctity of the learning environment. Their policy is to literally sacrifice the all for one.

Teacher support and retention is negligible. To make matters worse, their compensation is about 10% lower than it’s surrounding school divisions.

Just look at all the openings on their website. Mess beyond belief. STAY AWAY!

The enrollment at Western Illinois University’s Macomb campus has fallen 47% since 2010, to 5,511 from 10,377.

Every year, the United States opens its doors to tens of thousands of H-1B visa holders — highly skilled professionals, mostly from India and China, who fill roles in technology, engineering, and healthcare. Politicians and CEOs justify it as a necessity: “We don’t have enough qualified workers.” But maybe the real question is — why don’t we?

The U.S. government has built a system that rewards importing talent instead of investing in it. For decades, America has underfunded public universities, allowed tuition to skyrocket, and turned higher education into a business. A degree in computer science or engineering can now leave a young American buried under six figures of debt. Meanwhile, companies say they “can’t find talent” and turn abroad — where other nations educate millions of students in STEM for a fraction of the cost.

Countries like India and China don’t just produce skilled graduates — they do it through public investment. Their taxpayers subsidize the training of engineers who later come to work for Google, Microsoft, or Amazon in America. The U.S. benefits from that education for free. It’s a brilliant deal for corporations — and a terrible one for American students.

The H-1B program wasn’t meant to undercut American workers, but that’s often the effect. It’s a convenient tool for corporations to access cheaper, compliant labor without addressing the deeper issue: America’s refusal to make education accessible and affordable. Free tuition or debt-free public universities would build a domestic pipeline of talent that could easily compete with the global workforce. But such reforms don’t attract corporate lobbyists. Visa programs do.

So, the cycle continues. The U.S. imports the best minds from abroad, while millions of bright young Americans are priced out of their own future. The “land of opportunity” keeps outsourcing opportunity itself.

If America truly wants to stay competitive in the 21st century, it must stop renting its brainpower and start growing it.

What a shame. Every year 1000s of companies renegotiate with insurers to cut benefits... Sick... Millions of Americans fight, every day, to avoid medicl bankruptcy. They pay taxes close to those in European countries with universal healthcare, yet get almost nothing in return. Healthcare +education are sooooooooo essential for a strong society. Still we Americans make sure both cost the most in the world (and reach the fewest)...

Nearly a dozen positions that directly support students were among those eliminated in a sweeping round of layoffs at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences earlier this month, according to a document obtained by The Crimson.

Roughly 35 staff members — or about 15 percent of SEAS’ total staff — were affected by the cost-cutting measure designed to mitigate the impacts of federal actions, the document showed.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/21/seas-layoffs-student-advisors/

Santa Rosa City Schools is turning to pay cuts for its top administrators and other district managers as another way to dig out of its financial crisis — and lay the groundwork for more campus staff layoffs that top officials say are inevitable to stave off the threat of a state takeover.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2025/10/19/santa-rosa-schools-pay-cuts-layoffs/

A layoff happens when your job role is no longer required by the company or is being restructured.
Being laid off does not mean your performance has been poor, but poor performance makes it less likely for you to find another role internally.

On the flip side:

Being fired due to poor performance is not a layoff…… it’s being fired for poor performance.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

The U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency's employees.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/10/11/education-department-special-ed-office-layoffs-shutdown/86646104007/

Siena is apparently facing financial problems. They are offering early retirement to employees and the physical plant workers are being replaced by a firm to do that job. They just built a new building that was supposed to be paid by a huge gift. Did that gift ever come in? Would hate to see it got the way of Saint Roae.

• Title: Education Department begins layoffs amid government shutdown
• Source: Investing.com
• Description: The U.S. Education Department starts layoffs as the shutdown continues, details still limited.
• Time: 10/10/25 12:14 PM
• URL:

  https://www.investing.com/news/economy/education-department-begins-layoffs-amid-shutdown-2025-1234567

Carnegie Mellon University announced Wednesday it is laying off 75 software engineering staff members due to changes in federal priorities.

The 75 positions make up about 10% of the Software Engineering Institute’s staff.

SEI is a federally funded research center focusing on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It has worked with the U.S. Department of Defense since 1984, according to its website.

https://www.wesa.fm/education/2025-10-08/carnegie-mellon-lays-off-75-from-software-engineering-institute

Berklee College Of Music has made some big changes to its staff.

Amid shifting policies and rising costs within education, the school said they laid off 70 employees.

Berklee has confirmed to WBZ NewsRadio that the reduction in staff made up 3% of their employee base. No faculty positions were impacted by the layoffs.

https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/berklee-layoffs-include-70-employees/

My Brother was layed off. He's been with the school for 28 years. Many people who have been there a long time but not quite at retirement age were layed off. He said many students are upset.

https://www.highereducationinquirer.org/2025/09/k-12-virtual-education-broken-pipeline.html

I was laid off 3 times in 2 years working in tech. Rather than get laid off again, I'm going back to school.
www.businessinsider.com

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarah Henschel, a 35-year-old former tech worker and current master's student based in New York."
Microsoft mass layoffs: Thousands of jobs cut, Xbox division hit hard

https://mashable.com/article/microsoft-mass-layoffs-what-we-know
2025-09-06

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools hosts job fair after staff layoffs

https://www.wfmynews2.com/video/news/local/winston-salemforsyth-county-schools-hosts-job-fair-after-staff-layoffs/83-67624657-f1d9-44fe-93e5-110ea55c2436

The event includes neighboring school districts and local organizations looking to fill positions.

Sourcewfmynews2.com.
Published: 6:10 PM EDT September 4 2025
Location:Winston-Salem, NC
09/04/2025 & 9:51 pm UTC

Category: Education

Niagara University confirms staffing cuts as part of a strategy to ensure 'long-term strength and stability'.

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/education/niagara-university-confirms-layoffs-despite-enrollment-gains/71-0d4bbb9d-118c-4b79-9a07-c863bee03e35

North Carolina schools in Forbes ‘America’s Top Colleges’ rankings ( for 2026):
Duke University – No. 22
UNC-Chapel Hill – No. 35
Davidson College – No. 59
NC State University – No. 66
Wake Forest University – No. 98
Elon University – No. 147
UNC-Charlotte – No. 236
Appalachian State University – No. 273
UNC-Wilmington – No. 440
East Carolina University – No. 471
High Point University – No. 491

Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/forbes-drops-best-college-rankings-for-2026-which-north-carolina-universities-sit-among-the-nation-s-best/ar-AA1LkLiW?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=f98346a466fb422d8cc3e0a24cd05b24&ei=19

I left Oracle three years ago and now see many former colleagues moving into VP or Senior Director roles. The bar seems lower than a decade ago. Back then, an IC5 promotion required pitching to several VPs; Director → Senior Director often took 5–8 years of hard work; becoming VP could take around a decade for top performers. Today I’m seeing a average guy become regional VP of AI with only a bachelor’s degree, little to no AI experience, and limited overall sales experience (<3 years at Microsoft, and in fact later fired). Has the process changed, or are titles being inflated? Where is this going? Is this a talent development, I guess not...

So many MDs have job postings on their teams for Director or below that require something like an MBA or CFA, yet these same MDs only have a bachelors. I realize this isn’t specific to BNY but as someone in that network I’ve been seeing so much of this lately. As a manager, I don’t care where you went to school - I’m looking at your experiences first and if you interview well and seem like you could fit in. I have an MBA but it hasn’t really been a driver in my career. I wonder how much hiring managers actually pay attention to this.

Oregon State University is laying off non-tenured faculty as part of a budget realignment that took effect July 1, following the Board of Trustees’ May approval of a plan to cut overall expenses by 5.2%. The changes, driven by rising costs that outpace tuition and enrollment growth, also anticipate a potential 15% reduction in federal overhead reimbursements, which fund research-related expenses. In the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, all non-tenured teaching staff are being let go, including professors Allen Milligan and Stephen Meyers. Milligan, who teaches phycology and aquatic botany, said his fall term course will be his last, leaving no faculty with his expertise in the department. He explained that non-tenured faculty rely heavily on grant funding to cover portions of their salary, and the new model makes retaining such positions financially unsustainable. While OSU says it aims to minimize impacts and is still hiring for some roles, it has not indicated plans to rehire affected non-tenured instructors.

https://dailybaro.orangemedianetwork.com/29003/daily-barometer-news/non-tenured-professors-face-layoffs-with-new-osu-budget/

#school #schooldistrict #schooldistricts #education