Most people know that after a black widow mates, the female will eat her mate. For the mate, it is a sad and totally unappetizing end to the relationship. For the female black widow, lets call her Nettie, it is her method of continuing the species and ultimately releasing a bunch of future psychopaths into the wild.

What if Nettie were human, and attempted to kill her mate, but the mate escaped? The rest of Nettie's life would be spent in an attempt to bring the escaped husband back to nature's justice. Let's call the poor sucker that got away, Willie. (Do you know a Nettie and a Willie?)

What will follow over the next several days is the story of Nettie and Willie. Nettie's attempt to cut off Willie's fly supply. The poison fly incident. The thing with the crow, who did in the end decide it was safer not to eat poor Willie.

All while this is going on, the kids, the cute little black widow spiders are learning about how their dad did not obey the rule... more

It is easy to fall into the trap of being mad at misfortune. Being angry at misfortune and wanting revenge is the common response. Even when that revenge would be well placed it is far easier to judge and to seek destruction than to place the prior events in a greater context.

I will say this, because of the change in the career school approach to education, seemingly less quality, more focus on serving those that can't complete the basic first year requirements, more focus on online education without the true skill transfer that hands on labs provide, and an over-zealous pursuit of the dollar it is unlikely that I will ever again work in that market.

Yet there is a silver lining, a set of facts that frees me from disappointment and sadness as I see what is now promoted by the school as 'meeting its obligations'.

When I left the school it was like a marriage gone bad where the other spouse had a steamy affair and refused to cut it off even when it was ... more

Over the last couple of years many career schools have down-sized or eliminated many of the IT programs which 7 years ago launched those schools in to the limelight. Now, some of those schools are regretting that choice. Some others are benefiting from their commitment to maintaining quality.

In one case, ITT has seen dramatic growth as they appear to have maintained their programs even when those programs had few students. If fact tremendous effort has gone into preserving the quality of many of the programs ITT offers in the computer security arena.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jan/26/technology-boom-helps-itts-newburgh-campus-grow/

Other schools such as Computer Learning Centers went out of business leaving many students without the promised education.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/clc_closes.html

The value of the job you get when you graduate from a career school IT program is directly related to the quality of tha... more

One of the founders of Virginia College said, 'There is nothing worse than going to a school and sometime after you graduate, that school closes. We have a responsibility to be here long after each student graduates.'

When Virginia College quit taking students into the Virginia College School of Construction, or taught out one of the automotive programs, or closed the welding program, even with students interested in the program there was a clear change in school philosophy.

Has your career school ever closed a school because it was not making enough money? Did it deal with the students in good faith? Does profit defeat doing the right thing? When you select a career school, its history does matter.

Whether traditional, or proprietary, education is first about achieving stable, sustainable employment. Beyond that it may be for knowledge's sake, for research, or for enjoyument. As an old boss of mine used to say, its not about a PhD, its about a J.O.B.

Unfortunately some schools, both proprietary and public have forgotten that bit of information. A graduate that can not perform the tasks for which he or she was trained is an embarrassment to the school that trained them an someone who is doomed to failure for many years to come. If the school permitted that person to graduate without the appropriate skills, then the school has done a major disservice to the student.

Schools without the proper equipment for students to train on are guilty of this. Schools without qualified staff to maintain, develop or preserve their curriculum are guilty of this. Schools without qualified advisory boards that keep the curriculum are guilty of this. Schools that a... more

One of the students I had while I was involved in the IT program used to come to school stoned. We could never quite prove the suspicion but there was no doubt that this individual had a problem. Even though he was often disruptive, constantly being counciled, on probation for misbehavior and came very close to being kicked out of school, he managed to get a diploma as a Cisco Network Associate.

When I saw the student a year after graduation, he was well dressed, clear eyed, and presented a completely different demeanor. He was working as a network technician for a hospital complex and doing very well. When asked what has happened to him, he said, 'I grew up.' His coming to a career school gave him the means to change his life, income and outlook.

The school did not do it for him, he did it himself. The school helped by providing a framework to follow. This is what career education is all about.

On the other hand I had a student w... more

The two most important words in career education today for both the student and the college are 'Financial Aid'. Most students in career colleges fund their training for a new life through the use of Federal Financial Aid. This means that the graduate will have $10,000, $20,000, or even $40,000 in loans at the time he or she graduates.

If the job does not pay enough to pay back these loans then the graduate will have a miserable future with this financail burden haunting them for years to come.

Many career colleges have raised their tuition even past the point where Federal Financial Aid covers the cost. In addition to the Federal Loans, the student gets 'Gap Funding'. These are loans which are far less favorable to the student but which pick up the gap between Federal resources and the actual cost.

The school's goal is to finance as many students as possible so that cash flow and profit can be maintained. The student should be aware of ... more

What does it mean to graduate from a school that specializes in career education? It may mean that you have a great skill, a great job and a great future.

It may mean that you owe $25,000 or more and are employed at a McDonalds. Would you like fries with that?

The role of the accreditors is to evaluate how a school performs in terms of providing the education they promise the students and in terms of seeing that that education is sufficient to enable the student to realize the career he came to school to obtain.

Basically, if the school, the student, and the accreditation body all do what they are supposed to do, then most students should realize their career dreams.

Since some accreditation bodies are run by those that are accredited, their is real chance for the accreditor to overlook infractions.

Here are some places the accreditor might overlook issues.

When authorizing new curriculum that provides the students less tr... more

Ever wonder where the curriculum for career schools comes from?

Some career school pay big dollars so that other vendors can create top knotch training material.

Some career schools pay for a quality staff with industry expertise to write and compile training material.

Some schools buy canned training material from vendors but lack the in-house expertise to evaluate or implement it.

Some school fire their in house experts to save money but fail to retain sufficient expertise to understand how the training material is put together or how it trains the student for careers.

Like anything else, there is good, bad and aweful out there. It is essential that you ask the department heads what their credentials are and what are the credentials of their staff. Many career schools have found this is an area to cut cost. It also reduces student success.

What school are you attending?

At one time there were some great Culinary Schools where students could, in two years, become great highly paid chefs. These young graduates could leave school and go directly to the high end eateries and establishments. These schools had great chefs as instructors. These school had lots of kitchen space and lots of lab time for student learning and experimentation.

For some of these schools, the graduate is no longer the prize. For some of these schools, the schools have decided that the great chefs/instructors are too expensive. Providing venues where the students could prepare real entrees for real clientele is no longer important. Providing enough kitchen space is no longer important. Perhaps the most disturbing trend is that the amount of lab time, time actually spent cooking and in the trade is diminishing. It is hard for a chef that has not cooked to create great meals.

Worst of all, some schools are proposing or actually trying to teach peop... more