Unemployment Identity Crisis in America

by Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M. © 2009-2016

After being rejected from a job that pays $18,000 / year at the women's prison, a job that pays $21,000 teaching Head Start, getting fired from Red Lobster (because apparently, I am just not Red Lobster "material" I decided to go to the Tennessee Career Center to take advantage of their high speed internet, free printer paper, and ink...

now would not be the best time to mention my senior thesis-- or my grad school major, or the fact that i spent the better part life as a volunteer and advocate for children at-risk.. working to give them hope and a second chance at life.

systematically invalidating such bogus, barnum-type feedback that one typically gets from a MBTI type of personality test that is given during high school or in college. i won't bother to mention the standardization of SAT scores to help our country feel better-- or the fact that the stanford-binet was created for military issue only.

who gives a shit anymore??? if you told a me a fat bearded lady at the circus could decide my fate and tell me what direction i should choose next-- i'd take it! and throw in a fat tip for being smart enough to know that any answer-- no matter how grim, is far better than just wandering aimlessly through life looking back on what might have been-- at THIRTY? at THIRTY-SIX???  How about 40? Or 45? Will I be 50 years old asking the same damn questions? 

after receiving five letters of rejection from jobs that require nothing more than a GED or a high school diploma, i decided to go to the tennessee career center hoping to find a job that will allow me to afford the most basic necessities of life. toothpaste, toilet paper, cat food... 

i got hooked up with a counselor that afternoon. he has two masters degrees-- one in educational career counseling, and a second in counseling psychology. could this be the guidance counselor i have been asking for since.. well... since... i was old enough to know was in need of guidance?

surely someone else must have recognized i was in need of guidance, but god knows my parents weren't paying attention, and having good genes just doesn't cut it these days. but now more than ever, i realize that having all the smarts in the world won't get you anywhere if you never learned how to apply them.

i am the exact same five year old who needed to win the spelling bee. in college, i was the one to set the curve, not just make it. the one to break the rules, and, break them i did, but there is no glory in being second best, second smartest, second brightest, or second anything.

i wish i could say that after all this time i developed other ego strengths and finally felt okay with who i am, you know.... "just being me," but i am sad to report that my "condition" (diagnosis) was amazingly accurate and predictable. just like all the doctors said! i wonder if they derive joy out of being right-- if they crack open a bottle of aged liquor in my fathers office and say, "see, we told you so. we told you their was nothing you could do." and so nothing they did.

and by doing nothing, and i do mean nothing-- the illness will just take will its course. and i am now, in fact, nothing. nothing costs nothing (at least to them) and daddy made another fine investment. on the other hand, nothing has drained every hope, fear, security-- every chance-- and every last breath from my body. i might have believed in me. but i know i'm alive because a tear just rolled down the side of my cheek. i am home.

but i still haven't learned. for some reason with all of my failures i am reminded of in so many ways... me, myself, as i watch them play out every time i shut my eyes or open them. yes- blink.

sometimes i ask myself, how did i get here? how did this happen? what happened to all of the plans i made for myself? where did they go? where did I go? constantly replayed over and over and over again in my mind. i must be F---ING CRAZY!

but at this moment, here, even as i say the words, i am not truly insane, i am merely in pain. what a tragedy that those two words rhyme-- they ruin what could have been a very profound misnomer of the human condition and the labels we hold so dear.

i am the exact same 5 year old who needed to ACE the spelling bee, set the curve, not just make it; break the rules, and, break them i did. there is no glory in being second best. second smartest, second brightest, or second anything. being second sucks. it sucks every god-damned second of the day.

so my search for mediocrity continues and i wait for it each and every day hoping it will find me beaten and worn from the storm. all of the storms, but dammit, its still there. i still have questions those damn elyssa questions that made all my professors so proud, damn ideas, damn thoughts, damn hope.

my mother still calls me everyday to see if i went to get food stamps to feed myself, #EFF her, and her #EFF'n things. #EFF diamonds, couture, and #EFF that life. i was here mom, the whole #EFF'n time. just not pretty enough with out any surgery. not pretty at all, with all those damn scars.

i hope someone out there still loves me. i do actually believe that i deserve love and kindness despite the obvious fact that i am a royal pain in the ass. i refuse to work in burger king. for right now, at least.

so goodnight my dear friends. let's all try to have sweet dreams. pepe awaits, as does alanis, and a pack of smokes that i can already taste.

yes, what could have been, what should have been-- what MIGHT have been if you let me be
m.e.

"When written in chinese, the word Crisis is composed of tvo characters: One represents danger and the other represents opportunity."  -JFK

Book Review: Examinations: Comparative and International Studies

Book Review by Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M.

Eckstein, M. A., & Noah, H. J. (1992). Examinations: Comparative and international studies. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 

Chapters 8 and 9 by Philip J. Foster

In this chapter, Foster discusses the certainty of examinations as something which exists not as a social phenomenon independent of their place in education. 

Like previous commentators, Foster also points out the discrepancy in the views educators hold regarding examinations: those who argue examinations are necessary to maintain educational standards; and those who believe such exaniinations undermine the mission and philosophy of American education. 

Foster believes both of these views to be lacking a critical historical and social perspective necessary to understand the role and function oftesting in American society. 

Foster believes his role as a sociologist is different than that an educator or a psychometrician, and bases his discussion "legitimacy" and "content". 

Foster discusses the rapidly changing economy whereby Third World Countries are beginning to resemble their Western counterparts in the transformation from a subsistence economy to a monetary economy. 

This is making social status structurally  different by changing the social roles from ascribed to achievement based. 

This new found social organization is heavily reliant upon academic achievement. 

Foster states that in Third World Countries, examinations are far more determinant of social mobility and status than in Industrialized Nations.  He goes on to state that despite the deleterious effect examinations have on pedagogical practice, they remam a better option than other methods of social mobility since they remain the only "universalistic" means of performance appraisal. He refers back to Heyneman & Ransom's paper which points out that public perception and opinion of evaluation measures are critical to effective policy implementation and reform. 

In conclusion, Foster argues that examinations need not propel the rote perpetuation of a fixed body of knowledge, but can serve as a an instrument of cumcula change. He states that the Heyneman & Ransom proposed role of examination agencies may be a good one for financial reasons it may be an impossibility. 

Foster suggests that an external world organization provides financial aid and personnel training to help subsidize educational testmg agencies whereby the investment could yield long-term gains. 

Submitted for course credit in doctoral studies for the Advanced Seminar in Ed Policy and the Sociology of Evaluation. CRN TF6525. TC, Columbia University.

Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M. © 1995-2013 

Nashville schools offer Vanderbilt degrees for top teachers | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

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Teachers willing to work with some of Metro Nashville's toughest-to-reach middle schoolers for at least five years could earn free master's degrees from Vanderbilt University.

This year, the university will admit 24 teachers into a special graduate program paid for by Metro Schools but offered at a deep discount by Vanderbilt. The degree will focus on urban middle school education and require teachers to select a focus in literacy, math or science.

The goal is to increase the number of top-quality teachers in Nashville's lowest-performing schools and make Metro a more attractive place to work. It's also one more way the district is trying to engage students in learning during the critical middle school years.

"The single biggest factor of successful student learning is the classroom teacher," said Camilla Persson Benbow, dean of education and human development at Vanderbilt University's

Peabody College.

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• Poor kids' teachers earn less in Metro

U.S. News and World Report named Peabody the No. 1 graduate school

in the nation last year.

Educators say it's hard to find high-quality middle school teachers who understand adolescents, can work with a diverse population, and have the skills to teach higher-level courses such as algebra.

Metro Schools' look at middle-school education comes as others across the nation look for similar reform at that level, realizing that it's a critical time that determines whether students will graduate.

Incentive for teachers

Veteran educator Pamela Ross, who teaches sixth grade at Wright Middle School, said the master's program shows officials are serious about trying to improve urban education.

"It's a boost for teachers, it's an incentive, and it's letting us know education is being taken seriously," she said. "That an institution such as Vanderbilt would be willing to do that is just awesome."

Applications are being accepted now, with classes slated to begin this summer and work in middle schools to begin in the fall. Teachers probably will be assigned to one of four middle schools, though Metro officials haven't settled on the number of schools or which ones they'll be.

via beta.tennessean.com

how quickly they forget!

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asps=9108181

In what Universe does this make sense...????If this policy is intended to open the door to all students, then why does the University require students to disclose their parent’s income? The last time I checked, the application to the graduate school required a financial statement of disclosure-- not just from students, there parents too. This always seemed odd, especially for graduate students over the age of 18.

If financial need is no longer a factor, then presumably the University has waived all fees associated with the application process, right? Perhaps this statement was issued in anticipation of the HUGE, HUGE, loss of the endowment fund???

I guess that makes some people believe the University is more focused on learning than with earnings, well, then...I hope you have a more convincing argument than this! Who knows, maybe they might even cut you a little slack in light of the disastrous financial disclosures. I truly hope you do call me when you launch your next “giving campaign. “ I would personally rather donate to sharks.

To say that “hard working, great kids ...who want to be at Vanderbilt," will be able to attend for free, makes you sound like an idiot. It also sounds like a public relations disaster just waiting to happen.

Now c'mon, Zeppos-- I thought you were one of the good guys? Don't be saying stupid things like that!

No wonder you guys are going broke!Originally published 2/9/09... I was making $10.46/hr at Jere Baxter. Vanderbilt sued me for $3000. I can't even afford the application fee....

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Unemployed & Angry as Hell
Nashville, TN USA

Posted via web from ElyssaD's Posterous

Now THAT is open

Cost & Prevalence of Chronic Conditions in the United States

Statistics: Chronic Conditions Costs & Prevalence

Please forgive formatting errors: This document was created in 1996 and Blogger did not enter into my formatting plans... This was one of the most difficult posts for me publish because it was written before I incurred the debt of the population I was studying.

This is where I left off... perhaps someone has an idea where I can pick it back up...

Elyssa Durant/eds. October 27, 2009  13 years from the original date of creation... and life goes on ... 

or, Create a Petition

Change.org

There is no effective system to care for those with chronic conditions in the United States; as a result, much of the care that is available is fragmented, inappropriate, and difficult to obtain. In comparison with acute conditions, chronic conditions call for a

different kind of care: an integrated network of professional expertise. Chronic conditions do not always get worse; the health status of a person with a chronic condition can improve, deteriorate, or shift in either direction. The goal of chronic care is not to cure; rather, it should help individuals with chronic conditions maintain independence and a high level of functioning.

Problems encountered by people with chronic conditions


38% Cannot afford a service


19% Service not available when needed


15% Cannot easily get to a service


13% Quality of service so poor, won’t use it


11% Cannot find needed medical service



SOURCE: Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The disproportionate use of health care by those with chronic conditions is consistent across all age groups, as might be expected given their greater health needs. Almost all (96%) of home care visits, 83% of prescription drug use, 66% of physician visits, and 55% of emergency department visits were made by persons with chronic conditions.

Payers: Over 40% of the direct health care costs for persons with chronic conditions were paid through public funds (Medicare, Medicaid, and other state and local medical assistance programs) in 1987. In contrast, public funds paid for less than 20% of the treatment for persons with acute conditions (Figure 2). Among the chronically ill or impaired, private insurance covers about a third of health care, while it covers 45% of the costs of persons with acute conditions.

Using the most recent data source available, we found that 90 million Americans had one or more chronic conditions in 1987. If the same age- and sex-adjusted rates of chronic conditions are applied, we estimate that the number of persons with chronic conditions in 1995 was almost 100 million.

The magnitude of this figure is important for several reasons:

1. First, because the number of persons with disabilities due to chronic conditions is more commonly and regularly reported in the literature, the total prevalence of chronic conditions has perhaps been minimized. The majorities of persons with chronic conditions are not disabled, but are living normal lives. However, they live with the threat of recurrent exacerbations, higher health care costs, more days lost from work than others, and the risk of long-term limitations and disabilities.

2. Second, persons with chronic conditions are at greater risk for being underinsured, particularly those with more than one chronic condition. Short and Banthin estimate 29 million nonelderly people with private health insurance are at risk of being underinsured defined as a function of a family's risk of incurring high out-of-pocket costs for medical services relative to their family income. We found that a disproportionately large majority of all direct health care services, including physician visits, prescription use, and persons with chronic conditions use costly hospitalizations. Their per capita costs are over 3 times higher than those of persons without chronic conditions are. Consequently, they are at greatest risk of unaffordable high out-of-pocket costs.

INSERT RWJF CHART SUMMARY ABOUT HERE

Persons with co morbidities are particularly at risk of finding themselves underinsured; their per capita costs are 2-1/2 times higher than persons with only one chronic condition are. Furthermore, high utilization rates make persons with chronic conditions less attractive to managed care plans that typically cover more services, including preventive care, with less cost sharing. Depending on the adequacy of their health benefits, even middle-income families (for example, a household income of $40,000) could quickly incur out-of-pocket costs in excess of 10% of their incomes if the only expense incurred in a year was to cover their 10% share for a surgery and hospitalization costing $50,000.

Reference:
Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Chronic Care Perspective. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
[available: http://www.rwjf.org/library/chronic/chrcare/introfact2.htm]

Figure 1. Categories of disabling chronic conditions


Source: Institute of Medicine, 1991



categories of conditions diagnostic condition codes proportion of people

mobility limitations arthritis, paralysis 38%

chronic diseases asthma, cancer, diabetes 32%


sensory limitations blindness, hearing impairment 8%

mental limitations senility, mental retardation 7%


other conditions 15%




Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.


















Figure 2. People with chronic conditions report on their service system.


Source: Unpublished data from The Gallop Organization, 1992.

YES NO DON’T KNOW

Understand services you are eligible for? 47% 47% 5%


Understand how to use the services you are eligible for? 60% 32% 8%


Know who provides what services? 57% 38% 5%

Feel it takes more effort to use these services than they are worth to you? 36% 48% 16%

Tennesseean Releases Teacher Salaries for MNPS

The Tennessean released data on July 5, 2008 reporting disparities in teacher salaries for Metro employees. The article, “Poor kids' teachers earn less in Metro: Hiring bonuses, other incentives target inequities” raises questions about the hiring practices in Metro Nashville Public Schools, and reports that teachers earn less in schools that are not meeting the No Child Left Behind benchmarks. This article glossed over the magnitude of this desperate situation in Metro schools.

The basic fact that students are not making adequate progress is a reflection of the top-down policy failure by MNPS and the Board of Ed. Students are not making adequate progress, and teachers are being shuffled around in a desperate attempt to fix a problem that they do not fully understand. In order to fix our broken schools, we need to look at schools that work. There are in fact public schools in urban neighborhoods that are successfully educating the students despite limited budgets, supplies, and adequate funding. So what is it about these schools that allows them to successfully educate disadvantaged, at-risk students and how can we replicate their success?

Unfortunately, this article does not offer any new insights into the inner-workings of our neighborhood schools. MNPS does not have the answers, nor does our newly elected Mayor who recently launched an aggressive media campaign to recruit new teachers willing to work within the constraints our over-regulated, under-funded public schools. Teachers, administrators and the community are strangely unfamiliar with the political process, and teachers are expected to implement and carry out policies that were designed by academic professionals or educational consultants.

As an educator and a Metro employee, I earn $10.46 / hour (without benefits) teaching at-risk students, I am offended by the way teachers are treated in the schools, in the community, and by the press. The state Department of Education could not offer any realistic solution to the simple fact that I cannot afford to pay the fees associated with the application fees certification requirements. If the Mayor really needs applicants, perhaps the city should comp the application fees necessary to be considered for employment. I find it difficult to believe that a city so desperate for teachers is not willing to bend the rules just a little or waive the application fee for anyone who is willing to work in such a hostile environment.

My graduate degree in education is from the very same university that Mayor Dean attended in New York City. When I called HR and the “Certificated Office” to inquire about obtaining a provisional teaching license and alternative certification, I was simply told that I was not eligible for alternative certification and without additional coursework, and tuition and fees, I was not deemed qualified to teach in Metro.

I am not qualified to teach in Metro since, apparently, Metro “does not teach education.” What a joke! To make matters worse— I had to pay them to find out that I was not even qualified to work with Head Start. I went to Head Start! Shouldn't that be enough? If MNPS truly wants a better-qualified staff, then the Mayor, the Board of Education, and school administrators need to take a closer look at the methods used to recruit, retain, and reward qualified individuals willing to sacrifice their financial stability for a career in public service. Now that I realize my education was a complete waste of time and money, is it any wonder that I am ready to give up on teaching and maybe even ready to leave Nashville for good. The local hardware store has more to offer including benefits!

The high rate of student mobility is compounded by the constant shifting of school personnel. Many schools may just lose the few experienced, dedicated teachers they still have left to surrounding districts, cities, and states. Such instability in the system may even prompt the younger set to leave the profession all together and discourage future teachers from applying for jobs in Metro.

Everything we know about the positive outcomes in neighborhood schools is their strong reliance upon community buy-in and parental involvement. One thing that makes magnet, lottery, charter schools, parochial, and private schools so good is the fact that parents, teachers, students, and administrators fight to get in, and fight to stay there. The act of choosing, in effect, leads to an enhanced sense of community and builds a supportive, consistent, and structured environment. Calling this project “Fresh Start” is ridiculous-- it would be more accurate to call it a very bad ending!

Is an Ivy League Degree Worth the Money?

Two days before the voter registration deadline, and another laptop goes missing. Only this time, it was not stolen by thieves or lost by the Election Commission. This time it was the Board of Education loaded up with the social security data and personal information of local school teachers.

The Tennesseean openly discusses the salary of Metro teachers in the July 6 edition of The Tennesseean. The reporter makes it sound like she has uncovered some profound secret: Teachers are underpaid. No shit?

The papers seem to gloss over the magnitude if the situation of teacher pay and mobility within Metro Nashville. I wasted a ton of money at Vanderbilt and almost as much in the Ivy League. By investing in a useless program and a worthless degree, I am the first to admit I have made some bad choices, but now I am asking for some advice. I CAN'T FIND A JOB! I can't afford to complete the application, or find transportation to get to an interview. I am beyond broke. I am so far in debt that I don't even bother to open my mail since it consists only negative balances, bank statements, and letters from collection agencies and thed Department of Education. When I found out that someone recently used my social security number to open an account in Jersey City, I was thrilled at the prospect that my credit score might actually go up!

There are a plethora of young, talented individuals like myself who would be more than willing to work for MNPS or any other company if we could simply access the resources necessary to complete the application. We all know that teacher salary is ridiculous to begin with, so no kudos to the reporter at the Tennessean for pointing out the obvious.

Currently, I work part-time as an educator with a "Masters + 30" degree. I earn $10.46/hour before taxes and without benefits. That doesn't go far. Unfortunately, I simply cannot afford the fees associated with alternative certification.

I never dreamed that I would have to apply for a social services grant simply to find a job. I never thought about fees for fingerprinting, TB tests, official transcripts, examination fees, processing fees necessary to apply a position that really only requires a GED.

The bottom line is this: regardless of good intentions or misguided mentoring, I am a financial burden to you all. I pay taxes out of your taxes. I am absolutely convinced that there must be a better way to live than relying upon government subsidies to keep a roof over my head and Ramen noodles in my tummy.

I am not too proud to beg for a job or take some free advice if it will help me to get from here to there. I need someone, anyone, willing to give me a chance to prove myself.

Help become the person I was meant to be. Try to the see the person I could become. I have so much to contribute, but few resources get there. I believe I deserve more out of life than this, and I think that if you knew me, you would think so too.

This is the reality I live in. This is poverty. This is why I'm hoping that someone out there knows someone or some way that I can contribute more to society than what I am taking.

Relying upon the "welfare" of others is a terrible way to live especially when you have something to give back. I live so far beneath the poverty line, that I am willing to work for the necessities in life that I simply can not afford such as toothpaste and internet access.

If anyone knows of some funds to help with the application fees associated simply to access community programs, grant based training programs, transportation, or internet access for career resources, I will continue to be a leach on society.

I need someone to invest in ME!

I have sent similar letters to every agency and non-profit that I have ever "worked" for. Surely the AT&T cable bill could have included a measure to assist the disabled and economically challenged such as free online internet access to internet and the online interactive PDF application-- also the only acceptable format by HR and Applicant Services for the State of Tennessee.

Surely one of these big companies coming to Tennessee can help by hiring one over educated, underemployed, and dedicated employee. All I need is a chance.