This blog post passes the New York Times test.

What is my New York Times test?

Would I be proud or embarrassed if something I write were posted on the front page of the New York Times?

I stand by what I have written.  It needs to be said.

December 21, 2011 – What was HR 3630?

Remember when President Obama and the U.S. Senate were trying to extend the Social Security tax cut for one more year?  I don’t care to debate the good or bad of continuing the social security “tax break” which reduced the social security tax by 2% for 2011.

The U.S. Senate in December 2011 passed a bill extending the social security tax cut by another 2 months beginning January 1, 2012.  Why they decided on 2 months I still don’t know.  But the U.S. House of Representatives disagreed and passed HR 3630 extending the social security tax cut by 12 months but also throwing some unsavory clauses into HR 3630.

After some political maneuverings by President Obama and the U.S. Senate, House Speaker John Boehner reconvened the U.S. House of Representatives and they passed the Senate’s bill replacing their own HR 3630.

You’re a high school dropout, why should you care about HR 3630 passed by a Republican U.S. House of Representatives and later replaced?

A Republican congressman or congresswoman inserted a high school dropout penalty into HR 3630.

 Read HR 3630 – High School Dropouts not Eligible for Unemployment

Outrageous.  Without allocating a single dime to providing GED classes, the Republican U.S. House of Representatives decided that high school dropouts would not qualify for unemployment.  Download HR 3630 yourself and read page 29.

For purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall not be considered to have met the minimum educational requirements of this subparagraph  unless such individual has earned a high school diploma;  (ii) has earned the General Educational Development (GED) credential or other State recognized equivalent (including by meeting recognized alternative standards for individuals.

Here’s my simple translation in plain English:

Fired or laid off workers won’t receive unemployment compensation unless they have at least a high school degree or a GED.

What Republican congressman or congresswoman inserted the high school dropout clause into the now failed HR 3630?

Did I mention, I’m a Chicago Independent?  I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican.

The Republican U.S. House of Representatives tore up HR 3630 within 48 hours and passed the same bill the U.S. Senate passed.  Voters were upset at the U.S. House blocking the 2 month extension of the social security tax reduction.

Now Republican congressman are enjoying their New Year break as they’re back home shaking hands, drinking eggnog, and watching football games on TV.

December 28, President Obama Signs Social Security Tax Holiday Two Month Extension

After the Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives tore up their flawed HR 3630 bill (denying unemployment compensation to high school dropouts) they voted in favor of the two month extension of the social security tax holiday (2 per cent reduction).

On December 28, President Obama signed the Social Security Payroll Tax Holiday Extension into law.

What do laws, failed legislation and crimes sometimes have in common?  No Fingerprints.

When Presidents, Senators and Congressman are proud of legislation, they quickly step forward to take credit for their laws.

But sometimes, just like a crime, it’s hard to tell who passed a law or inserted a clause into failed legislation.  It’s hard finding any fingerprints.

I want to know what Republican congressman or congresswoman inserted a “high school dropout” clause into the failed HR 3630 bill.  Why on earth would you deny unemployment to someone who had worked a job, his/her employer had paid money into unemployment funds, but that person hadn’t finished high school?

My Parents were High School Dropouts

If my parents were alive and unemployed, neither one of them would have qualified for unemployment if the Republican HR 3630 had passed.  I don’t know about my father but my mother left Germany to come to America when she was 16.  She had no high school degree.  If dad had a high school degree, I never heard about it.

My dad was a painter contractor who worked hard all the time.    Jobs for painters are hard to find in wintertime so my dad would do other things deep into Winter.  He worked on our 2 flat in Skokie, IL or he worked on the 6 flat in Chicago, Illinois.  Dad and I would shovel a lot of sidewalks in Winter.

I have no idea if my parents received unemployment compensation back in the 1960′s.  All I know is that my mom made more pancakes and German spaghetti in Winter than during any other time of the year.  We ate well, thanks to mom always making some extra money around Christmas sewing for rich people.

Here’s hoping the stingy House Republicans who tried to deny high school dropouts unemployment compensation with their failed HR 3630 will re-think their foolishness for 2012.  If you’re a high school dropout, you have more incentive than ever to pass your GED test in 2012.

Happy New Year and best wishes for a successful 2012.

Changing a Buick LeSabre’s Light Bulb by Myself

Although my Dad was a janitor and my Mother a seamstress, I was taught from an early age to go to college.  I learned how to paint with my Dad but was never mechanical.  I can’t change a light switch, I changed the oil in my car only once, I’ve never fixed a leaky faucet.

I wish I could.

But today I decided I wasn’t paying the oil change guys to change my 2002 Buick LeSabre’s light bulb for the 5th time.  How tough can it be to change a car’s headlight bulb?  (Honestly, I saw a guy do this during a party this weekend.)

I believed I could change my car’s light bulb.

I drove to a car supply place during the lunch hour, spoke with the nice young man behind the counter, told him I wanted to learn how to change a light bulb on my car.  And he taught me how to do it.  I did half of it myself.  Tomorrow I’ll do the other light bulb just for practice.

You’re Laughing Because You Can Change  a Car’s Lightbulb

OK, I don’t mind if you laugh.  You’re a guy who has changed light bulbs in cars since you were 14.  Or, you’re a gal who can do it.

You know  you can change a light bulb.

What’s the Circumference of a Circle with a Radius of 9 ?

So, are you still laughing?  I was taught the formula for calculating the circumference (distance around a circle) given a radius (length from midpoint of circle to its outside edge) when I was a freshman in high school.  Do you remember the formula?

More importantly, do you believe you can learn and remember that basic geometry fact about circles?

Remember, belief is everything.

1. If you don’t know what circumference or radius mean you can look them up using Google.  Not too tough.
2. Finding the formula for a circumference might be harder.  Knowing how to search on Google might be more difficult.  Or, you could use a good old fashioned geometry book to find the answer.

Circumference = 2 π r

In plain English, if you know the radius of a circle, you can calculate its circumference.

1. Remember, I already told you the radius of the circle is 9.
2. Multiply 2 times the radius.  That’s 18.  Why?  Because some Greeks 3000 or so years ago came up with that math rule, that’s why.
3. Multiply 18 times 3 1/7.  Why 3 1/7 you ask?  Because 3 1/7 is equal to the funny symbol π which equals 3 1/7.  Once again, the Greeks figured this out 3000 years ago when they worked out Geometry for you.  So 18 times 3 1/7 = 40.
4. So, if the radius of a circle is 9, the circumference of that circle is 40.

 I Believed I could Lose Weight with Weight Watchers

I believed it and I did it.  I’m 40 pounds lighter than last year.  My weight loss has slowed because I’m not believing I can lose ten more pounds.  Again, belief is the difference.

Have you ever Believed You Could do Something, and Did It?

OK, you’re a high school dropout.

• You believed you could become a Burger King manager, and you did.
• Alex across the alley from me has rebuilt a 1973 VW Beatle, he probably doesn’t have a high school degree.
• My mother never graduated from high school (she came from Germany to the U.S. in 1936 at the age of 16), believed she could learn English, and went to school to learn sewing in her 30′s.  She was a great seamstress.

 Do you believe you can Pass the GED?

If you believe it, honest to goodness, you can do it.  I can tell you How to Pass the GED.  But first, you need to believe it yourself.

Woman Charged “Dropout Fee” in Applying for Drivers License

Are you kidding me?  The State of North Carolina charges high school dropouts a penalty when they apply for license?  See http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/193957/57/High-School-Drop-Out-Mixup for the entire article.

The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles charged her an extra $50 because her state record showed that she never graduated high school.

Apparently North Carolina charges all high school dropouts this $50 fee.  What other states charge such ridiculous fees?

High School Drop Out Mixup

It gets worse. 

The woman charged extra for her drivers license in North Carolina, Hillary Leath, was actually a high school graduate.  Again, read the entire article at http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/193957/57/High-School-Drop-Out-Mixup .  Hillary Leath graduated from high school, her high school mis-identified her as a high school dropout, and then that high school dropout record followed her to the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.  How is that fair?

 What’s next, debtor’s prison for high school dropouts?

Charging someone an extra fee for being a high school dropout when they apply for a North Carolina drivers license seems unfair.  Hugely unfair.

It reminds me of the debtor prisons of the 1800′s and before.  People, even people in the U.S. or Great Britain, could be imprisoned for their non-payment of debt.  How was that ever fair?  Wikipedia has an article about debtor prisons.

How to Pass the GED

No one should ever be penalized for being a high school dropout.  It’s just not right.

But if you are a high school dropout, take one positive step today.  Visit how to pass the GED , purchase my ebook, and take your first steps in passing the GED.

How do you advise a high school dropout?

Advice Comes in Two Flavors

Unwanted and wanted.

Unwanted Advice for High School Dropouts

How do you feel when you receive unwanted advice?

You need to lose some weight.

That dress doen’t look good on you.

You need to stop drinking, it’s ruining your life.

Has anyone given you unwanted advice?  Did you enjoy it?  Did you listen or hate the advisor?

I’m not an advisor in a high school, or a social worker, but I do know something about teaching and learning.

The path to helping someone learn isn’t some magical teaching technique (or maybe it is).  The best path to helping someone learn is creating an environment where they want to learn.  I don’t know who first said this:

A great teacher doesn’t force someone to learn.  A great teacher makes someone thirsty for learning.  Then it’s much easier.

So if you’re looking to forcibly advise someone who is a high school dropout (your daughter, nephew, the young man who lives two houses away from you), don’t give them your advice.

I’ve never met anyone yet who accepted and followed unwanted advice.

High School Dropouts who Want Advice

This is different.  You can talk with someone, engage them in conversation, listen to them.

Then ask them if you can offer some advice.

If they say “Yes”, you’re having a great day.  If a high school dropout wants advice, what kind of advice will you give him?

Dropouts have low Self Esteem, Give them Hope

There, I said it.

You’re probably a high school dropout reading this blog.  And I just insulted you, or did I?

I have taught over 10,000 adults how to use computers (mainly college and high school graduates, perhaps a few high school dropouts in that group).  What’s the biggest problem you face when you teach adults how to use computers?  Low self esteem.

College graduates are more sophisticated in the classroom then high school graduates when learning computers.  College graduates are accustomed to hiding their fears in class.  You never show fear in a classroom.

But I came to know that the greatest fear of college graduates learning computers was probably the biggest fear of high school dropouts:  a fear of math.

What kind of advice would I give high school dropouts?

This example and advice is based on my experience with a Chicago high school dropout (name withheld).

The young man has high verbal skills and carries on great conversations when we meet.  He does feel sad that he fell behind academically at a local high school and then dropped out.   I don’t know his writing skills but I do know that he feels inadequate about GED math (many people do).

My advice to the young man?

1. You have excellent verbal skills, if you had a high school degree you could find a job involving customers or sales.
2. Your basic math facts seem OK (I’ve literally asked him to do multiplication facts for me).  I think you need help with applied math and “word problems”.
3. Take the GED practice test I gave you for math.  Face your fear, your math skills may not be as bad as you think.
4. I have faith in you.  There is no doubt in my mind that you could not only pass the GED with proper study, but that you could also earn an Associates Degree at a junior college.

I meant every word of advice I gave the young man.

How do you advise a high school dropout?

1. Give them advice if they seem open to the idea.
2. Don’t lie to the high school dropout about his/her situation.
3. Help them focus on their strengths, that will encourage them.
4. Ask them to commit to action, today.

How do you advise a high school dropout?  With honesty and an affirming nature.

 Thanks for visiting my online GED  site today, I hope my advice was useful.

You are a Resourceful Parent, so be Resourceful

Sadly, the parents of criminal teenagers or habitually truant high school students probably aren’t looking for GED advice on the Internet.

Educated parents with resources use the Internet, searching for GED advice for their sons and daughters.  So here’s my advice.

Choose a GED from a Position of Strength

 Perhaps your son or daughter is pushing you to let them drop out of high school.

Mom, Dad, I’ll get the GED later.  The test is pretty easy.  It’s not a problem.

If your son or daughter is bright, well educated, perhaps the test will be easy for them.  But if tests are so easy, why is your daughter or son trying to drop out of high school?  Have you identified their problems in high school and faced those problems with your teenager?

1. Pregnant daughter – If your daughter has the child, federal law (Title IX) entitles her to the same education others receive regardless of her gender.
2. Bullied teenager – If your son or daughter is being bullied at school, have you used every resource at that school to punish/discipline the bullies and take your son or daughter out of harm’s way?
3. Truant – If your son or daughter is habitually late or absent from high school, there’s a reason.  Do you know that reason?
4. Criminal behavior – Again, do you know why your son or daughter is acting out with criminal behavior?  What are the causes?

Does your teenager have a valid reason for getting a GED instead of staying in high school?  I’ve read of a star baseball player who decided to drop out of high school and pass the GED so he could begin his baseball career a year or two early.  He was an exception.  But his parents and he had a positive alternative reason for his passing the GED.

The young baseball phenom chose passing the GED as a method to speed up his professional career.

Yes, I have Kids

Anyone reading this will ask, “Does he have kids?”.

Yes, I have two grown children ages 23 and 25.  Strong kids, bright, college graduates.

But that doesn’t mean they were perfect teenagers.  There were some bumps in the road, some scary nights when one child came home late on a weekend, or not at all.

All I know is that my wife and I always had good communication with our teenagers.  They always listened to a good discussion from their parents at the dining room table.  I love my kids dearly.

Why does your son or daughter want to take the GED?

If your son or daughter has a valid plan for dropping out of high school and passing the GED, why not listen to their alternative?

Just make sure your teenager’s GED plan is made from a position of strength, not a desperate alternative made because of weakness.

What is the one thing that is stopping you from passing the GED?

GED Math Advice

1. Join a good GED class and get some good instruction.  Most people cannot pass the GED just studying on their own.
2. Purchase a GED Test preparation book on Amazon.  Sit down, and take the entire math pre-tests.  Then use the answers in the book to analyze your math strengths and weaknesses.
3. In Iowa, GED students don’t take the GED test until they have passed a pre-test.  If you can pass a pre-test, you can pass the real test.

Facing Your GED Nightmare

When my daughter was 3 or 4 years old she had nightmares.  I can remember my advice perfectly, as if it was yesterday.  It was over 20 years ago.

She said monsters scared her at night in her dreams.  This is what I told her.

It’s your dream Claire.  When the monsters come in your dreams tell them to leave.  Tell them its your dream, not theirs.

The next morning she awoke and smiled.

Daddy, it worked.  I told the monsters to leave my dream and they did.

This is one of my fondest memories of my daughter and I together.

If math is your GED “monster” you need to face it and tell it to leave your dream of passing the GED.  Everyone has faced an intellectual monster.  I struggled through pre-calculus when I was in college.  Math is just a “monster” that many people have faced (high school dropouts to college graduates included).

Honestly, if GED math is your nightmare, face it squarely and banish it from your dream of passing the GED.

GED Success Story Podcast

I’m hoping to create my first GED Success Podcast with one of my website visitors.  The interview should take only 15 minutes.

I think it’s important for GED students to know that passing the GED test is possible, and life changing.

What would we talk about in the interview?

1. Who are you?  How did you dropout of high school?  What prompted you to take and pass the GED test?
2. Did you study for the GED test or did you just register for the test and pass it?  If you studied, how did you study (by yourself, in a group)?
3. What was the most difficult part of the GED test for you?  Did you need to take the test a 2nd or 3rd time?
4. What advice would you give GED students?
5. Has passing the GED test changed your life?

 OK, I want to do a GED Podcast.  How does it work?

Leave a comment on this blog article with your email.  Leave your phone number also.  I won’t publish the comment but I will email you with a few questions and to arrange a phone interview.

At a set time, during the evening, you and I will call a phone number for a 2-way conference call.  I’ll record the call and publish it in a podcast.

You’re an Inspiration; Help others Pass the GED Test

Have you noticed how passing the GED test has changed your life and prospects?  I certainly hope so.

Join me in doing a GED Success Podcast.  Perhaps you could inspire others to become a GED Success Story.

Anthony has been found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. She was also found not guilty of aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. But she was convicted on charges of misleading law enforcement.

 The trial is a sad case.  I make no comment on it.

But what is noteworthy, is that a one-time high school dropout named Jose Baez lead Casey Anthony’s defense team and engineered a not guilty verdict from a jury.

The phrases high school dropout and attorney aren’t normally seen together.  Attornies that passed the GED on their way to earning law degrees and passing a state bar exam are very rare.

 Who is Jose Baez?

Background stories on attorney Jose Baez are beginning to surface on the Internet with his famous defense of Case Anthony.

Here’s one paragraph on the background of Jose Baez from the Miami Herald:

Born in Puerto Rico in 1969, Baez was raised by a single mother who moved to South Florida. After dropping out of Homestead High, according to the Orlando Sentinel, he married at 17, became a father, earned a GED diploma and joined the Navy in 1986.Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/05/2301017_p2/jose-baez-casey-anthonys-lawyer.html#ixzz1RRC3adF9

This cheating took place in the grade schools and high schools.  It makes me wonder what the impact has been on the high school graduates and high school dropouts of Atlanta, Georgia.

178 educators pled the Fifth Amendment when questioned

Read about the Atlanta educational scandal at the Huffington Post.

The report implicated 38 principals, noting that 178 educators pled the Fifth Amendment when questioned. Eighty-two other educators confessed to various forms of cheating, including erasing wrong answers on students’ multiple choice exams and then replacing them with the correct one.

 Sadly, the Atlanta school system has given America a new term:  erasure parties.

Among the other findings, the report stated that the changing of answers was often done at weekend gatherings, or so-called erasure parties. The report stated that children were denied special-educational assistance because their falsely reported CRCT scores were too high, and during testing, teachers pointed to the correct answer while standing at students’ desks.

Read the erasure party story at this Atlanta TV station’s website.

 Atlanta Teacher Scandal, High School Graduates, and Dropouts

What does the Atlanta educational scandal have to do with the GED or high school dropouts?

If falsifying test scores was rampant in Atlanta, Georgia, if deserving students were denied special attention because their test scores seemed OK, what kind of students graduated from Atlanta high schools?  Will we ever know the educational damage done to Atlanta’s high school students?

MTV’s New Reality Dropout Show

Apparently, MTV is considering a high school dropout reality show.

Since I don’t watch MTV I decided to look up some of their most popular programs.  They are:

1. Teen Mom
2. 16 and Pregnant
3. I Used to be Fat
4. Jersey Shore (at least I’ve heard of that show)
5. Beavis and Butt-Head
6. and more…

This isn’t exactly an educational TV network.  But maybe the proposed MTV Reality Dropout Show (sorry, nobody knows its real name) will do some good.

Here’s a quote from the ABC News report on MTV’s possible high school dropout project.

High school dropouts might be the latest group to join the MTV family. Even though MTV has not confirmed a pilot for such a show, this week, the network is in the Chicago area for an “exploratory” casting call for such a show, according to Melissa Barreto, a senior publicist at MTV.

The idea has people talking, and some are questioning whether MTV is glorifying another less-than-ideal lifestyle.

Sorry, the MTV casting for the show in Waukegan, IL has already taken place as of June 22, 2011.

The GED Reality Show

I had a similar idea for a GED Reality Show, but I actually had an educational purpose to it.  NBC’s The Biggest Loser seems to be well run, entertaining, and has a positive bent to it.  I was wondering if The Biggest Loser concept would work for Who Wants to Earn Another $300,000 During their Lifetime?  OK, that’s a horrible name for a show.  But maybe you get the point.  Passing the GED at an early age will help you earn approximately $300,000 more during a 30 year work career than a high school dropout (yes, I can prove it with facts, and have done so on this website).

Shows like The Biggest Loser succeed so well because they work towards a “biggest loser”.  One winner, the rest are losers.  Winner takes home some money and has lost a bunch of weight.  The losers change their lifestyles, not a bad compensation.

Let’s rename my reality show and call it Pass the GED Today.

Richard’s new reality show:  Pass the GED Today.

Rules:

1. The TV program goes to any city in the U.S. with enough potential applicants (high school dropouts) to take the GED test that Saturday.
2. The State GED Board will host the test at an official testing location in that city.  There will be test supervisors (and a few cameras).
3. All applicants take the test on Saturday.  Students have a few days to prepare for the GED test.
4. If someone passes the GED test that Saturday, they get a group shot on TV and possibly a brief TV interview on what they want to do with their lives.
5. Career counselors will be available Saturday evening during a party for the successful GED test takers.
6. Educational counselors will be available Saturday evening at a different event to provide help to those who failed the GED test.
7. The person with the best passing GED test score that Saturday will be awarded either a college scholarship for $10,000 or a $10,000 grant for any business they would like to start.
8. Anyone from the national audience can offer financial  help or job leads to those who passed the GED that Saturday.

Strangely enough, this is how GED tests should be run, even without television coverage.  If you strip out points #7 and #8, this Pass the GED Today Show is viable.  With a little corporate or municipal help, you could run Pass the GED Today show in any town with a little TV coverage.

Seriously, you can pass the GED test

Here’s hoping MTV actually succeeds with with its High School Dropout Reality Show.  I don’t know if they will encourage high school dropouts to pass the GED.

Even if MTV’s show doesn’t work out, you can always visit How to Pass the GED and do something positive about passing the GED in the very near future.