I got an email from Beacon’s college counselor Stephanie Binder who said that MTV came by to talk to Beaconites about the college process. Steph did a wonderful College Admissions Process 101 video and the Beacon seniors are featured as stressed out students in this clip.

Steph’s advice is, as it always is, spot on. I’d love to use this space to publicly tease an old friend about her MTV moment, but she’s really just too good to tease. Her "there is a college for everyone" comment should be required viewing for any student wanting to go to college and for any of the folks who seem to focus on the top 25% of a high school class.

But I found the second piece disturbing, because it was coupled with what felt a little too much like a promo for IvyWise, a college admissions counseling / prep company. Yes, now you too can spend a few thousand dollars so that your kid can have his college admissions packet polished, scrubbed, shined and cleaned before being sent off.

It bothers me on several levels. One, it’s another way to create an uneven playing field for students who, by virtue of being able to afford the cost of a place like IvyWise, probably already are starting the race a few yards ahead. But two, to paraphrase Dwight Eisenhower, "Beware the education-industrial complex." I’m really tired of all the companies that continue to find new and interesting ways to make money off of the whole school process. I was talking to a friend the other day, after we saw another vendor trying to sell us something we couldn’t afford and didn’t need and he said, "Is it just me, or are those of us working in schools making less than everyone else involved in education these days?" And we wonder why so many folks leave the classroom.

Let’s stop finding so many ways to pay other folks millions upon millions of dollars, and let’s fund our schools.