Linda Christas Continues to Forgo Operating in the State of California
by Tony Lopez Class of '12, Linda Christas College
It is my understanding that a California State Employee, Kathi Burns, recently contacted one of Linda Christas College's administrative volunteers who resides in Sacramento, California.
The contact from Ms. Burns, if not as a direct result of my recent article which appeared in this space (See Response to Forbes Magazine Listing Sacramento Among Top Twenty Most Miserable Cities in America), is certainly very curious in terms of its timing.
The upshot of the contact is that it is important that the College issue a statement relative to its current status within the State of California.
They asked me to do that for them on the student blog. I am honored.
Thus, for all to see and hear,
Currently, Linda Christas College is unable to establish an administrative center or classroom facilities within the State of California. Nor has the State granted Linda Christas the right to employ instructors to teach in these facilities. However, Linda Christas has requested, and is hopeful that the regulatory clarifications necessary for the College to develop a step-by-step plan acceptable to the State will be forthcoming from the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education.
Questions concerning progress relative to this matter may be addressed to Kathi Burns, Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education at (916) 431-6915.
Linda Christas' continued inability to establish facilities or hire instructors within California reflects precisely California's current negative standing (47th in the United States) in terms of government defining its role by placing regulatory pressure on the private sector aimed at discouraging enterprise in all its forms from beginning, entering or remaining in the State.
California currently enjoys more cities and more citizens in trouble financially than any other state, placing six of its communities in the top twenty most miserable places to reside in America, according to Forbes Magazine, primarily because of government activities as I explained in my article referenced above.
Linda Christas' inability to establish a physical presence in the State of California is symptomatic of a far larger problem in terms of California government creating obstacles that become too expensive or too damaging to quality for an innovative program to survive.
For example, the University of Phoenix was driven from California via government policy, finally finding refuge in my current state of residence, Arizona.
Often, businesses in California must close their doors because municipal, state or federal regulations do not come with funds for compliance.
The assumption is made by government that services should be more expensive to the public in order to pay for compliance with whatever regulations the government chooses to adopt, as if, in whatever areas they choose, the State is expert in terms of what is or is not a quality offering.
Kathi Burns' willingness to work with Linda Christas to outline specifically how a new educational offering may be established within the State is encouraging. As of this date, however, no such outline has been delivered to the College.
Currently, eighty percent of all college teachers and administrators in California are paid for by the State taxpayers.
Not only does Linda Christas not receive a penny of government support at any level; Linda Christas does not receive a penny of tax favored money through IRS approved private-not-for-profit foundations. LC's students cannot qualify for government guaranteed student loans either. Why? In order for a student to qualify for student loans, he or she must attend an institution that adopts syllabi BEFORE the student is known. If syllabi are generated AFTER the student is known, which is the situation with every high quality tutor in the US, and the basis upon which Linda Christas offers its courses, the US government does not allow students to use its loan programs for study.
In other words, the forces of the U.S. government, while using language of "protection," do everything possible, in my opinion, to make certain American education remains last at the undergraduate level in terms of student learning.
For those of you who wish to investigate what government interference in education has done to America since 1960, please read Academically Adrift, Limited Learning on College Campuses, Arum and Roksa, and Gone for Good by Stuart Rojstaczer.
And, we are not even speaking of the K-12 programs approved by the State of California which place California's students competitively below the students of every developed country in the world with the exception of Cyprus, while spending the most per student of any region on Earth.
May the Lord please find a way to pull California government regulators off of the backs of those who have better ideas.
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02/24/2011 
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