I don't. Maybe when they saw the pictures of Trump Tower Chicago, there should have been an Aha moment.
9
Good for Pennsylvania for shutting this "school" down. Others in the computer field will no doubt explain why this "promise" was never remotely possible, but what is uniquely depressing is that state officials were not even educated enough to reality test this project, so that their constituents would not be defrauded or strung along with false hopes. Even asking a real computer programmer to evaluate the curriculum would have shown that were was no curriculum, a sure sign that this was just a grift from the get go. You can find on-line computer science courses on the Internet. Here is a link to a list of courses that are offered without charge: http://www.openculture.com/computer_science_free_courses
Speaking as the granddaughter of a coal miner, there is no reason you need a "customized" curriculum for people working in mines or living in Appalachia. That is the patronizing song of the grifter.
11
Has anyone ever heard of Andrew Yang?
3
The refugee resettlement agencies need to bring refugees into their community for them to take care of.
1
I am an MSc. in Computer Science and MEng. in Computer Engineering (basically Electronics Eng. focused on designing and developing computer hardware).
I started coding as a kid at the age of 10 on Commodore C16 and never stopped. I know how it is to be a very proficient coder without sufficient theoretical background in Computer Science (basically me at 17) and simply knowing programming languages (even several) it is not enough to be a Software Engineer, nothing to be said about being a System Analyst or Systems Architect.
Creating software is a professional engineering job (even though Computer Science is not an official engineering discipline) that requires both advanced education, on-hands experience, engineering background is a big plus (basically having the know-how and the culture of disciplined designing) and let's face it, above-average IQ (not a genius IQ, just the mundane "enough to get a STEM college degree" IQ of 110 to 120).
Telling a random person they can become a "programmer" after 16 weeks (with today's level of the sophistication of the discipline) is almost criminal. You can no more become a software developer and go design and implement professional applications after 16 weeks than you can become an architect and design buildings, or a mechanical engineer and go and design a new high-efficiency car engine.
22
As I'm reading this article I can't help thinking about the current debate raging in NYC right now about dumbing down entrance exams for the specialized high schools for a more racially diverse student body, whether or not students meet the intellectual criteria. Unfortunately these "students" in Appalachia weren't savvy enough to realize that skills and intellect for good paying jobs don't develop in a couple of weeks. They fell for yet another get rich quick scheme but if they truly have the drive and ambition, instead of wallowing in cultural mire, they might find a truly legitimate way out of the hollow.
3
Mined Minds isn't the first program I've read about that wanted to bring coding or some other technology-based learning program to underserved areas of the U.S. Yet similar to another one that I know about, the founders not only made very big promises they could not keep, but also appear to have squandered the grant money on themselves and their lifestyle. The founder of the program I know about has been sued by the Fed for fraud, but that still doesn't explain the million plus dollars she received from a prestigious foundation that was squandered. Also, in reading the way this program was designed, it sounded a lot like a number of writing MFA programs: take our writing MFA so that you, too, can become an instructor in our writing MFA program. Um, that's not an education, that's merely being trained to take a position in a perpetuating system. Why isn't this sort of thing considered in some way fraudulent? Why is it even considered a way of educating someone? That's not education, and nor is it training. Training you can apply to something else. This is treating people like monkeys to serve a master. That's just wrong in so many ways.
3
If there is ever to be an infrastructure plan for this country, have it include, for the out-of-work coal miners in coal country and beyond, the removal of utility poles and placement of high-speed cables and utility lines under ground. It's earthwork, but much less dangerous than mining and would grant a skill that could be used most any place. Rather than destroying the beautiful countryside, this would enhance it and maybe make places like West Virginia more attractive to start-ups and tourists, and hikers. Did I leave out the B&B economy.
14
This story highlights a few things
(1) The persistence and will of these people to create adapt to a changing landscape and create a better future for themselves. This is important to note given he caricatures of America beyond its major metropolitan cities and coastal areas.
(2) The persistence of people to prey on those who are marginalized by a changing economy.
What the article does not explore is the tendency, after building a company or industry in America, to have the jobs shipped offshore for yet cheaper labor. Even if the program had helped, the apotheosis of company values is 'return value to the shareholder' at all costs, a myopic goal which means increasingly cheaper labor and so eventually those jobs may have left.
I say sue Mined Minds and along with the institutions that engendered faith in the organization.
5
I was part of the first class in WV back in 2016. Amanda and team came to teach us Ruby programming once a week in Charleston, WV. They came on their dime and did not charge us anything. I remember the first class were over 30 people, after 2 classes less than 20. It was a class that required commitment, grit and discipline. Those skills are very much needed to enter the computer science job market, Mined Minds provided very good explanations about the expectations of the training and encouraged the students to be problem solvers and resourceful. I did not finish the class, I realized that I did not have the time to code every day as was required and I did not want to commit the time. The experience taught me about what skills are needed to enter the coding industry.
Amanda is one of the most generous persons I have ever known. People in WV should be thrilled with Mined Minds. They are able to train people to be highly skilled programmers in record time. If a person is willing and motivated to do that, they can go to Mined Minds. WV has a lot of rural populations, mobility is difficult due to distance, weather and poor public transportations, so if a person has the grit and desire to learn how to code at least Mined Minds is there.
1
Welcome to the new Service economy. As a tech worker, I have been laid off multiple times, the jobs that are promised or talked about evaporate quickly. Certification scams are everywhere. There is absolutely no job stability and companies flood the market with H1B visa holders who you typically have to train to replace you.
There is almost no economic development in the USA.
80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
51% of American workers earn less than $30,000/yr.
55% of American workers aged 55-64 have $0 saved for retirement.
We are in severe crisis and it won't get better until we shift to Worker Owned Co-ops and a return to manufacturing to allow for "stair-stepper-jobs".
15
Wait the education was free and they got a paid internship and now they are suing the school for money. Someone needs to tel these people that coding and tech isn't for everyone.
@kenenth No, they didn't get paid, that is why so many people had to leave the program. Somebody needs to tell the founders to stop advertising that anybody can do coding.
5
@kenenth,
They did not receive paid internships as they were promised, at least some of them. And some were fired "just because". Tell us how that was right. Or is that OK because they are merely West Virginians and who gives a hoot about them anyway, right?
7
It is rather insidious that the National Guard is using (and paying, big time) for this course for its academy for high school age students- see Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy (http://wvchallenge.org). The Department of Defense has scores of programs from middle school through high school, designed to make tech savvy and military friendly recruits. Many schools cannot afford good STEM classes, and they have become unfairly used to induce kids to the military.
5
Graduating with two degrees in music back in the 1970s, I made a choice to look for a “day job” so I could pay rent while chasing my dream. Back then, one could take a federal civil service aptitude exam called PACE. I did well and was hired at the agency that became DFAS, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, despite no related coursework, just a few months as a bank teller. I received good OJT, and worked writing program requirements and testing when the opportunity to become a programer was announced. The department head announced that there would be a placement test and that “most of you should qualify, except for the music majors.” Hah. I aced it.
Now, the short story would be that I learned to be a COBOL programer in six weeks of OJT, but that would elide over my previous experience in the office, and my demonstrated aptitude prior to being accepted for training. As an “unqualified music major”, my transferable skills include sticking to something until you get it right, attention to detail, and demonstrable analytic skills. I didn’t come out of nowhere. Other trainees included people without a college degree, but had experiences from file clerk to customer service—and, again, a demonstrated aptitude.
I cannot discount that I was successful because I was trained on the job; I had income and short of utterly fouling up, work awaiting me. I cannot imagine learning a new skill, to be applied in a new environment, without that cushion of security.
38
@Juliana Sadock Savino I believe research has shown programming ability is strongly linked to musical ability and I've know some highly musical, highly skilled programmers personally. Your supervisor was apparently misinformed or just personally prejudiced.
FYI, I was in a 4 year college computer science program in the '60s and did learn Algol, Fortran, Cobol and Assembly Language and wrote programs for the University. I would be totally amazed if any of the promised training would work in such a short time on random individuals. I graduated in Psychology because the CS students were a dull bore and apolitical in the era of Vietnam. I still love computers and build and repair my own and everybody else's.
8
@Juliana Sadock Savino
Much like, for some reason, music folks seem to have an aptitude and abilities for physics. Perhaps its because music as a 'creative science', is precise, mathematical, specific and very detailed. Computer science, via programming involves precise, mathematical, detailed and specific. The degrees you received had prepared you to be able to benefit from superior on the job training. Moral to this story ironically there is no short cut to a good educational foundation. While, a few, who have limited or no education have reaped a k-billion dollars, the truth is that those k-billionaires are far and few in-between. Good educational preparation & luck creates the best 'bootstrap'.
9
"She blamed the opioid epidemic and “the poverty culture” of the region, mentioning “Hillbilly Elegy,” the best-selling memoir by J.D. Vance, who, like Ms. Laucher, went from working-class Rust Belt roots to success in the tech sector."
Anybody who references Hillbilly Elegy as a reliable source about Appalachia starts off with credibility issues in my book. Of course she blames the people and culture in the area, not her unrealistic promises and shabby training/job placement program.
9
@Brandi Yes I hate Hillbilly Elegy. He gives examples of his family and paints them in the worst light. What is worse is that everyone uses it as their reference for what Appalachians are like, which is not true. There are some of course and we do have an opioid epidemic, but so do other places. There are plenty of people who are going back to school and learning new skills. However, it is hard for most to figure out if a school is legitimate or not. TN has had success with TN Promise and Reconnect (though it is going slower), which has done a great job and giving that chance to many who wouldn't have had it otherwise. Also, it has a list of legit schools that you can use the funds at. Perhaps that would be a good solution for other places? There are still plenty of obstacles such as transportation, high speed internet, etc., but at least some progress is being made.
1
The reliability of the book Hillbilly Elegy is absolutely zero. It's not a way to plan your future.
Too bad. In the early 80's I attended a long-defunct programming school. Fortunately for me, the school had a kick-back scheme with hiring companies: the school got high placement; the companies got students whose education was fine-tuned for to their needs Someone got money under the table.
I got a job that has kept me happily and gainfully employed. The staying employed has been my responsibility but the programming skills I acquired still keep me in demand.
I think it is a shame that US schools focus on 'new' technologies while we hire thousands of 'off-shore' developers with recently acquired mainframe (i.e. COBOL) skills - a language necessary for the high-volume number crunching banks and insurance companies depend upon but one that is looked at with distaste my American educational institutions.
5
Government money (grants and student loans) should only be available to State colleges and University. NO private or religious schools.
2
This is a good example of the hubris in tech.
"Hey, I'm really smart and work in tech, that means I can solve these really big complicated problems I don't know anything about. I don't understand your culture, or how to execute on an idea, or have any background in teaching--but trust me, I work in tech."
14
I don't personally know any of the folks involved, but reading through this, I felt incredibly sad for their lives - fallen upon hard times, given a glimmer of hope, and then to have that snatched away so rudely.
7
Even if these people could learn to code effectively they would still be competing the H1Bs who have more experience and will work for less then they want to get payed.
.
4
Sounds like learning to code isn't that simple?
3
Someone said know thyself. This is what anyone should do before contemplating a new career. A self test in programming in Microsoft VBA could tell you about one’s innate desire.
This story is befuddling because there is so much inexpensive autodidactic programming tools available. If a facility is demonstrated after self programming for a month, then one should take the next step.
Great Courses offers an open source program in Python that you can learn for free on a trial basis.
@Mark Smith as I said on another comment, people don't know what they don't know when they are new to a field of study. I am sure the founders didn't mention anything to the prospective students about being able to take self-tests to see if programming is a good fit. If people aren't tech savvy and somebody who is offering free training says they are capable, of course they aren't likely to question it. They just wanted a chance to have a marketable skill.
5
I'm reminded of that line from the film Coal Miner's Daugher - "Doolittle, when you're born in East Kentucky, you've got three choices. Coal Mine, Moonshine ... or movin' on, down the line."
6
Goes to show that small bore private sector solutions will NOT work.
The only entity big enough and with enough resources nd long enough time line is the federal government. How many times is the U.S. going to try this failed path before it wises up.
And, it is not like there aren't enough things that NEED doing that are NOT being done by private industry. Fulfill those things before trying to retrain people use to working with their hands to spend all day in front of computer.
The key to stability of the U.S. economy is a BROAD economic structure. Having everyone be a developer makes no sense and does not use the breadth of natural skill sets people have.
8
Fraudsters gonna defraud. IT, coding, TEDtalk, Apple all incidental to scammers. But shifting blame from them and their victims desperation or gullibility makes for "interesting reading". Consider MAGA.
2
Reminds me of a poem.
"Of promising more than we can deliver we have a bad habit its true, but if we didn't promise more than we can deliver, we'd never deliver what we do."
........... Author unknown.
4
Good lord, in the first comments here, all Times Pick's, not one person mentioned noticing the 'office in Trump Tower'. Mined Minds sounds just like Trump University. Scam the gullible. Even the scam was a scam. Added bonus, get the Democratic Senator to endorse it and wait to see him blamed and pushed out of office.
7
Coding is complicated. Anybody who thinks that a 16 week course is going to qualify them for a first class coding job is a fool.
With respect, coal miners do not want to own the coal mine, they come from generations of people working for someone else. They was a pay check.
Telling people that 16 weeks training qualifies them to enter the global competition job market is either naive, or scamming people.
8
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably means there's a scam. As other readers have pointed out, coding is not easy to learn, and no one guarantees you'll be successful, no matter how many classes you take. West Virginia is one of the most beautiful states, and it's sad to see its mountains leveled and forests stripped. Like some of the other parts of Appalachia, the scenery and natural assets have not been developed or utilized to benefit the local citizens. The answer to the local economic problems could be the creation of a tourist industry. The Appalachian legacy of historical music, culture, and handcrafts set in such natural beauty is something our country should treasure. I believe many visitors would come and create a thriving economy. It can happen, e.g. The Greenbriar Hotel. There are few places left on the East Coast where you can sit by a stream in the forest and think. West Virginia could become a place for escape.
7
Poor execution of a great idea. I work for a major corporation hiring people from Tech Elevator. They're are often able to work remotely (although usually not 100% remotely). The last group we hired included former retail managers and cooks.
4
@Greg M Happy to hear that. Tech Elevator is concentrated in urban areas: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. I think this would be a factor in their success. I note, too that they belong to Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR), a nonprofit that reports student outcomes.
3
When I first heard about Mined Mines I was very skeptical that this program could work. I've posted my thoughts on what IMHO is necessary for a successful career in IT. You may find them in my favorable reply to a comment by Paul Blais.
Do they make a living wage and have enough hours to be present for their family?
All High School students should be required to watch a season of “American Greed” or maybe an IT whiz can create a game for them to play.
It’s astonishing how many people get conned in so many creative ways.
The underlying weakness is the perps play on the mistaken belief that one can get something for nothing.
Education, wealth, age, location, job seem to have little to do with the vulture’s success.
IRS scams, Madoff, Trump, precious this and that, sweepstakes, phishing, boot camps - the list is endless.
Anyone can become victimized if they are not careful.
5
@Agent 99 Well ok but this wasn’t exactly nothing. People had to quit paying jobs, work without pay and go to the classes.
4
I've been developing software for over fifteen years. Many people who do this for a living, even people who have been doing it for a long time, aren't very good at it. It's a combination of both aptitude and an ability to enjoy the work. A person could understand it but hate it too much to do it long-term.
I've told this to many people who don't develop software and they don't believe me. Why should they, when many people who do the work don't know it?
Formal education is not a factor. If someone is inclined toward writing software a computer science degree can add significant value, but the same person will succeed without it. Overall, degrees don't carry as much weight as one might think. Experience and interviews are everything, because you can't believe what someone thinks they know until you see it. (The interview process is broken - that's another story.)
Here's my point: Although this particular program may have failed, I'm certain that there are as many potentially skilled coders among people working minimum wage jobs in coal mining communities as there are anywhere else. You could probably find excellent candidates on the Employee of the Month wall at McDonald's.
Given the abundance of software jobs, schools should teach some elementary coding to everyone and see where it sticks. Take the time out of their volleyball classes which are even less likely to lead to employment.
10
This story sounds like a high tech revival of the Music Man but with a sad ending.
8
Certainly a bridge too far to come into a place like rural West Virginia planning to teach non-technical persons computer coding ab initio while also promising paying jobs in the computer software industry after only completing a single class. Way too optimistic.
Would have been better to teach the use of some popular and highly useful computer programs such as Excel and Power Point after the work day and with no promise of employment.
11
Whenever something seems too good to be true....
2
In 1967 I was a graduate student in biochemistry. I took a two week course in how to program using Fortran II. It gave me the skills to write simple programs to analyze my own data. It certainly did not give me the skills to write or maintain a computer operating system. It was the equivalent of my learning to watch TV. I certainly couldn't have built a TV. Both my sons are software engineers. They started to learn how to program in first grade and eventually got degrees in computer science. The people who created Google and Facebook spent years acquiring the skills how to do it. They needed a great deal of education and a certain level of genius.
9
Lots of unanswered questions here: if they said they were promised to be paid in an email was there any effort by the author to view the email? Why was the class extended for so many weeks? What was actually bring taught in the class? Why were the people fired from the jobs they were placed in?
8
I see some comments blaming Republicans but it was a Democrat behind this. There will always be folks selling snake oil, don't believe everything you read: if it sounds too good to be true is probably is. When something is offered for free, you should weigh the true cost before you commit, because nothing is free. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, and if you are offered a free opportunity, diversify so you can afford to fail. These scams are sometimes well intended, sometimes extortion.
6
@Core How did you find out Amanda Laucher was a Democrat?
1
As long as people think a lack of education is a disease to be cured rather than muscles to be built there will be snake oil salespeople (or preachers) serving those who want a miracle cure. Let us pray (or prey).
8
Even if it was the best boot camp in the world, (and it wasn’t, playing games to pass the time? Bacchanals in Lithuania?)there is no way a company would take a risk on a graduate from there. Boot camps aren’t accredited.
There is already this thing out there for learning new careers, it’s called community college. You can get a two year associates degree or even a certificate. Some of this certificates lead to good paying careers, airline mechanics, cyber security, medical assistants, etc.
Why wasn’t the money spent on helping students pay for rent and living expenses while learning something from professional teachers? Or why wasn’t someone from West Virginia going to businesses and identifying hard to fill jobs and what kind of training they would accept to hire entry level positions?
16
Mined Minds was a scam. Here in NY, we call it a hustle.
14
With off-shoring and H1B visas still dominating the IT space this program should have been suspect from the start. "We'll teach you to code in Ruby"; really was there anyone of note still using Ruby in 2017?
You do not need a 4 year degree to be a great coder. I worked with hundreds of the world's best and none had a computer programming or computer science degree. Many only had some college. About 99.99% of them were able to learn new languages and technology within 4 weeks. The key is that you need instructors who know what they are doing inside out, upside down, blindfolded with both typing fingers tied behind their backs. Clearly that was not the case in this instance.
I have worked in IT since the 1980s with most of it being an Enterprise Architect. You are always learning, mostly on your own. Grad school helped me to understand why so many CS grads cannot get jobs in the field - they are not taught how to write well formed code nor are they taught anything about the "business" they will be coding for.
If you are dead set on an IT career, get a degree in whatever non-IT field that peaks your interest and get a 2nd degree in CS. Then plan on starting a completely different career in your mid 40s because you will be "too old" for IT. Ideally "Your Career v2.0" will use your 1st degree.
10
This whole company seems to be around to give Ms Laucher's siblings jobs. She belongs in a building with Trump's name on it.
15
I got as far as "...God has sent Mined Minds to save us..." Thinking prayer is part of the answer is the biggest part of the problem.
10
What law school is Ms. Laucher going to? Did she lie on her application about the results of her program?
14
It sounds like Trump University
12
The first time I heard of "Mined Minds" a couple of years ago, the whole thing stunk of scam. It's obvious, and sad – coal miners will NEVER be data miners. Despite the surficially similar job titles, the two jobs couldn't be more different; the skills and aptitudes required couldn't be more different.
7
There might be the one in a hundred who has an untapped talent. But this seems like figuratively mining for ore at random locations.
1
Not to make every discussion be about Trump, but wasn’t this exactly what went on with Trump University? And why no mention of Betsy DeVos plan to address this education problem in WV?
10
What law school would want to have her after this?
9
This is appalling. These people were scammed. Ruby is open source and they could've learned on their own. Oracle is database driven-and requires intense training which is costly. Sadly, just "google it" would've helped-they didn't need these scam artists. There is a wealth of coding information that is free online.
13
As an experienced engineer, I am angered at how Laucher makes a mockery of the engineering profession.
The fact that they used Ruby as an introduction to programming for students with little formal education says it all. Laucher and her team are either fools, evil or both. They should be investigated and prosecuted for fraud. Mined Minds is another get-rich-quick Trump-style University with software instead of real estate.
For every coal miner who watches a youtube video on Ruby and lands a job at Apple, there's 1000 more who are still tending bar or serving burgers. And, don't forget, India is flooding the market with cheap H1B labor, at which point, ironically, skills don't matter that much. Money talks.
Our education industry is broken, corrupt and becoming an epic for-profit failure just like our health care industry. Congress is pouring gas on the fire by giving tax-breaks, tax-credits, and refunds to companies who outsource to India or hire from India. We've incentivized companies to send jobs overseas.
We are preying on the most vulnerable, picking their pockets because they have no where else to go.
Disgraceful.
19
The only culture that I see as being problematic here is the one that encourages “entrepreneurs” like Ms Lauchler to “move fast and break things” just to burnish their resumes; especially when the things they break are people's lives, hopes and dreams. I sincerely hope that the frauds who perpetrated this scam get brought to justice, kicked out of law school and shamed for their debauchery using funds that were intended for economic development of some of the most disenfranchised people in the US. I am amazed that more of the comments aren’t focused on her problematic “culture” and calling for accountability.
16
@Anna Segur Very true! Tech is so smug as an industry. They like to break things like it's a win-win-win for everyone, but never mind all the people who get hurt in the process. A small number of people make a ton of money and pat themselves on the back, and thousands of lower-paid people bear the consequences of "break things."
3
@Anna Segur You hit the nail on the head.
He votes with the republicans 70% of the time.
I know it’s better than 100% but it’s amazing that such a snake can be a member of the democratic caucus.
9
My heart goes out to those who were victims of this fraud
Sounds like these were (are) cons who took lessons from #45.
10
I wonder if the cheated students of Mined Mines are able to bring a class action suit, since our very political SCOTUS has ruled in favor of binding arbitration. The Attorney General of West Virginia should be indicting the perpetrators of this fraud. Ms. Laucher will need a law degree to fend of the lawsuits coming her way; she has no doubt enrolled in an actual school, rather than a fly-by-night two-bit cheat (much like Trump University). I also wonder if Mrs. Frame still believes God sent Mined Mines to them; I hope not. Good luck to her.
10
People must cross check their information. Just one tech savvy person could've told them designing a website won't get you to Oracle. Although a website for fraud with input just like theirs--would be a great project now.
4
Rural West Virginians would be better served by moving to urban areas. Population density drives many things, and prosperity is one of them.
10
Computer Science graduates can have trouble finding work within a year after 4 years of college. Only those coming from top schools have an easy time finding work.
Getting a job after 16 weeks of schooling is pure snake oil. That's barely 1.5 semesters of college. They would've barely touched Data Structures at that point. You can't expect anyone to do any kind of programming from 0 after 16 weeks. We're talking about people who weren't even motivated enough to learn programming in highschool.
11
@Starvosk
Are you so sure the local high schools offer programming classes? I can assure you that those folks over 45 didn't have that opportunity. Oh, you do need to know some programming to operate computer controlled machinery as well as knowing how to fix it.
If anyone want to know why Trump is in the Oval, reread the last line in above comment.
5
West Virginia had been under the control of Democrat’s for the past 60+ years. Remember senator Byrd the longest serving US senator. That would make wv a blue state for over 60 years for those not paying attention. If the solution were as simple as Democrats or Republicans West Virginians wouldn’t be in the situation they are in. West Virginians need solid state leadership to diversify the economy instead they have had hold your nose while you vote for the lesser of two evils.
6
@Minerniner West Virginia might have been controlled by Democrats in history, but currently the state government has Republicans in all three branches of government.
1
I am quite surprised and a little bit flattened as an Italian by the amount of reaction going on.
I do agree that Aperol is too sweet. If you really go for it, at least use a good prosecco, which tend to be dryier than cheap ones.
Campari spritz is bitter and better in my opinion. And Campari is still relatively easy to find, at least in France
2
“I wholeheartedly believe, and will always believe,” Ms. Frame said to the camera, “that God has sent Mined Minds to us to save us from what could have been a very bleak future.”
I think it unlikely God played a role here; he's (or she if you rather and think God has a gender) a very busy chap. However, if so it brings to mind the adage that God works in strange ways. If not then Ms. Frame is wrong in her belief. Third possibility -- God misjudges things from time to time which brings up the omniscient/omnipotent paradox, or maybe just joking, or maybe Einstein was wrong and God does play dice (with you and me). But seriously I am truly sad for the folks who gave up much for nothing and I hope things come right and get better -- but best to work on it yourselves and not to count on outside intervention from hucksters or God.
3
Our web development firm recently replaced all programmers with the ones working from overseas. Until something is done in this area, I think it's insane to assume all coal miners can "just" be retrained and will get jobs as coders.
Write to your representative.
7
@John Just wondering what the programmers did about it. H1B visas are only to be used if an employer can’t find Americans to do the job. It sounds like your company already had Americans to do the job. So your company would be in violation and would have to pay fines, maybe even back pay.
1
It sounds to me like minded minds is engaged in organized crime. But rather than extorting money under threat of force, they are deliberately making promises that they have no intention of keeping. This is called fraud.
As many have pointed out, studying computer programming for a handful of weeks is not likely to result in a lucrative job in IT. Moreover, I probably don't recommend IT as a career to those who do not have a genuine interest in technology and how technology works (i.e., loving your iPhone does not count). IT is a faced paced industry which requires its workers to update their knowledge and skills significantly more frequently than other industries.
I love computers, and I spent many years in IT. However, as the dot com boom subsided and the market got tight, I began to realize that I did not want to constantly be updating my skills set merely to remain competitive. I changed careers, and now enjoy a salary that is much higher than I had during my IT years which requires very little continuing education.
As this article poignantly illustrates, Minded Minds is praying upon those who lack the critical thinking ability to recognize the program as the scam that it is. I would never give my hard earned money to any organization trying to sell me a service without having everything spelled out in writing. Hence, it is no wonder why their operation is based in Appalachia.
10
Best course I ever while attending college was Intro. to Symbolic Logic. It was recommended to me by my instructor, a retired IBM engineer, who saw me struggling in the programming courses. He explained that I really needed to understand what was going on with the compiler and how it worked with the operating system, and if I didn't understand this learning to code was pretty much a waste of time. The course was a real eye-opener. I subsequently obtained a degree in telecommunications.
9
The point that needs to be realized in the search for retraining all of rural America, a realistic assessment of what their skill sets are needs to be made before any retaining is targeted.
I worked for a Global Farm equipment manufacturer for 20 years in I.T. . My job was to develop systems, network and software to be used by its 1400+ dealerships across the U.S. I spent 1 to 2 weeks a month at these dealerships assessing the technology needs of the business and developing realistic solutions for the employees and their farming customers. I have also lived in rural America for over 40 years.
To be brief, the technical world is a place of abstract concepts, not solid materials. The people living in rural America have worked with solids, agriculture and natural resources.
There is also a natural selection process that has been going on for many generations here. I've watched children that fit the demands of the community, farming or agriculture, stay and children that don't, usually the ones that are more academically inclined, leave and go to the cities.
The hard reality of rural America is that with the experience they have, the probability of successfully moving people into any abstract, technical, complex job is slim.
21
I took a 16-week bootcamp a couple of years ago and the majority of my class got good jobs out of it. My case was a little different from my classmates, as I have a Computer Science degree already but took the camp to update my skills after a very long break to raise kids and work in a family business. Most of the bootcamp students had a college degree.
The bootcamp went really fast and was extremely challenging. I worked nonstop for 16 weeks, on nights and weekends, and I landed a job at a major company where the work is incredibly complex and difficult, and also very well paid. My job requires me to think creatively every day and debug problems and also create new features using technology we've never used before. On the best days it's like solving a logic puzzle, which I've always loved. On many days, though, I feel like I've walked into a Calculus exam that I'm not fully prepared for.
I don't really need to use algorithms in my particular job (although we have a data analytics team who does). But my job is still very difficult and is my number one focus now. It's easier than the first year and I'm getting stronger all the time, but I feel like I'll need another year or two to feel comfortable and fast enough technically (I am strong on soft skills due to education and professional experience).
Bootcamps can launch people in careers, but it is a difficult undertaking, even for those of us lucky enough to have education and experience behind us.
22
I also had a computer science degree and still found coding to be difficult and tedious. I do not know how this project could have been sold to anyone! In only 16 weeks, people not only expected to be writing programs, but then be able to teach the course!! It was based on a "pie-in-the-sky" notion!
8
Sad that a few prey on the most vulnerable in our society and profit from their plights.
As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true...
But, on the other hand, our "president" engaged in the same deceptive activities with his fake "university".
No that is despicable, and puts him in the same ranks as "Mined Minds"-deplorables.
18
Please tell me there will be consequences for the these frauds. At least they’re named. My heart breaks for these people who’ve made the leap of faith. I hope they don’t give up and push through. More articles about these “schools” please.
35
If Joe Manchin III is your "Democratic" senator then imagine how the Republicans will be in these places....!?
15
@Har
He votes with the republicans 70% of the time.
I know it’s better than 100% but it’s amazing that such a snake can be a member of the democratic caucus.
2
Surprised not to have seen Betsy DeVos mentioned. Sounds like just the sort of program she could get behind, other than it didn't leave the participants in debt to the school.
14
"Tech savvy miners" is an oxymoron. As one commenter wrote: "driving a car does make one a mechanic". I was a better-than-average computer programmer back in the day. And becoming a better-than-average computer programmer is not something everyone can do; I had a 4-year university degree and years of work experience going for me. It's sad for those people who were duped.
16
It’s hilarious that the program leader mentions the ayn rand inspired screed of dissonant self indulgent historical obfuscation titled “hillbilly Elegy” as emblematic of Appalachian culture. JD Vance a Ohio native is no hillbilly and certainly no expert on the trials and tribulations of the good people living throughout Appalachia. His screed needs a eulogy for the betrayal it represents
15
The Mined Minds people sound like frauds, as noted by Decent Guy in Arizona, but also incompetent, self-indulgent, and short-sighted. One would wish that were a rare combination despite the current Executive of the U.S.
For the sake of potential clients, I hope Ms. Laucher flunks out of law school.
19
"Billyjack Buzzard?" Truth is stranger than fiction. When will these desperate people realize that if it sounds too good to be true, it isn't. If 9 out of 10 of them who voted, didn't vote for the lier in chief I'll eat my shoes. In the immortal words of Forrest Gump, stupid is as stupid does.
13
@Paying Attention
When Hillary wasn't calling them deplorables she was saying she would shut down the mines. These people knew what "retraining" looks like (this was not the 1st training scam) and didn't believer her.
@skramsv 1st point, Clinton wasn’t calling West Virginians deplorables, she was calling racists deplorables. Are you saying you think all West Virginians are racists?
2nd point, Clinton’s out of context sound bite: “We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” The “We” wasn’t Clinton but the US economy. And it’s true, coal jobs are getting scarce as demand drops and the remaining jobs get automated. Retraining is essential. It should be done by the professionals at the friendly local community college.
5
Truth time: here is something I actually know about having a PhD in physics and working in SW for 30+ years. The notion of training someone to code who does not have outstanding math, logic and science skills is riduculous. If the educational system has not identified someone with these skills in 12 years it is not likely (but not impossible) they will be successful in this endeavour. A few months or years is training is very unlikely to get you a job in silicon valley. Get real, Jethro wanted to be a brain surgeon too.
16
@Tibby Elgato
Not sure that you have ever worked in IT. Most coding jobs do not require anything beyond basic math skills. Most coders do not work in Silicon Valley. IBM set up an IT coding center in Dubuque IA and trained locals. It has worked well for IBM and the community. BTW, some of the worst code I have ever seen was written by people tooting their own horn and saying how outstanding they are.
4
I am happy to say that my home state of Georgia got it right. Around 1999 or 2000 they offered a coding program for qualified applicants. You had to have a college degree already in either math or accounting. They DID have jobs lined up, they did have funding and it was conducted at the local 4 year college and students were paid to attend. My sister-in-law, a bookkeeper for a jewelry shop in a mall, was accepted, and finished while raising 2 small kids. She was hired immediately and has been programming for the same credit card processors ever since while her kids grew up and finished college. She and I were not teenagers when we made these leaps. We were pushing 40, but leap we did. We are both 60 now and still working. And she took that leap to programming because I had left my dead-end job in 1997 to change to an IT career via evening vocational school on my own with our HOPE Scholarship. My goal was to be the Madonna of Cisco Routers. My move inspired her so much she moved too. Ironically the program she got into would not have accepted me, I am no math whiz. But I have other qualifications and talents and blazed a path. We have both been successful. We were fortunate our state engaged with professionals and has always been willing to put money and resources into good quality technical and vocational programs.
24
There's gold in them thar shills! If it sounds too easy to be true, it is. As oft been quoted, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Hope these folks learned a lesson they can apply to the next big-talking entrepreneur or politician who waltzes into town with golden promises.
11
It's a misquote. Mencken said "the taste of the American public" and not "intelligence."
2
@Anthony Davis Too bad they didn’t see the Marge versus the Monorail episode of the Simpsons beforehand.
1
The story and some insightful comments are a great reading. Comparing this story with the one on the coders of Kentucky (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/opinion/sunday/silicon-valley-tech.html), one can easily see that Ms. Laucher is a con. At Kentucky, Interapt accepted 50 students out of 800 applicants for the first training class. This admission rate is the same as that of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Also, they paid $400/wk stipend to each student (out of the money they got from the government). As correctly pointed out by some other readers, Ms. Laucher's behavior is fraudulent. The sad thing is, too many people could not think straight enough to tell a con (So a man losing a billion dollars could easily fake a business genius who, of course, thinks, and acts as, everyone else is a fake). I think the AG of PA and WV should investigate this scam.
25
No photo of Ms. Laucher? I would like to see the face of somebody who cannot see the faces of the people she has cheated.
27
A subsequent NYTimes article(s) regarding the how and why Mined Minds and similar predatory organizations are able to operate would be very interesting and beneficial.
21
@Joel Lack of registering with the respective states allows them to be out of sight and out of mind.
Just like Trump's fake university.
6
Forgive me, but Amanda Laucher sounds like a Wendy Kopp knock-off. The latter, in my opinion, ran with a bad idea and got far too lucky with it, and her "graduates" (all five weeks of training) are still dropping in -- and dropping out -- of American classrooms. Laucher too sounds like she knew it was a scam all along, but threw it out there because, hey, why not do some resume-building while wait for law school offers? These are exactly the results to expect by anyone who offers a program that says education is easy; if anyone says it's just leadership or training (or TED talks), run.
Compound that with poor, depressed communities who face dwindling human resources, and it's tragic.
9
These stories drive me nuts. Like drowning people seeking to be saved we latch on to any promise, no matter how vaporous.
Doomed from birth, Mined Minds had nothing to offer, yet we turned to them instead of real colleges with real instructors that could use the added funding from having more students. The only thing being mined was tax dollars. Trump University by another name.
We should put students into rental housing at real colleges to get real educations to get real jobs in the real world. Instead we go with make-believe magic bullets with catchy names and inflated promises.
Winston Churchill was right; you can always count on America to do the right thing ---after they've tried everything else.
To put one cadet through the USMA at West Point cost taxpayers about $500k, and almost $100k to take kids off the street and turn them into basic infantry Privates and $1M/year to keep them in Afghanistan.
Yet we can't find money to get people real educations for real jobs?
34
@Mike
Great post. The last line says it all. Lots of the people who were hoodwinked by Mined Minds would have been better off at a local community college or even better a community college in a prosperous state near by. Sadly, if there are few jobs in the place where a person lives, it only makes sense to move to a place where there are jobs. And then to succeed one must work, work, work. I quit my job as a high school teacher and started at the bottom at a large laboratory near by. The work was very hard, the math and science courses seemed impossible. Yet, somehow I got through it, got a good it job and had a long career in programming,
To quit a miserable low paying job and returning to school can be frightening, Leaving your home town for an unknown future is also terrifying. But the outcome is well worth it.
5
I grew up in Appalachia (albeit in southwestern Virginia) when and where coal was also king. I struggled mightily with this article. These are people I am both related to and love. Yet, I left the area, my family and my friends because I had no future there and because of the anti-intellectualism that pervades some cultures. Unfortunately, it’s the best thing I ever did, but it’s not without loss. People who leave are often stained because it can be seen as by those left behind as rejection. It’s a sadness that one may carry always.
49
Sing it, Linda Carroll !
Life isn’t fair.
You did the right thing by escaping.
16
I appreciate the nuanced perspective.
11
I am very glad to hear that the company is being sued. The whole thing sounds like a well thought out scam to land a big grant from the state. Conveniently getting rid of people before they had to pay for an apprenticeship is very suspect and just adds to my suspicion. I would really like to see what they spent the $1.5 million on, the rent was free, what expenses did they have, where did the money go? And then for the owner to blame failure on the “culture” is almost unbelieveable. Those students were hard-working people trying to better their economic conditions. Victim-blaming makes her seem even guiltier. The owners of the company are shameless, and I wish the students well in their lawsuit.
24
Hillary Clinton went to coal country with a renewable energy jobs plan. They laughed her out of the house.
Let them eat their cake.
37
@American Ahh, but Donald Trump promised them more jobs in washing the coal to make it clean for burning (yes, his words, not mine), so, the grifting is perpetuated from on high.
16
It is sad that people who wanted to improve their lives got conned by Mined Mind.
Now more than ever it’s a buyer beware world and it’s absolutely imperative to do “background checks” through reputable sources (ex. WV Workforce) on any entity promising miraculous results.
Ironically I would have had to work 104 weeks as an apprentice coal miner to become a full fledged miner.
I took a summer job in 1978 in preparation for my college degree although I thought I would be exercising my brain in the engineering office rather than testing my brawn in the coal mine of the global energy company.
This city slicker felt conned back then but it didn’t burn so much since I was paid $7/hour, shift differential and triple time for working on my birthday.
I hope Mined Minds is held accountable in every way possible.
10
It is axiomatic these days when persons or institutions promise a paved pathway out of what is a bleak future and onward to rewards-that most of those promises have little real backing.
And what a better place to launch such a scheme than in West Virginia, where there is real anxiety about jobs, futures and prospects. This is the ultimate scam-to get people to believe that they can be successful in a programming course from scratch. It boggles the mind to think that persons would subscribe to this effort but perhaps West Virginia is a backwater.
People need background and perhaps a college degree to really understand how to be successful in computer programming, software nuances, and the state of the art in the total world of software issues which change almost daily. This is a possible scandal and appealed to weak candidates to apply. The state of WV should investigate and apply all of the state resources to prevent a recurrence in their state.
7
I attended an information session while Mined Minds were still operational in Pennsylvania.
The pitch was that if you can click a mouse and type you can a job anywhere on the planet through Amanda and Graham's connections. There was also a promise of a free laptop with the state and federal government footing the bill. Graham proceeded to demonstrate coding, failed to make the code launch, and high school aged participants attending the session corrected him. He then abruptly changed pace by sharing stories of his success as an EDM artist in Europe.
It seemed to good to be true and it was. When I contacted careerlink, our state agency for job placement and training, they were unaware of Mined Minds and had no program in place to pay the cost of tuition. I saw that Mined Minds later tried to associate themselves with a community college so they would be able to stay in Pennsylvania.
I'm thankful that I missed that opportunity.
37
There is no easy route to success. Laziness will always make you a sucker to schemes that tell you otherwise.
4
Kerri, doesn’t sound as if these people were lazy. Simply hopeful.
25
Every single aspect of coding, from web design to AI can be learned for free from YouTube or from massive online courses for free. There is no reason to spend a penny on schools in IT. Just search for Java, Python and Javascript on YouTube and you'll be golden. Anyone who changes you for that should be looked with suspicion.
8
Programming isn't just some skill that you can learn, like touch typing. Like most professions, you need some aptitude, and it can be pretty rare. Math skills and logic skills need to be there, and a lot of abstract reasoning. Some people can learn it and do an adequate job - which is good, that pays very well. Others really have just the right mindset, and they can be really great programmers, architects. But if you learn programming and you really aren't a programmer type, jobs in QA and Product Management might be possible (the latter only with a full college degree I suspect).
It's a good thing, but to learn it fast is not easy, not everyone will make it, nor will employers be willing to take a chance on a novice easily - a bad programmer can build in mistakes that are costly after they are long gone.
9
There's this fantasy out there that anyone can be a code developer with a bit of training. Writing code is hard and it's complicated. You need a certain kind of mind, you need to be logical, detailed, obsessive, curious and a perfectionist. You need to be smart, a life-long learner, a self starter, and a problem solver. Most people do not have this personality. No matter what the quality of the training, most of these people would not have completed the training with marketable skills. This company may have meant well, but they clearly had no real idea what they were doing.
8
@Sadie
I remember years ago when my then husband was learning to code. He was a math/physics major; the people he was working with were all math majors. The main frame was an enormous thing; coding required enough skills to punch code on cards which were then fed into the computer. These UC genius types were eccentric; math and coding was their life. IBM owned and installed the main frames; he went to work for IBM and ended up traveling to different countries to train people. There was nothing simple about it; they had to learn how a computer was built.
It was a fraud. So, sadly and basically, is the education many are getting from some well known colleges.
Faculty knows this. But who asks?
It would be interesting if The New York Times investigated what’s happening in our “best” colleges.
And it starts at the top.
Students and faculty talk. When the president of one of our best is promoted out rather than fired and lands at the top of a name brand charity that sponsors The News Hour... and the trustees knew of his proclivities before hiring him, is this not news?
Me, too... and all know but the students. Fact on request.
Appalachia is loaded with Hillbilly Elegy types. But so are our best campuses.
Fact on request.. it’s time to blow the whistle.
6
Once again we have the all-American tradition of charlatans who promise to show you how easily and quickly you too can get the moon and, as always, plenty of desperate folks who believe them.
8
Reminds me of Trump University. Anyone else?
19
Bill, I was thinking the same thing. Disenfranchised yet hard-working people scammed by the promise of greener grass. Shame on the hucksters who took advantage of their trust. There’s a special place in Hell...
9
When you drive through Appalachia, you see people who have been trapped by poverty for generations. They don't have the common sense to leave the area. They could get in their car and drive a few hours and be in a different economy. The Okies did this in the 1930's when their farms failed. They packed up their jalopies and traveled caravans to southern California.
Why can't West Virginians do this?
14
Because people have a commitment to their families and their community. Maybe their parents are the daycare for their children, or maybe they are the caregiver for their elderly parents. You make it sound so simple to pull up roots and move on, but that’s not the way of small town folk.
11
Most often because of familial responsibility, and the lack of money. Members of these profoundly underserved communities often don’t have nearly the resources and opportunities to escape as most do.
8
@roddy6667
I remember when the "Okies" arrived in CA in beat up pickup trucks, kids in the back, poor and following ads showing lots of jobs in CA. Those who headed to SoCal did better than most. Why would West Virginians hit the road without the promise of a job. Robotics are taking over old single skill jobs. Robotics are managed by engineers. Louisville, KY is closer.
2
"The usual answer to questions, multiple students said, was “Google it.”
Well, that's correct: coders and programmers "google it". Nothing wrong with that ...
1
@sherpes
There is an art and skill involved to google questions like this. One must know the appropriate context to place your issue, and to critically resolve which solutions are appropriate and which are not. One must know the language which describes the problem.
There's a pretty big discrepancy between those who know how to google effectively, and those who do not. The former have a big advantage in whatever profession they choose.
5
@sherpes Ha! Working with off-shore developers recently - supposedly "experts" - I got fed up with their lack of knowledge of their tools and their notion that I should tell them how to code to the requirements. So I showed them how to Google the question of the day. They were amazed.
My current job would be so much easier if I could work with the people in this article.
1
I am an Executive Director at the NYC Dept of Information Technology. I am also from rural Kentucky, not far from this story geographically and economically.
I am deeply sadden to read of such stories; the empty promises of an easy-to-learn technology job. It should be obvious, but it is apparently not, that technology "boot camps" cannot cure the woes of rural America.
Deep cultural, education, economic, and yes political issues have devastated vast areas of our country, especially in Appalachia, the south, and mid-west. Where I once lived, the students bemoan completing college because there are no jobs available, a self-fulfilling prophecy I fear.
But I do understand the deep frustration, disappointment, and anger of rural America, much of that anger directed towards the successful coastal cities; the beneficiaries of globalization and the technology revolution.
Paul Krugman recently wrote a column "Getting Real About Rural America". The role that rural American used to play, indeed in my lifetime, is fundamentally changed by economic forces that we cannot stop. If we knew how, we would. Altering that, is I fear, a Sisyphean effort.
For now, I watch with anguish as my once vibrant agrarian-centeric community withers. Stores of empty promises, another insult, another heartbreaking story.
11
@David Tussey
I lived and worked in D.C. for a few years; took road trips with a friend, one through W. Va; it was a beautiful place, but mostly poor and isolated. I worked with a young woman who grew up there, got a job and went to night school. When I met her we were both working in a law firm with deep connections on the Hill; she still had family at home which she visited. She had no intention of ever moving back. When I left for NYC, she was managing the administrative staff; she had achieved a degree in Business. I have never known anyone else as focused and hard working at that age. If she grew up in W. Va, there must be others like her. If they leave, most probably won't go back except to visit family.
5
Hillbilly Elegy is the story of an ex marine accepted by Yale Law School after Ohio State - that married at Yale and made it out of Appalachia for the tech world of northern California. We do not know much more. But...
A careful read suggests J. D. Vance brought what he left behind with him to his next life. His face in interviews is what we see in the refugee from Appalachia and such emptiness comes with those fleeing the hold of such desperate towns. We can take the kid from the slums, but can we take the slum out of the kid?
Law school does not educate the soul. It’s a trade school with a bit of philosophy about government, civil and criminal process.
Those heading out must understand fully what they leave behind to shake its affects. Who would return once out? Those raised in that stuff never shake it entirely.
The emptiness travels. Codependency exists everywhere. Law firms and desk jobs do not reduce Appalachia’s hold. If anything, such cold places increase the isolation and mKe trouble.
The con detailed in Campbell Robertson’s fine piece is different because a senator was in there pitching. Congress is a mess. Who thinks the senator from Appalachia took half a day to penetrate the fraud detailed? He is hiding.
Who thinks this congress can run or judge any business?
Multiply this story by the number of tiny towns now so troubled.
How do we educate these people?
7
@S B Lewis That bothers me too. You would think Joe Manchin and others would have taken a half an hour to call up some real professionals in the field.
1
Corporations and Applachians could mutually profit if they moved as much as possible of their recruiting from offshore resources with limited communication skills to these areas.
4
@David
Large corporations normally want to locate in areas where there is an existing infrastructure and a young, healthy and well educated population. Additional factors would include their existing employees, managers and execs' willingness to relocate to the area.
7
West Virginians don't deserve what they have to put up with. I do wonder why they get hoodwinked by the likes of Manchin and Trump, though. They need real programs and real help for their economy. Vote Democratic, West Virginians. Republicans have never done anything for you. And, yes --I know Manchin is a Democrat. But, he sure doesn't walk like one.
11
"I will make these mines run day and night like never before." They trusted Trump's con artist trickery. May be West Virginians should be less trusting including of Joe Manchin.
14
Being over 60, one realizes your employable limitations.
So, I've maintained the mindset of a curious cat - always
learn something new. Picked up AutoCad last year - mostly
from online course - so I could save money on plans needed to submit to city to get permit to build addition.
You have to want something bad enough to follow thru,
by whatever means are available.
If internet was around 40 years ago, I think I'd have been doing a lot of other things.
7
I spent 7 months working in West Virginia and in particular Beckley. It's like another world - you can feel the despair - but the people really do try to rise about it as best they can. They do need a hand up - they became dependent on mining and
I don't believe they ever considered it would all go away. But it did. I'm not sure 'programming' is the answer and this Mined Minds (what a horrible name) may have started with good intentions but sounds like it quickly fell apart. What WVA does have is a natural beauty - it should be a climbing and white water rafting mecca (I highly recommend "Bridge Day" in October near Beckley - it's amazing). Maybe J.D. Vance (from Hillbilly Elegy - which I read) can put a plan together that will help West Virginians help themselves. I know when I was there it was "Trump Country" (2016-2017) and the people believed Trump when he promised to restore mining jobs - which of course never happened. Trump forgot about them - and I hope they reciprocate in the next election.
23
@Kathy M The water is polluted. Appalachia once had lakes and streams filled with fish; grilled trout used to be a regional delicacy. Now the trout are dead. Much of the land is dead, too, poisoned by the toxic legacy of coal. You can't build on it or farm it because the soil contains heavy metals and dioxin. You wouldn't want to raise your children there, either.
11
@Kaleberg
That is very sad. When I lived in D.C. and went white water rafting in W. Va the water was clean; river was tough, and at the end we were so beat we crawled on shore on our hands and knees. This was one of the early river trips run by locals; they gave us PB&J sandwiches and some cookies. The scenery was wild and made you think of Indians up there in the trees. There was one hotel; everyone ate at one long table. Later locals came in to watch T.V., Starsky and Hutch which they appeared to believe was real. People were helpful with directions; we didn't wander around, as my friend who grew up there told me there were a lot of stills, and strangers were not welcome to stumble on one. Otherwise, people were nice, and were curious about CA, because I still had my plates on a 65 Mustang. That probably bought me some slack.
2
@Kaleberg So the coal is gone and people can’t even run tourism businesses because the water is poisoned. Shouldn’t someone make the poisoners clean up their poison? After all they made good profits while they were poisoning.
1
Unfortunately in America it's buyer beware, the American con lives on. But the unfortunate and desperate folks in these areas also fall under a sucker is born every day theory. Too many Americans have given up any effort to research for themselves. What does it take to google, 'what is required to be a programmer or coder?' or 'What are the occupations, pay scale and experience and training required for these jobs'?
7
Most of these people would be significantly better than the hundreds of offshore recruiters I deal with every week during job searches between contracts. Win, win for everyone involved if we looked at the long term. We = corporations and people in Appalachia.
4
Nearly every promise from the private sector is a lie.
6
I’m in a rage. Both my grandfathers were coal miners in western Pennsylvania. Being from NYC, I have been far removed in time and space from their $12 per week paychecks, $10 of which was owed to the ‘company store,’ and their poverty, anger and yet their thirst to achieve. I am even a little apart from my grandfather’s anger, during WWII, explaining why there is war at all...”It’s the bigg-a Capitalists who protgge they interests...’ What I am not distanced from are the injustices experienced by these Appalachians, Here and Now. What I feel is a certain powerlessness which they may now be experiencing. And They are my family and I refuse to deny them the help they, or any American Deserves. I am in a rage.
8
@Armand Catenaro
Thank you for standing with your family. I saw the poverty you mention, years ago. I also saw the kindness extended to a lost traveler. These old mining towns are so isolated, even though D.C. isn't far away, or parts of Maryland. It is an education gap; however some do leave and succeed.
2
As a software engineer, this made me furious to read.
West Virginia: I'm sorry that these con artists did this, and probably sullied computer science/programming for you. This just seemed failed at the start, and the people running it didn't seem to exactly help with it. I can't imagine what the heck they were thinking, but it sure wasn't about your best interests. It doesn't even sound as if they knew anything about computers.
Building software and websites is still super rewarding and I think if you should still go for it, but please avoid these kinds of bootcamps! If you already know about computers, they might be helpful, but it drives me nuts watching all those people pretend like they can teach all of programming in a few months AND get the students a new career. College is obviously super expensive, but online classes/certifications can be doable; there's even free ones out there. (And try JavaScript or Python or Java instead. A small thing, but while there's nothing wrong with Ruby its a...weird choice when the goal is to get a job as soon as possible.)
20
There are many studies showing radio waves are safe and there are many studies showing that radio waves have harmful effects on health. While this issue may never be settled to everyone's satisfaction the US government considers radio waves to be safe and the health effects cannot be used in the consideration of siting cell towers. 5G includes higher frequency waves with more energy than radio waves from 3G or 4G and not enough time has passed to obtain good studies on the health effects of 5G. Basically the precautionary principle is not being applied and 5G is being rolled out. While 5G does not present a clear heath risk at this point it does present a clear danger to our society if it is used for the internet of things because the internet of things would create a surveillance society and threaten democracy, freedom, and individuality. The potential nightmare world of the internet of things has been explained by Shoshana Zuboff in her new book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. According to Zuboff, the internet of things the way it is now conceived would lead to the type of society envisioned by B F Skinner in his book Walden Two. This type of society is controlled by behavioral modification from external sources. In our case in the US, human behavior would be modified by algorithms controlled by surveillance capitalists.
2
My experience, not in this country country but in Asia, convinced me that the mid to high level manufacturing sector, in particular electronics, provides many good challenging, rewarding, and 'educating' jobs for those of average intelligence, jobs that do not involve programming directly but do involve thinking, and interfacing with people and machines.
The USA excels at exporting intellectual property, pharma, applied sciences, software services, and agriculture. Unfortunately that's not enough to pull the whole country along. That's why the US must adjust economic parameters to encourage competitive and profitable manufacturing for export, of course that requires use of AI and robots too - those also require human attention and so create jobs. Not accepting robots and AI simply means those jobs go elsewhere.
Tariffs as currently implemented aren't working; the trade deficit has swelled by 10% from 2017 to 2018. I think the answer is to focus on currency value. That probably requires replacing US T-bond sales with judicious QE. That was producing good export mfg figures from 2011 to 2014. during which time the dollar/yuan was about 10% lower than it is today.
2
Coding is one of the jobs most likely vanishing in ten years or so. We already see a lot of articles on "automatic code generation" by AI.
7
There’s a romantic notion that people who are unemployed can pick themselves up by the bootstraps and learn to code. Linking this notion to the military term “boot camp” evokes an image of a scraggly teenager transformed into a strong, buff, and ready-for-action superhero in just a few months. It’s genius marketing.
However, we need to be aware of our declining ability to learn a new language in later years. If we use language as a comparative model, and coding tools are called languages, we can apply the same trajectory of the ability to learn a new language to coding. Scientists in language and brain science tell us, and we can see ourselves, that we are not very good at learning new languages later in life.
Programs to teach coding do not provide a realistic assessment of student outcomes. There is no warning, even in the fine print, that jobs “just waiting to be filled” go to skilled coders because employers have no problem finding people, many recruited from world-wide recruitment efforts, who have spent a decade coding and also have degrees in computer science.
15
I also learned computer coding in West Virginia, but it was part of a 150 week program. At the end of the program, I realized that there were really no good programming jobs in WV, and I fled the state as soon as the ink on my diploma had dried.
There are two basic ratios that job aspirants need to learn:
1. There is a definite ratio between the time (=money) spent in a classroom or on the job and a person’s value in the job market. Consider it as investment in an asset. Though I was aided here by West Virginia’s very low in-state tuition at the time, there is no magic bullet.
2. There is also a relationship between the level of economic activity in an area and the number and pay scale of programming jobs.
The real solution for West Virginia is to amplify the HUB Zone set-asides for federal contracting to bring more money into the state. Essentially, this would extend the “beltway” about 250 miles westward. More jobs and larger tax bases allow states to continue generous in state tuitions and help the state finally move on from coal.
12
The sense of Dickensian squalor in this story is gagging. Is this really America we are talking about?
Heartbreaking to hear of human hyenas preying on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable amongst us.
17
Hard Times.
4
@GeorgeX
Yes, this is Appalachia where coal mining built these isolated towns; the coal ran out; the miners were not educated to move on to city jobs. Hopefully, their kids found a way out; I met one in D.C. She succeeded in H.S., went on to a JC, moved to D.C. and took night classes to earn a business degree. She ended up with a management position in the law firm we worked in. Her sister went to work for local government and eventually found a good job in Md.
1
Reading this article just confirms to me that Americans across the country often suspend their common sense when it comes to learning any set of skills -- we too frequently collectively accept the notion that you can have it all without much effort or tedious hard work; instant gratification is our preferred modus operandi -- the Amazon solution run rampant across our nation.
It isn't just a problem in West Virginia that self-serving political leaders take advantage of this tendency by promising the easy solutions inherent in 'instant' educational programs that ignore all of the missing pieces in a student's life experience and previous schooling (e.g., basic numeracy, literacy, social skills, research skills, etc.) as well as all of the missing pieces of business infrastructure in the region, i.e., tech companies and other institutions that need entry level programmers.
The focus on high tech coding skills is especially misguided in West Virginia because the single-minded devotion to coal mining is what really keeps the region from moving forward on the jobs/skills front; embracing renewable energy technologies like solar and wind would begin providing employment for a wide variety of skills and aptitudes, just as it has done in other states across the country.
14
It would seem that a prototype for this kind of training program - Mined mines - would be Trump University. Trump's program - like this one who told students to Google the syllabus- relied on data easily accessible on the internet. "Want to become a real estate tax expert?" "Go on the IRS website - all will be revealed."
Of course, Trump was successfully sued after bilking students out of millions of dollars. This program exploited millions in public money. Did I miss the part about some corrective action being taken to recover those funds - and the damages that the duped students sustained - from Mined Minds?
9
I am not at all surprised at this. Seems to be in line with Trump College, or whatever he called it.
9
Mined Minds headquarters is in Trump Tower. How surprising.
19
Reading this reminded me a lot of Trump University. At least those victims got 25 million out of Trump for the fake promises they were given. Hopefully these people will get something too...
11
One man laments that situations like Mined Minds takes place all the time. He feels that his community is constantly being exploited and victimized. Has he ever wondered why?
Maybe they should conduct some research before they commit so much of themselves to these offers.
I am not trying to sound unsympathetic, but you cannot jump at every offer and just hope it works out because you need and want it to. Desire is not enough. A sound business plan is necessary. make sure this is the case.
1
Would anyone be at all surprised if it turns out this company is some spinoff of Trump University or that Trump is an investor?
9
This is why I grit my teeth when the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party sees the destruction of America’s manufacturing sector as no big problem because everyone will be retrained for good paying jobs in computer science. It’s at best a fantasy.
13
@Bill B
Hillary Clinton offered paid job retraining with paid transportation to the training sites; offers made in W. Va and in the Rust Belt. Of course, Trump had already poisoned the environment with his "crooked Hillary" campaign. Then he flew off in his private jet. I am old and can honestly say the Trump family of grifters have set a benchmark for greed and corruption. They don't even pretend to know ordinary people; they just exploit people's hopes and lack of sophistication. The same thing happened to the people left the Dust Bowl believing there were jobs waiting for all of them. The shipyards helped; however many of them stayed trapped in poor rural areas where a few people owned the land and businesses. I know this from the Central Valley where my grandfather owned land and businesses; Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Russians already owned most of the land and farms. They were early European settlers. At the top were the first settlers from New England.
1
"Poverty culture"? Someone who grew up poor working class actually said that? What an uppity, class-conscious fake do-gooder who is probably defrauding the government out of grant money to benefit her relatives... she ought to be ashamed of herself.
8
@MrsEichner And she’s blamed opiate addiction. If Brett Kavanaugh can get an Ivy League education and career while his young brain is pickled in alcohol to the point of blacking out, an opiate addiction shouldn’t be a barrier to learning.
Mined Mines is different than Trump University, how, exactly?
Because they haven't been sued into oblivion yet?
9
Who would believe that you could achieve competence in sophisticated area in 16 weeks …. I guess people did vote for Trump.
12
I'm the CEO of a software-focused tech company, and prior to that was a senior executive at a 300,000-plus employee multi-national conglomerate that develops and sells clinical software.
I'm appalled at the false promises made by the "coding boot camps" that have sprouted up around the country: full time employment with jobs that pay $60,000 or more. No high school diploma? Not a problem. Just hand over $20,000, and we'll help you get that high-paying job you've been dreaming of. And if you don't have $20,000, "Skills Fund" and "Climb" are ready to make you a student loan (and pay a commission to the coding boot camp).
The only individuals who benefit from the "coding boot camp" trend are the investors, founders, and student loan services who profit from the poorest in our society. Everyone else is being taken for a ride, including the taxpayers via the Veterans Administration and the State-funded Job Training programs.
I've mentored more than 30 "graduates" of coding boot camps, in the hopes of finding someone I could hire. It never worked out.
The home-schooled children of the founder of a coding boot camp in our city do the majority of the training; they have no formal training in software development or computer science, and no professional software development experience.
But I have found that the most promising graduates are those with critical thinking skills honed at elite liberal arts colleges such as Swarthmore, Carleton, and Claremont.
17
I'm going to go on a limb here and use the conservative logic to argue that these people in West Virginia are born lazy and not smart enough for STEM training. They cannot be saved in the job market. More than 2/3 of them voted for their savior Trump in 2016. They'll do it again in 2020.
It looks the same old same old. So just cut the public funds for them and let them save themselves. After a few decades, the problem known as West Virginia will solve itself through depopulation.
7
According to the article, Ms. Laucher got this idea on 2015. One problem is that she was already about 20 years too late. By 2010, many companies were already outsourcing coding jobs to firms in China, India and other countries in southeast Asia.
Another obstacle for many of these students, even if the jobs could be found, is the lack of reliable, high-speed internet access at a reasonable cost in many rural areas across the country.
I think Ms. Laucher probably had good intentions, but lacked a deep awareness of the trends that were occurring in the tech sector. Sadly, her miscalculations harmed people who could least afford it, and who have found themselves the victims of both outright scammers and well-intentioned but ill-informed do gooders.
10
The default solutions for Appalachia are what will happen if nothing emerges to successfully challenge the powers that be. These are drugs, moving out, and scams.
The people of West Virginia challenged the powers that be when they decided they did not want to defend slaveowners and broke from Virginia. They challenged the powers that be once again when they unionized. And they thought they challenged the powers that be when they chose Trump, the supersalesman who knew how to say stuff they loved to hear.
8
All those comments I'm reading that imply it was the students' fault are wrong. "There was never much of a syllabus; students would be given an assignment and spend the next few days trying to figure it out, mostly by themselves. The usual answer to questions, multiple students said, was “Google it.” A few quietly wondered how much their teachers really knew."
9
Adapt or die. I get it, it’s your ancestral home but again my ancestors left Ireland in the 1850s and came here. We need to quit subsidizing the past and invest in the future.
10
@Jts And do what? Move to NYC, DC, LA or any of our other crowded cities with overtaxed infrastructures and terrible traffic?
4
@Jon W.
There are jobs in a lot of towns outside NYC, DC and LA. San Jose is booming. Austin, TX. People managed to reach CA from the Dust Bowl; I went to school with some of them. The first generation were exploited by farmers; they learned and many headed to SoCal. Once you have made one big move, smaller moves are easier. I moved to D.C. from S.F., later moved to NYC and finally transferred to CT where I stayed for 22 yrs. and then retired to Chico. Now I live with my daughter in Sebastopol, near S.F. She bought her house before the huge increase in prices here.
1
West Virginia has many fine educational institutions. Their are community colleges thru-out the state. Many offering degrees in everything from engineering to medical professionals. The majority of West Virginians are not uneducated the issue is West Virginia’s primary economy is coal related. West Virginia’s leadership over the past 60 years has failed the population by not diversifying the economy here.
This article like many wrote about the state sensationalizes the worst of situations.
13
@Independent ... Say no more: "West Virginia has many fine educational institutions. Their are community colleges thru-out the state ... This article like many wrote about the state ..."
3
@Independent The article is about Mining Minds. What part has been sensationalized?
so these people were so gullible, they voted for an imbecile, and expected to go from a dishwasher to writing computer code? the lure of jobs, is tempting, but not delivered by IQ45......this "school" should have taught them all meaningful life lesson......there are predators everywhere........i have little sympathy for any of them, in the end they made a choice with their ballots.....
5
West Virginia had been under the control of Democrat’s for the past 60+ years. If the solution was as simple as Democrats or Republicans West Virginians wouldn’t be in the situation they are in.
8
@Independent That might be historically correct but it’s not true now. Republicans control all three branches of West Virginia government.
Often it isn't a question of mereky learning the newest language, which an experienced coder cam usually learn quite easily, but a question of having the official certification from the company that publishes it, which ttpically involves taking an expensive and time consuming course or seriesof courses. It used to be that companies would pay for such training, but now, they won't evem look at you if you don't have the official certification, irrespective of how much experience or even applicable knowledge you might have. This trend has been encouraged by personnel/head hunting firms, which often seem togo out of their way to keep good, potentially qualified candidates from meeting with prospective employers.
4
I am a West Virginian who happens to live in Pittsburgh. I have grown tired of politicians who for decades have championed a mono-economy in West Virginia. Instead of clawing after fossil fuel industries- first coal and now deep shale natural gas, state leaders should support renewable energy and other types of sustainable jobs that do not depend upon boom and bust cycles. West Virginia is one of only 12 states that does not have a newable energy portfolio and the only state to have renegged on an alternative energy portfolio. That means the state has no incentives or goals for any form of energy that is carbon free. Politicans have witnessed a long history of mine owners leaving the state and leaving pollution and poverty in their wake. I blame elected officials who have had years and years and years to think ahead about the future of the state. The onus of high unemployment and poverty is on those West Virginia politicians who have frittered away the time to expand educational and job opportunities. To be proactive instead of reactive, grabbing at fly- by- night companies such as Mined Mines to do the work they should have taken on.
24
I feel bad for them, they were sincerely trying to make something out of what appeared to be a great opportunity and they just got swindled and ripped off. They deserve better. I wish them well.
26
The problem here is simple, and this is a symptom of the huge problem nobody addresses. Capitalism has trained us that our purpose in life is to work, and absent working(or having a darn good reason why we can't) we aren't fit to live.
The truth is, there are not enough jobs for everyone to work 40 hours a week. There's not even enough for everyone to to work 20 hours a week. Our fundamental approach to labor is that everyone has to be doing it for every waking hour.
What these appalachian mining communities need is...hold back your gasps-socialism. A guaranteed wage to pay your basic necessities. No strings attached. No drug tests. No work requirements.
Work at this point in our collective economic history should be something you do to improve quality of your life, NOT something you do to maintain your very existence. Instead, all the wealth, the measure of labor and productivity, has been stolen by the ownership class. We work harder and harder and receive less and less, while we're all competing for the same scraps.
Our options should not be limited to toil and starvation. Something needs to change.
32
@Steve Your idea has already been tried. It led to starvation for EVERYONE. Capitalism sure has its victims but your “cure” is far worse than the disease.
7
@Jon W. Nope. Socialism was never tried. State capitalism was. Not socialism.
10
@Jon W.
Milton Friedman wanted a Universal Basic Income. Also Richard Nixon wanted some sort of Universal Basic Income. It was never tried.
I don't doubt the people in this program had good intentions to begin with but their intentions met reality.
After a decade working with college students in a job training environment I know, from horrible experience, that there is an intangible element in learning... at least it was intangible to me. I was training people in film work and started out thinking that I would train them quickly and we would make great films together and I ended up writing checklists for them that explained why it was important to wear a belt.
readers may see hubris towards apalachia in this piece but I see the mistaken optimism of a successful person thinking they can be a successful educator.
10
Parts of this article were funny in a cynical way. Mining Minds promised apprentice jobs to graduates followed by high paying work at Oracle, for example, evidently programming in Ruby. Obviously, the people running that program have little experience with Oracle or any other major technology company.
Oracle, Google, Apple, Microsoft and anyone else you can think of are organizations of cold-blooded monstrosity. For legal reasons, all espouse that they are equal opportunity employers. Some even claim they have special programs to hire disabled workers or veterans or women or under-represented minority populations. But none of them do anything, in my experience. The managers who have the final say in hiring refuse to consider the potential employees eligible for such special programs. For some jobs, evidence exists that Google for example will only hire a US citizen as a contractor at best. Permanent high paying jobs at Google go to friends and relatives of people already employed there. At Google the percentage of foreign-born permanent employees (mostly Asians) continues to increase every year, by Google’s own public admission (go ask them yourselves New York Times).
14
Easy to give a Ted talk. Harder to make your ideas happen.
9
Sounds like a repeat of Trump University.
12
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.
Preceding: Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Key document: Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935
Employees: 8.5 million 1935–1943; 3.3 million in November 1938 (peak)
Annual budget: $1.3 billion
12
Different time, different ethics.
4
@musicntutor
And a lot of what they produced still stands: The TVA, Coit Tower murals and murals in other SF buildings. Hoover Dam. Worth more than $1.3B now. This could still work in renovating and reclaiming sites. The big difference was that FDR was educated, and he really meant to provide real work. Trump never finished Middle School, and he does not care about unemployment, or investing in infrastructure, education or health care. That means he is not interested in providing jobs. We have elected a grifter, uneducated, old, and corrupt.
1
@musicntutor We can still do that. Congress needs to pass an infrastructure bill. There is plenty of work to be done fixing roads bridges and locks and dams.
1
A lot of high priests of the profession defending their turf here. I’ve worked as a software developer for 30 years and my takeaway is just how poor the vast majority of commercial code is and how poor the vast majority of coders are. Most have never been taught best practices, most have never supported their own code, most don’t know how to write efficient code. I’ve spent at least half of my time in the profession rewriting bad code.
The sea change happened in the mid 2000s, when corporations decided coding was rote clerical work and could be broken off and outsourced to lower paid contractors. Corporate oversight of coding has always been lacking; they just don’t understand a product they can’t see and touch, like cars or washing machines.
And 10-15 years from now, coding will likely be just another profession absorbed by AI.
20
@Xoxarle Rewriting bad code - you hit the nail on the head. "Clerical" is exactly right - programmers are treated as clerks, not as creative problem-solvers. Itis a race to the bottom - untrained and inarticulate H1-Bs are preferred and "coding" has become a commodity.
7
Computer programming is not the discipline on which to base a skills-building community outreach project for underserved populations such as the one in the Appalachians. Understanding and writing code requires high levels of abstraction and analytical thinking which even certain professionals in the IT field struggle with. A better approach would be teaching skills of an operational nature; i.e., crimping a cable to connect a PC to a network; repairing a PC; installing Windows; configure a switch to allow computers to talk to each other, etc.. Those are actionable skills that would get someone an entry level job. If the person then discovers an aptitude for a certain area in IT, then certifications would be the next natural step.
29
@Deus Ex Machina- my thoughts exactly.
The article mentions something about "tech- savvy" mine workers; the skills you mention, I'm sure, are much more along those lines.
As someone who both codes for automation and teaches coding, I know that it is not something that can be completely grasped in 16 weeks. More importantly, it takes other skills- like problem solving, logic and communication to succeed. These skills are learned (or not) early on in K-12. Further, there are a lot of individuals I've encountered that simply cannot understand the whole concept of code- and some who just plain dislike it. No shame in that. It is not for everyone. There are many days, even after a decade of experience I walk away from it in disgust.
Perhaps WV would better spend their money on high demand technical training like carpenters, plumbers, electricians, Electro-Mechanical technicians and industrial maintenance. These are the hand-on skills that provide a good living- some with paid training. Some of these careers also require an basic understanding of code. From there, if interested, further coding skills could be obtained.
9
@Deus Ex Machina
My former husband was a math/physics major when IBM installed the first mainframe at UC. Not only did the first generation of code writers do that, they also knew how computers were built; they knew what was inside of the computer. Later he taught computer programming for IBM at different international schools. Finally he programmed for Indonesia's natural gas pipeline. He loved programming; the biggest job he worked on was for the medical center in SF; he loved it. I don't know the intersection between advanced math and Info. Tech. Maybe there is an educational gap.
4
How about true vocational tech, rather than “everybody does computers”? How about construction welding, plumbing, carpentry, roofing, electrician? None of these jobs can be easily automated. Instead of “free college”, how about “free vocational training”?
48
@Greg Gilliom
For that to work it would be necessary to have Agreements established with Unions. Germany requires a certain number of apprenticeships in the fields you list. I don't think we do.
@Linda Miilu West Virginia has unions that offer apprenticeships. Maybe if Republicans didn’t put so much state resources into sabotaging them(like Wisconsin making unions have a recertification election every year)the unions could put more of their resources into apprenticeship programs.
2
@Deedee
I didn't know that; we must be going back to the early days when unions had to fight Pinkerton men. Unions built the middle class after WWII.
Sometimes you just want to give up.
4
Snake oil.
Mined Minds is nothing but a con.A scheme that feeds on desperate, poorly educated, poor people.
I hope the state are looking into the finances of Ms Laucher and the MIned Minds fraud.
21
Regarding the curriculum by googling:
Many employers may not have the structure for their employees to receive help from other team members when they get stuck solving a problem. So they would like the employee to be self-reliant and to find solutions by googling. As a result, the bootcamps try to teach this. I believe there is a spectrum between bootcamps with full curriculum that also try to teach this skill and bootcamps with minimum curriculum that instead toss out weekly problems and the students form teams to solve them. For the latter, I read one detailed review from a beginner that said in practice the stronger or more experienced teams ended up teaching the beginner teams while the bootcamp instructors only intervened to help stragglers after the week was over. While there are folks that found success with each method,for that particular person, the basics were left by the wayside as there simply wasn't enough weekly time to learn the basics and spend time trying to google the solution to the problem. All this points to how much there really is to learn to become employable, a fact and process that miningMinds seems to have been in denial of and misled their students about as well as taxpayers and even the employers who hired and then fired the graduates.
6
I am going on 40 years as a computer programmer. I learned COBOL from a 6 month course provided by NY state unemployment in the late 1980’s. I was paid my benefits to take a class and hopefully become employable. It changed my life but I was very lucky. I got a job after the class ended from a super smart classmate who had managed to snag an entry level position in a taxi cab insurance company. It was painful - I knew nothing did not understand what I was supposed to be doing and knew zero about the insurance industry. There was no internet and few books about coding. I came home from work crying . My friend was patient - he got it and was nice enough to teach me what he knew. Fast forward 30 years - still coding but work in a completely different environment and industry. I am no genius and have no natural talent for computer science. I owe my career to several wonderful mentors both male and female that took me under their wing and helped me learn how to solve incredibly complex problems working under deadlines. That said, the computer field from my experience is not for the meek - unless you are a natural talent expect to spend a lot of time in the trenches and if you are lucky like me you will find people that will help you succeed.
28
The captioning under the picture of Stephanie Frame ended with “...and get them good paying jobs.” Is this meant to be a mockery of the way a West Virginian speaks?
2
No, you are misreading the sentence by taking a portion of it out of context. The full sentence reads: "Ms. Frame was one of several people in her community who signed up with Mined Minds, a nonprofit that promised to teach West Virginians how to write computer code and then get" them good-paying jobs." You are reading it as if them" is a definite article referring to "good paying jobs." it is not. "Them," in this instance, is a pronoun that efers to the West Virginians Ms. Frame is teaching.
12
This is why I wince when I read about easy solutions to very complex,deep-rooted problems, like "The coal miners need to be retrained." Unfortunately, time and time again, what happens is that government funds programs, grifters, know-nothings and do-nothings immediately swarm around the grants, and the program eventually collapses after lawsuits and a congressional inquiry.
And as much as I like Elizabeth Warren, this is why she turns me off. The four most destructive words of the 20th Century were "I have a plan."
7
@HKGuy: Yes, but those laid-off coal miners in the prime of their lives need a solution NOW. What do you propose?
8
@Anna Hmmm...I'm sure "I have no plan" a la Trump is much more destructive.
7
@HKGuy
She has a plan to protect people from being exploited. She has taught in Ivy League classrooms with very bright competitive students. There is nothing phony about her; she grew up watching her mother struggle and then achieve some success. She knows poverty, and she knows Congress.
2
I am a 60-year-old woman and possess two graduate degrees (one in Math and one in Statistics). I worked as a programmer / database developer, learning new technologies for over 30 years. Finally, much to my chagrin, became unemployable because I did not have the latest alphabet soup on my resume.
I would love to teach these WV students and help them get a foothold in the technology field. There are all kinds of jobs - tech support, QA, UI design, etc. (i.e., not just coding) that these people deserve a shot at. I would make it relevant and interesting focusing on concepts and basic principles (the way I taught my son programming using the Logo language when he was in elementary school. By the time he was in middle school, he and his friend were creating database-driven web sites!) I would be an academic coach encouraging them and motivating the students. If companies can go to India and the Philippines for tech support, surely they can give people in Appalachia a chance.
The references to the drinking culture at Mined Minds are sickening. They had a sacred duty to help the helpless and they took advantage. It is worse than failing despite giving it your best shot. Mined Minds were in it only for themselves. Shame on them.
29
@na Why didn't you learn the new language codes? I'm a total outsider, but from what I know, once you've learned a few, it's not that hard to learn others. Just curious, because I have friends my age or near it (I'm 66) who seem always to be studying something new in programming.
6
Someone needs to go to jail here for the crime of greed. Just like trump's "University,"....
11
Just another Ponzi scheme ...
8
I guess this is what we call "free-market capitalism"--the freedom of fraudsters, bilkers, and con-artists to free the hopeful naive folks from their money.
These schemes are going on all over the country--most notably in for-profit universities and get-rich quick educational scams. But we don't need any regulation of education do we! Or do we?
Take, for example, Trump University--for which Trump paid a $25million settlement. Now he is POTUS, with Betsy DeVos as his Education Secretary, who knows a thing or two about taking advantage of young people borrowing money or getting taxpayer $$ for the GI Bill to attend for-profit universities with lots of fancy recruitment, promises of a rosy future, and a poor track record for decent jobs.
See how DeVos made some of her money and what she is doing to boost student loan debt to please investors.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2018/08/30/betsy-devos-the-queen-of-debt/#335948fd39d6
Also read "The Rooster Bar" by John Grisham, which skewers for-profit law schools--whose students suffer similar fates as the unfortunate hopefuls described in this timely article.
These schemes are more than cruel. But raise your hand if you think our president and the Republicans would ever do anything to protest unsuspecting people from such financial schemes they often call "business opportunities"
If you don't want this to happen to lots of others trying to make a better life for themselves, be careful which party you vote for
12
I found this article to be confusing rather than enlightening. In a few lines at the beginning, the non-profit seems to blame the culture of Appalachia including the Opiod crisis for the failure and yet this issue is never explored in the article. Who gave the 1.5 million dollar grant to start this program and why was the grant not monitored? Is the grant still in operation? I'm glad that the NY Times is reporting on the issue of the economic malaise of rural America, but your readers need clear information in order to understand and address the issues.
12
@MKV Good questions. I assumed the federal government gave the grant, since a senator invited them in, but I have to assume that; the article didn't tell me.
2
Here’s the path : Congress - Dept of Commerce - Dept of Labor - Regional Offices of Commerce and Labor - Governor’s Offices (mostly southern) - Governor’s designated Sycophants to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) - Govenor’s favorite State Dept of Commerce/Economic Development gives the original money from US Dept of Commerce to friends and vendors like Mined Minds - Little to no Oversight because the friends and vendors are ‘job creators.’ Remember, even if the graduate makes only $1 and works for only 30 minutes, the ‘job creators’ get credit for and will be reimbursed by the Feds for a successful job placement with wages.
9
@MKV says “In a few lines at the beginning, the non-profit seems to blame the culture of Appalachia including the Opiod crisis for the failure and yet this issue is never explored in the article.”
It was Ms. Laucher who said this as an excuse for her boot camp failing. I would take that excuse with a grain of salt.
1
Many coding camps are only the middle part of the sandwich, especially for beginners. There simply is too much to learn to be encapsulated in 12-15 weeks for beginners. Many schools require 4-6 months of study for beginners just to pass the entrance exam. In addition, after the school ends, the graduates (especially the ones that are beginners) could need to study another 2-6 months to pass the tests employers require during the interview process in order to get hired even for an entry level position. This latter fact is much less well known.
After that, the new employee will keep on needing to learn in order to become more useful.
In effect, the bootcamp is only a partial solution, one that may speed up the overall timeframe but is not a full solution in itself.
As an aside, many engineers in the field believe the hiring process is broken and the tests do not adequately reflect their potential worth to an employer.
14
Trump University Redux...How come a unaccredited so called school got a license to operate? Because there were not enough regulations! The de-regulations certainly help the business frauds as described herein! I wonder if these students got any government student loans that you and I subsidize when there are defaults...
17
Jobs in tech are no longer as desired as they used to be. Advances in doing drag and drop web design have reduced the demand for web coders. The only really good jobs are for highly educated, not trade school candidates. So, while good intentioned, it was false hope from the beginning.
16
Who gave the grant for this debacle. Who monitored the grant for meeting curriculum, time frames, goals, etc,. Who was charged with passing out tax payers monies without accountability?
4
Is there an epidemic of snake oil buyers? first Kansas and Facebook, now WV and this company.
7
Unfortunately, people who have not had the benefit of learning to think critically and assess the veracity of information they are faced with, tend to be "faith-based" and gullible. There is a reason poor and poorly-educated Appalachians are overwhelmingly in support of a fraudster like Trump, and how easily they could believe a shtick like the "Mined Minds" carpetbaggers presented to them. Betsy DeVos with her anti-education pogrom is here to make sure it will happen again and again, and Appalachia remains poor and victimized.
19
Agree with you on deVos, but these people don’t vote. Voting would mean 3 hours off the clock or 3 hours lopped off sick time (likely they don’t accrue sick time anyway) which means they may fail to work their allotted hours per week and thus be subject to termination or suspension.
5
@Dan Holton From my conversations while in W. Virginia and based on political outcomes in the gerrymandered and Russia-hacked elections, those in organized situations do vote more (miners bowing down to their bosses' directives, for example, or church pastors who prayed for Trump and are obsessed with the "End Times," or white supremacist groups that require people to vote for their racist, anti-education popular candidate). That said, there is no question that hard working people who are actually paying for people like the Trump crime family to pay no taxes whatsoever, and are paying for multi-trillion dollar tax subsidies for the richest of the rich, are disadvantaged because they have to work. Been there, understand it completely. Good point.
3
Perhaps Trump University could help what ails this region.
5
Money woes did not make sense, given what they saw of the founders’ lifestyle: the travels worldwide, the views from an office in Chicago’s Trump Tower, the ever-replenishing tequila bottles at the West Virginia headquarters, the boozy house parties in Pennsylvania.
The Trump Tower reference says it all.
13
Move out of WV for gods sake to one of the Coasts..
Enroll at a legitimate State College were fees are cheaper than this swindle..
11
Cal State East Bay (located in Hayward, CA) estimates the total annual in-state cost of attendance at roughly $27,000/yr - $29,000/yr, depending on whether you live on-campus or off (presumably in shared housing, since the average apartment rent in Hayward is about $2,157/month, or $26,000/yr.). Out-of-state residents would be charged roughly $12,000/yr more (assuming a 15 credit load for 2 semesters per year). So an out-of-state resident would have to pay about $41,0000 for his first year.
Also, you have to score adequately on the college boards, demonstrate adequate high school grades, apply and get admitted.
This is why such fly-by-night private education scams succeed.
9
I kept thinking this story sounded familiar - but couldn't quite put my finger on it --
The Music Man -
"The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey.
The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive Midwestern townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band.
Harold is no musician, however, and plans to skip town without giving any music lessons."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Music_Man
So now we have --
The Mined Minds Woman
The Mined Minds Woman is a real-life scam based on a fraudulent scheme developed by a group of people representing themselves as a computer- tech start-up teaching organization.
The plot concerns con woman Amanda Laucher, who poses as a computer tech-school organizer and leader and online computer coding courses and equipment to naive Appalachian townsfolk, promising to train the students in computer coding with the promise of good-paying jobs..
Amanda is no tech-savvy instructor, however, and plans to skip town without the students ever realizing their promised goals of learning a valuable new skill and obtaining good jobs.
The tech equivalent of a "Song and Dance Man" -- but without any songs or dance...
21
fine analogy. but how about this one: Trump University.
12
Oh, Alex, don’t be TOO honest; the marks will catch on to the con!
1
Not sure what the problem is. These people helped elect trump after he promised them the moon.
Hard to feel sorry for unemployed coal-mining community trump voters. Like he did with most people who believed in him during his continually repeated 1980s-90s business failures, trump successfully played you for suckers.
Next time for a change vote Democrat.
22
West Virginia had been under the control of Democrat’s for the past 60+ years. If the solution was as simple as Democrats or Republicans West Virginians wouldn’t be in the situation they are in.
1
@Independent That may have been true in history but currently Republicans have a trifecta in West Virginia state government.
@Independent While that might be true historically, presently the state of West Virginia is totally Republican. All three branches.
Do other commenters realize how many for-profit institutions offer ridiculous claims about their classes? It's not just the people with their "Fluent in 3 Months!" online language classes or "10 Weeks to Fitness" gym offers. For-profit universities advertise "flexible learning options" and promise you can "fit your certificate, associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree program into your life!" when they know exactly how few students can advance through their degree programs while working and taking care of a family.
We are supposed to have government regulation of education that receives government funding, because ordinary people are not in a position to evaluate curriculum and course content, nor can they objectively judge a program's results. I'm amazed by the number of commenters who think students should know what can be taught in 16 weeks, especially in a program that was supposed to be linked to internships and job skill development. Education is not a product and the rule should not be "buyer beware."
10
This was not education, but rather it was training!
Remember Ceta Training?
I was unemployed and figured why not. Paid to learn auto mechanics.
I did have a good HS education. But no work.
Second week of class the instructor was teaching transmission gear ratios all wrong, I stopped and corrected him. Politely. He admitted I was correct. Then he told me to help other students and work on whatever I wanted. I brought in a junk motorcycle and replaced the pistons.
I didn't learn anything new. But I did realize I was a better mechanic and teacher than the the instructor or any other student. Fully self taught by doing.
5 years later I got a job at an auto parts manufacturer. My pay rose to Union levels with better benefits. I became an expert at engine testing.
Then 2008 and my dream of a good retirement vanished. Forced into early non-retirement, meaning no health insurance and no pension. Age 58. I became very sick.
I never worked again! Nobody hires an old guy.
Now 68 and feeling better. Good thing I paid into Social Security all those years. Glad for Medicare.
Corporations are the problem.
Citizens Disunited.
Vote
67
Instead of a fly by night fraud such as this, why not attend community college and receive an actual credential?
10
And hope the community college calls it what it is, training, or that the college include a required critical thinking course to help the trainees learn to think things through! Conmen and conwomen LOVE the poorly educated.
@Cal What makes you think a community college in a state as poor as West Virginia can offer a course that requires a highly paid instructor? What makes you think the state can even afford a network of community colleges?
2
I assure you West Virginia has many fine education institutions. Their are community colleges thru-out the state. Many offering degrees in everything from engineering to medical professionals. This article like many wrote about the state sensationalizes the worst of situations.
5
This sounds like a program that might have worked if it had been done at larger scale, with more resources, accountability, and under the administration of people with experience running these kind of workforce training programs.
1
Instead of the nonsense of learning how to code in 16 weeks,I suspect there’s a lot more to it than can be learned and 16 weeks at a non regulated course, let’s bring back drug manufacturing To the United States. I just read an article about not being able to trust generic drug. manufacturing in India and China. And to those desperate enough to be taken advantage of I’m sorry you find yourselves without opportunity. You need the private and public sectors to create the jobs to survive. Blessings.
3
There is potential for most rural folks to learn new skills. All the more reason to make education free and accessible to all corners of the country. If varied learning opportunities are available, the red states will no longer pursue the trumpist ideologies. Keeping their minds occupied with new skills is a healthy start, isnt it?
4
Two key words: Critical Thinking!
2
Hucksters taking advantage of desperate people. So shameful!
5
It was not Appalachia, but I also found it necessary to leave in order to start over. Best of luck to those bold folks.
4
I m surprised that Trump University didn't offer a masters degree in coding as a follow up to Mined Mines training. I am more surprised that just the creation of and cream skimming that Trump University did was not enough to drive him from the public square...
7
Why do people continue to live in West Virginia? I am amazed that anyone went back into a mine after the Upper Big Branch mining disaster revealed hundreds of ignored safety violation citations and a lack of punitive action by government regulators. There are no non-mining jobs worth having and no opportunity. 70% of WV voted for Trump, what are they getting in exchange for their vote? If people have $1K to travel to Lithuania on a boondoggle, they can afford to move out of a state that offers nothing and is covered by a depressive cloud.
16
Mined Minds is nothing but Trump University. Different packaging, same fraud.
14
Sounds like the promises made by Trump University.
Maybe West Virginia is, simply, not salvageable as a place to live. And maybe people there need to start realizing, instead of complaining about their way of life being the butt of jokes and insults and not getting the respect they deserve for being "forgotten men," that their culture is actually their problem and not their salvation and hope.
14
Mined Minds seems to have taken a page right out of Trump University. People, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Programming requires a certain aptitude. To believe that “anyone can have a successful career in the technology industry” is just not true. Developing a website is not a path to becoming a competent coder that industry would hire; certainly not someone with no portfolio or experience. I would have been shocked to learn the participants were now in successful programming jobs.
Sen. Manchin was grasping at straws to bring this training to his state; he has no answers for job creation. Anyone watching his voting record can see that; he is only focused on maintaining his own career.
14
@me This program was hardly a free lunch. It was like buying lunch and getting an empty wrapper that used to have a sandwich in it.
1
Apprenticeship programs are the answer! Working, getting paid and paid training all rolled into the programs. Many states recognize these. These programs will work well beyond the “trades”. Coal mining is going away regardless of how much political pressure there is to keep it. These states need to stop stripping public monies from their public education and adjust curriculum accordingly instead of stripping public education funding for all the charter schools for a select few. I blame the republicans because the states hurting the most are the ones led by republicans who simply strip public programs that actually help the masses. The governors and legislatures all get rich (by various means of public office) while they leave everyone that they take an oath to represent, behind! Educate your electorate and you may decrease poverty! You may also begin by electing someone different because doing the same over and over does not produce different results.
4
How do you explain all the charter schools in Minnesota? It's a blue state.
1
Charter schools are only a problem when “education corporations” and private companies run them.
Only non-profit organizations with a limited CEO pay scale should be allowed to run charter schools, and ALL teachers hired should be required to be recently credentialed or have a recently upgraded teaching credential for the area(s) they teach.
1
In "Diligence" (one of the sketches in "Suite Americaine," 1921), H. L. Mencken employed sentence fragments to evoke what he saw as the bleakness of life in early-twentieth-century America.
“Pale druggists in remote towns of the Epworth League and flannel nightgown belts, endlessly wrapping up bottles of Peruna. . . . Women hidden away in the damp kitchens of unpainted houses along the railroad tracks, frying tough beefsteaks. . . . Lime and cement dealers being initiated into the Knights of Pythias, the Red Men or the Woodmen of the World. . . . Watchmen at lonely railroad crossings in Iowa, hoping that they'll be able to get off to hear the United Brethren evangelist preach. . . . Ticket-sellers in the subway, breathing sweat in its gaseous form. . . . Farmers plowing sterile fields behind sad meditative horses, both suffering from the bites of insects. . . . Grocery-clerks trying to make assignations with soapy servant girls. . . . Women confined for the ninth or tenth time, wondering helplessly what it is all about. . . . Methodist preachers retired after forty years of service in the trenches of God, upon pensions of $600 a year.”
For me, these fragments offer snapshots of a kind of desperate sadness and disappointment I see reflected in present small town America, most of which is still being bamboozled and made fools of by Trump.
12
The solution to these people’s problems won’t come from nonprofits or the private sector or the rich. It will come from a robust government that invests directly in education, job training and childcare. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. But they’re taught to hate the government.
10
So what happened to the $1.5 million grant? Can we see an accounting for that?
5
@Carol There has to have been more money than a $1.5 million grant. Something is missing from this story.
2
My daughter took College Algebra as a Dual Enrollment student at the local Technical college this past semester. We received her Grades yesterday yesterday, she got a B! She had thought the adjunct professor or lecturer or what ever the person was who was teaching the class was going to curve the class so that she would get an A. She told me that she always had the highest grade in the class. That at times she only got in the 80’s she was distraught on one test that she got in the 50’s. She found that the test questions were incorrect and pointed it out to the teacher. She did it multiple times to the professor.
My daughter told me there were students that got 6 and 8’s on the tests. This class is required on every single major at the Technical College. She told me that some of the students had already taken the class one or two times before.
Folks in this country don’t have basic math skills!
1
@MJS
I apologize ahead of time...but I honestly do not know if your comment is satire (and I just don't get it) or completely unintelligible; and I just don't get it.
10
It is not possible for a person who has limited or no experience in computer programming to learn computer programs like Ruby or Python or Javascript in 12 weeks. Why? Because in addition to learning the language - what you write to make the computer calculate a number or retrieve an external file or process a subroutine, you also need to understand how to program, i.e. the logic of building a program and then executing it. For example, many people want to become web designers and they have visions of sitting in front of a computer building websites for hair salons and local restaurants. Writing in HTML and CSS is not hard, but to make a truly interactive program, you need Javascript. And if you use Javascript you need to know how to link to data bases. And then how to access APIs. And so forth. This means you need to be able to work in teams of highly trained programmers, like an orchestra.
Then there are the teachers. Knowing how to code and knowing how to teach people to write programs are two totally different skills. Great piano teachers are not usually concert pianists. This means the code schools often hire people who tell the students to see if they can figure it out using Stack Overflow or W3. You can, but do you really understand what you are coding? Really?
In summary, unless the coal miner or the waiter have previously demonstrated aptitude for coding, their chances of success are -- unfortunately, very low.
18
I believe there is a misconception in the general public, the media and politicians that coding equals a high-paying job in the tech industry. Coding is only one part (and the lowest rung on the ladder) of using technology to solve a problem. I know this because I ran a software business in the mid 90s and continue to advise tech companies in retirement.
Coding can be farmed out to off-shore coders who can work for much lower pay than an American worker can because the cost of living is so much lower off shore.
Anyone peddling coding as guarantee to high-paying jobs in the tech sector is misinformed at best and is probably a fraudster.
It is heart breaking to see people being hurt by this. It's time politician, policy makers and the media learned that coding does not equal high-paying careers.
15
40 years ago, before the nation's collective wealth was spent on unfunded wars & before our collective wealth began being redistributed to the top 10% & before partisanship paralyzed 2 of the 3 branches of government, America's business leaders & think tank intellectuals should have begun urgently warning our politicians that unless real & substantial investments were made in education and in preparing America to compete in a 21century global economy, a percentage of America's work force & hence the growing middle class, would be impacted adversely by a trifecta of change brought about by advancements in technology, world wide globalization & extinction of the social contract.
Other posters here rightly identify that some past & current legislative initiatives and or regional commissions haven't moved the needle in the right direction.
The window seems to now be closed on our collective ability to problem solve the issue at a national level. As a result our standard of living is in decline for all except those at the the top.
8
I once tried to learn how to code and, like becoming a gymnast, a musician or learning to speak a foreign language, to be any good at it you have to start young and have a special knack.
Unfortunately for the folks of Appalachia, hucksters and con-artists knew that if you were willing to vote for Trump, you'd be an easy mark. That's why these snake-oil salesmen went to Trump country rather than say a high tech region of a blue state where programmers are actually in demand.
The smart angler knows to go where the fish are, the fish that are willing to bite at most anything.
12
As a software engineer with a PhD, I will reiterate what others have said here. “Coding” is very different from being an engineer.
Most companies want people who can think and design code and algorithms, and this can’t be taught in 16 weeks. It starts with basic understanding of logic and mathematics and good design.
It is all symptomatic of our view of education in the US. Unless people have fundamental knowledge for how to think and design, they will never be able to pick up a programming language .
I would be much more likely to hire someone with an English BA who can think critically and analytically and has an ability to play chess and solve riddles. Such a candidate has way better potential to become a good software engineer than someone who barely graduated high school and then took a 16 week “coding” class. And I don’t mean that in a snobbish way; I mean that our education system, more so in the South (being from there), isn’t preparing students to be creative and adaptive thinkers.
21
Ah, Appalachia , stuck on old time religion, speaking in tongues and the Babel of charlatans as it ever was . Read HL Mencken’s reports from the area during the Scopes trial over 100 years ago. They jailed a teacher there for doubting religion. These folks are ripe for 16 week coding courses that are as effective as Trump university. This is where Trumpism flourishes . Sad.
8
The pitfalls of greed in the For Profit Unregulated education system that is sweeping America under Trump and DeVos. This is just the absolute tip of the iceberg.
7
There are lots of help wanted aigns in new Jersey now. Must be the case in many other places. Is relocating possible for some of these folks? I left the country in '89, just before a recession, and found work abroad.
If you have motivation to learn and youth, that's a huge bank account to draw on.
5
@AJ
Those who were ambitious and intelligent have already left these areas.
5
These people who offer the course, learned from Trump University. Maybe they are part of the same operation.
5
You have a con man in the White House, so biiiiiggggg surprise here.
3
We retired to WV 15 years ago. We love the state’s natural beauty and are often touched by the good-hearted generosity of folks who have little themselves. We are also constantly discouraged by the poor work ethics of too many. People advertise their services but don’t return calls. Others agree to a job and never show up. Some walk off halfway through. Is it tied to opiod use? Is it a result of years of being taken advantage of? General depression? Lack of power? Chicken or egg? I don’t know but, as I read this article, I couldn’t help wondering how many of the folks who were swindled by “Mined Minds” are also folks who believe Trump is their savior sent from God. Perhaps the next con job will be more honest and call itself “Blind Acceptance Minds”.
21
I don't understand what happened here. Is it a failure to teach them programming or the school lied about finding them work?
You can find work as a programmer if you do 16 weeks dedicate 8 hours learning coding. Also Ruby is a bad choice to learn since it has no demand anymore. I would at minimum suggest Python/Javascript. Can be taught to anyone who wants to learn. It' not rocket science. There is no math required and no physics to be a coder. Just a deep interest in coding and reasoning.
Either way, the issue is still with our governments. There needs to be a demand to companies to hire these bootcampers (if they get their certs) before hiring H1-B visas workers. Maybe start a tax break to companies as incentive initially.
The idea of bootcamps seems good, if implemented properly.
5
At least Mr. Frame recognizes the realities of both politicians, corporations (coal mines) that are laying people off, filing for bankruptcy, and the CEOs and other senior executives get multimillion dollar bonuses. If corporations like Amazon truly cares about working class people, maybe they should look to places like West Virginia to open a second HQ, or a warehouse. Maybe corporate America could go back to a time when corporations had a social conscience, now the only thing they think about is how much shareholder value can they extract from labor.
But again, it’s the hold that the republicans have on their constituents thoughts, and they know what levers to pull to get the people to vote against their own interests over and over. I realize that these people need jobs, the coal industry is dying, and whether or not politicians want to admit that reality is too bad, for politicians like McConnell, their only interest is to stay elected. So when companies like “Mined Mines” come to a depressed part of the country, making unfounded promises like Trumps University, did. When people are barely living paycheck to paycheck, it’s easy to get people to believe in a better future, a better job with better pay. We live in a time when for some like Mines Minds to come in and kick them while they are down. Hopefully, people will better vet fly by night operations like Mined Minds. And politicians shouldn’t be so quick to attach their names to unknown ventures like Mined Minds.
5
@James
Global corporations usually consider locating in areas where there are talented, credentialed, ambitious young people and solid infrastructure - and where at least some of their own employees would be willing to relocate to.
3
There will be folks who learn enough to get a real job. But they probably do not have the hardships many of these people have.
I doubt there are many 16 week courses that could provide them with the skill set needed to actually succeed in their environment.
3
I would like to feel superior to these good folks who were scammed, especially since they seem to be decent and hard working people dealing with a very challenging change in their local economy. But back in the late 70s I was a struggling college graduate trying to get a career going in NYC when I signed up for a computer training program that we were told would provide well paying unemployment. Yep, Wang Word Processors would be used by businesses all over the country.
7
The people targeted by Mined Minds deserve better: factual disclosures and honest expectations. Grant providers to Mined Minds, on the other hand, should require successful, real-life results, before awarding them any more money.
3
The enterprise's very name bespoke exploitation and grifting. Maybe Graham & Cie thought to explain as much to a Federal magistrate whenever they were eventually busted. Meanwhile WVA must languish in its tragic beauty and see if it can beguile tourism and investments some other way...
2
I feel horrible for these people who are victims of a scam.
They were vulnerable because they are still hoping for something that will never happen: the return of the past. They want to have their cake (their beautiful land) and eat it too. So they believe people who tell them they can.
They may seem naive, but there's a bit of that in all of us. The hope that maybe things could work out for us just this once.
To the person who quit the job as a bank teller, my god. I just want to give them a hug.
Others have mentioned that the Appalachian population didn't appreciate the difficulty of technical work and that's true. But the people who ran this scam also didn't appreciate the difficulty of social work, of working with people over years to transform their lives.
It's shameful that these tech consultants thought it would be so easy for their supposed beneficiaries but even more shameful that anyone in the government fell for it too.
Kennedy said it best. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." That's the real answer to Appalachia's problems. It will have to come from within, finding what they value in themselves. I believe in that but I don't believe it will be easy for them. We have everything in Seattle and it's still not easy, it's still sacrifice. The traffic, the noise, the insane prices, the difficulty for our social workers.
Good luck to you all.
7
@L well said. I would like to say though that the people are not hoping for the return of the past. They are willing to retrain for and adapt to a new economy (one that includes remote work, etc.). That new economy is swindling them before they have even entered it. That is the most heartbreaking thing of all to me about this article.
5
To sum up: You have a group of people who, by and large: don't pursue higher education, vote for politicians who defund and mock education, refuse to move out of their beleaguered towns, suspect any outsiders, grasp at any straws, then end up on the short end. You can call that victim-blaming if you want; I call it an observation.
16
At best, a failed well intentioned effort to transform lives in coal country by bringing vocational technical training - at worst, this was a full blown scam. Absent its own client base or sponsors willing to take on apprentices, I don't see how this program could have guaranteed any jobs in the first place.
In this article, Mined Minds comes across like a scam. But then, it's never idea to get really drunk on work related trips - sounds like there were serious issues at both ends.
5
In a public forum on higher ed, we had several parents who said, in effect: "Why can't you train people to code in a semester in an online course, charge them a thousand bucks and then give them a Bachelor's degree?" The educators in the room--especially the computer scientists--were stunned at the ignorance being expressed.
Alas, this quick-fix mindset is now abroad in the land and it is going to take a lot of public education to stop people from imagining this fantasy scenario. Clearly the West Virginia folks were sold this fake bill of goods, but there are many others who are drinking the same Kool-Aid.
9
@William O, Beeman
LOL - these 'graduates' would never pass the first interview, let alone the technical pass.
What a heartbreaking story- all around. The desperation of people wanting a way out of a dying community and an idea poorly conceived, poorly financed and a refusal to acknowledge even if every plan had gone as intended: There were no high-paying coding jobs to be had in the area.
Everyone got snookered in- including the *esteemed* Congressman. Everyone- it seems was looking for a magic potion to cure the ails of a dying area- left behind by so many and so many; left behind.
This is reminiscent of the desperate individuals investing their life savings on another idea/scam: Trump University.
5
What an incredibly disheartening story. I too am of the mind that anyone can code. But this sounds like a terrible fraud. I hope a real company or non-profit can implement a reputable program.
These places are another version of certain Indian reservations or the inner cities or countries ruled by corrupt elites. The environment is not conducive to social or economic improvement, even for talented or industrious people.
The only solution is to get out. If you wait for the environment to change you might be waiting your whole life.
7
@vbering "The only solution is to get out. If you wait for the environment to change you might be waiting your whole life." Indeed. When I saw the poverty in Appalachia, I had dreams of staying there and "making a difference." My Father said, you'll be fighting that battle your whole life. Turns out he was right.
1
Set the record straight. My dev job made it clear corps and small orgs all want brilliant developers that will work night and day for the lowest possible rate. They do NOT want to pay for medical benefits or overtime. Read the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They don’t have to pay OT, thanks for the 1% er special interest groups that threw programmers under the bus. The fair labor and standard act doesn’t apply to you or any of devs. You may get a decent paycheck at the discretion of the company for anywhere from a three To 24 month gig. They can drop you anytime they want, and they will. You’ll work in a bullpen if you’re lucky you’ll be able to afford headphones to block the constant blathering of the type A hyper EGO personalities who are moving up the ladder even though they don’t have the technical experience to do any of the work. Don’t think that you can get a certificate and walk in and get hired unless you are some sort of SUPER shiny diamond. Best to go with a contracting agency. Corps won’t hire direct because they want people they can pay cheap and do gigs. They don’t care if you’re gone in 2 weeks or 2 years. They only care about stock financials. Go to school wherever you can. Get a degree in programming. Be ready to move and work with some real jerks that truly think they know what it takes to do the work, but don’t, but keep your mouth shut on that (see airline software story). Good luck.
6
Just look at her Twitter page: https://twitter.com/pandamonial. Says it all. I had thought of doing something to benefit coal miners/people of Appalachia in tech. I do believe that they could be trained to do some of this work. I also agree with another poster that skilled laborers in the right market are in demand and can command good pay. But you have to hold integrity and honesty and highest level of effort. It has to be mission driven work. Taking students to a conference in Lithuania...what the heck would that do for them? There are tons of conferences in the nearby US they could have attended. This story makes me sick to my stomach and sad as well. I pray that another group with integrity will come in and pick up the pieces.
4
Reading this it's not hard to understand why some people in W.Va or other coal country states would buy into Trump's rhetoric. He keeps reminding them they are being scammed and he is right, they are.
Perhaps Mined Mind over sold itself but "anyone can code" doesn't mean at a professional level. It is like most people can learn and speak a foreign language but being a professional writer is another story. After all, coding is the execution part of a succession of skills. This column, just as the politicians and Mined Mind, has done a disservice by not reporting the whole truth
3
the views from an office in Chicago’s Trump Tower, ... yes well that tells us a lot; that and the involvement of the US Senator... it was only ever a con.
6
An even more fraudulent, even more cut-rate Trump "University". No different from Trump lying to Appalachian coal miners that coal is 'coming back' and everybody will have a chicken in every pot. Despicable in every possible way there can be.
12
"Early on, Ms. Laucher had suggested the project would be something for the community, maybe a gaming app addressing the opioid epidemic. Then the project was finally announced: the design of a website for a pet bed-and-breakfast that Ms. Laucher’s mother was opening in Pennsylvania."
Just another way to say "Trump U'?
Welcome to Trumplandia Inc. LLC
(formerly USA).
11
A fool and his (or her) money aie soon parted. Ben Franklin.
However, one can learn to code for free.
https://online.stanford.edu/programs
I wonder how many with a prestigious Stanford University certificate are employed?
1
@Daniel F. Solomon
Interesting that Stanford offers this.........I've just recently posted a comment that MIT offers quick coding education, and so does Georgia Tech.......and no doubt other technology colleges and universities.
2
What did Mined Mids get out of this? They must have been paid some sort of government grant or subsidy then skipped on their "promise/" http://www.minedminds.org
The United States has 550,000 mines that mining companies walked away from and need to be safely closed down. Over decades bills to place the cleanup burden on the companies that owned them failed in Congress. Shame on those elected men and women who stuck the U.S. with dangerous mines instead of the companies who profited from thei carnage left behind.
Instead of warring and spending taxpayer money for no other purpose than to kill fellow man how about we pressure the people that work for us to abandon war and focus on cleaning up our habitats. Trumpie boy. Get off your priveleged fat body and get mines cleaned up, you do nothing President. And congress grow up and subsidize these former miners and their families with the authority and guidance to take charge and clean up those half million mines. They need jobs now.
http://energyskeptic.com/2016/550000-abandoned-mines-50-billion-to-clean-up/
https://truthout.org/articles/what-to-do-about-500-000-abandoned-mines-around-the-us/
10
I did ten years of very high-tech work in the late 70's, early 80's after I graduated college with a BS in Computer Science and a MS in Electromagnetics.
Image processing software for neurosurgery, operating systems internals, CPU chip design for IBM and their next generation mainframe, and 10GHz analog IC design for military electronics / space based radar.
Then I worked for 20 years on the business side, technical sales, marketing, product management.
For family reasons I moved to a city that didn't have those jobs but there was always software developer jobs.
I decided to teach myself C# and start all over again. I thought learning a new language would take about two weeks to learn the syntax and start writing code.
And it did.
But what I also learned is that the Fortran and assembly code I wrote in 1980 was in a very different environment.
PCs didn't exist. There was no Windows, no Internet, no HTML / CSS, no SQL, no .NET libraries to learn.
That took about 8 months of someone with my background teaching myself full time (sleeping on the floor of my mother's studio apartment).
I did get a job as a entry level software developer. I was 55 and my boss was 27. I joked I was the Senior Junior developer.
It's now been 10 years, I have learned lots of details necessary to do this work. I keep current. There are things I used ten years ago I don't use today.
And even at my age and competing against H-1B visa holders from India, there is good paying work.
8
Ms. Katie Bolyard said it best "I get angry at people who go to other places and say...my culture is better than theirs and I am going to change it." This is what imperialism - more befittingly cultural eradication - did; imposing a foreign culture on others. Listening is not in their playbooks.
There should be meme of a picture I saw in a book "Freedom Schools". A hippie volunteer in 1964 Clarksdale, Mississippi playing folk music for black school children. "Here children, tell your parents about my enlightening guitar music". By their own admission many of the hippie volunteers thought they knew it all when they didn't.
Local problems can only be understood through local experience.
3
@Dukie Bravo are you saying the locals will get themselves out of the mess they are in? They haven’t yet. Just leave them be?
3
@Dukie Bravo
I grew up in rural southern Appalachia and left as soon as I could, at 17. The local culture is profoundly anti education, anti intellectual, anti science and reason, anti change. They are uncomfortable with outsiders and the few people who move there from other places.
3
@Cal I understand maybe, I have lived in a place where education was a liability. There they had a saying “Don’t mind us we’re just dumb”. I am saying 1. Most people love who they are 2. When going to help, you should learn more from them than they learn from you. 3. People should take a page out of the freedom school’s playbook: No outsiders can become leaders. The only outside leaders should be experts with resources to help locals in fields in which they are already familiar
1
These people's desperation is palpable, and their plight is a national shame. If the crop of Democratic hopefuls had any sense, they'd find a way to reach these communities with some real promise of help and hope, instead of miring themselves in identity politics and dismissing the white poor for their terrible sin of being white.
19
@Richard good idea except you forgot that Appalachians would vote for Trump and against anyone with a social plan to help them.
33
@Badger I guess that's the challenge, isn't it -- for the Democratic party to re-focus on economic issues in a way that engages those communities, rather than ignoring or outright vilifying them as rubes and "deplorables." The current obsession with "culture wars" sure isn't doing it.
When liberals walked away from working-class whites, they walked away from the White House.
4
@Richard The Democrats are not focused on guns and religion which appear to be more important to Trump voters than anything else.
So they get what they get.
I honestly don't see why the US does not just split into two countries. The divide btw red and blue America cannot be bridged.
We don't care about guns or religion. We care about education, the environment, health care and the future, not some mythical being and automatic weapons.
22
What strikes me (besides the immorality of plying people with false hope) is the credulousness. These are likely people who voted for Trump -- on what basis? Answer: They believed everything he said without evidence. I have to think this has something to do with religiosity, at least the sort that has to do with a transcendent god figure. Again, action based in belief without warrant. PT Barnum would approve.
56
@Midwest
Amazing flight of fancy. Our President's at fault for funds generated for the ARC under the previous administration? When you take the time to do the research and use facts, rather than hatred and buzzwords, life's a whole lot less complicated.
4
@Midwest
The government provided most of the funds and the Democrat Senator from West Virginia invited the "charity" and promoted the scam to the people.
There was no religious component to being trained as coders. There was reliance on the benevolent intent of the government to make things better. Either to train them for jobs to be performed locally or for opportunities if they relocated.
It is easy to understand how people who have been routinely defrauded by the government and its propaganda would vote for Trump, an outsider who said the system was rigged over Hillary, who promised more of the same.
PT Barnum approves of Democrat strategy.
On the topic of credulousness, how come Democrat legislators voted for Obamacare without reading the bill?
2
Mined Mines reminds me of Trump University, the school a judge ordered shut down and tuition refunded.
If we had a functional gov, legitimate retraining would be a high priority mission. Every community college in America would be involved, but Trump's only use for the disenfranchised is to get their vote, not to improve their lives.
Unfortunately, those most affected by his policies seem least likely to understand how he uses them. Trump lauds the return of coal knowing that nat gas is cheaper and better for the environment.
There are many jobs aside from tech that will continue in the 21st century. America needs a/c installers, electricians, med technicians and repair people of all sorts but America is nothing more than a source for Trump campaign contributions and the unemployed mean nothing more than a vote he'll get thru lies and exaggerations.
Sadly, it's still working. As long as people think God will save them, grifters like Trump will succeed.
24
I was struck by the woman who said, “I get angry at people who go to other places and say, ‘My culture is better than theirs and I am going to change it”. Perhaps she should rethink that.
Appalachian culture has been going downhill since the days of Night Comes to the Cumberlands. It's insular, anti-education, bigoted, and violent. West Virginians are so unwilling to let go of the worst aspects of their culture that they will swallow any scam as long as it doesn't challenge their prejudices. Mined Minds is only the latest in a long line of coal companies, oily preachers, crooked state supreme court justices, and pill pushing doctors that have found the quaint folkways of Appalachia to be Huckster Heaven. Economic improvement is never going to come from the outside. Until the people of Appalachia decide to change themselves, nothing else about their lives will.
155
@Kaleberg
October Sky.
Very inspirational movie.
10
@Kaleberg
I am very familiar with West Virginia. Anti-choice, xenophobic, drug-using, gun-loving-above-all-else trumpers are currently the face of the state. They are manipulated by coal companies and chemical companies with financial interests that are served by keeping people ignorant, fearful, and willing to pimp out their natural resources and their health to anyone who gives them a middling wage.
People die trying to get to this country to pursue the American Dream. In West Virginia, in the regions described in this article, people have no American Dream. The people with guts are long dead - the good jobs are long gone - the descendants pretty much wait for someone to fix things for them. They are prime buyers for anyone selling the Brooklyn Bridge.
The best thing any "outsider" (and anyone not from there is an outsider) can do for that state is to boycott the tourist industry until the state's right wing policies are overturned.
27
@Kaleberg ...Yes. I went to Uni in SE Ohio ... went for a ride in the small towns outside of the University town.... was met with hard stares and a few shouts. I got the message & left. never to return ...
3
Belief in god and belief in hucksters seem to go hand-in-hand.
With a little less faith and a little more scepticism, we might read far fewer of these very sad stories.
42
@Paul D
"With a little less faith and a little more scepticism, we might read far fewer of these very sad stories."
Does the name "Solyndra" ring a bell? They took the US Government for something like a billion dollars, if I recall.
No preachers required, just Obama's magic checkbook!
3
I’m not a mathematician but it seems to me that a trillion dollars is a lot more than a billion and that’s what trump, McConnell and Repubs gave the uber wealthy without any complaints from their cult.
6
Consider today's working-class economy:
People working in the Amazon warehouses are paid $11 to $15 per hour; part-time work for the vast majority of workers so the hours worked stay low so fringe benefits aren't required to be offered.
That's how Jeff Bezos became the wealthiest person in the world. His 150 billion fortune was built on the biceps and backs of people who are eligible for Medicaid, SNAP, and subsidized housing.
Look at much of today's economy: retail, food, and warehouses that make the country and too many of its people poorer.
Look at what left the USA: manufacturing jobs that made the country richer and gave American citizens jobs that allowed them to work with dignity in jobs that paid decent wages, with medical insurance and retirement plans.
How many of today's problems would exist if people, men and women, still had those jobs? How many young people would get jobs, marry, have children, work for 40 years and then retire?
Instead, the industrial jobs were shipped to other nations, leaving young men unable to afford marriage and young women marrying the State.
The destruction of the USA began with exporting jobs and importing people, legal and illegal.
One can assume that the USA began its descent towards Third World status when laws were changed to encourage the loss of industrial jobs. Who changed those laws, helping the wealthy to become wealthier? DNC and GOP, that's who.
Inevitable result: Trump.
7
@Azalea Lover
The repetitive assembly line jobs of yesteryear are gone and will not return. Even if for some reason a manufacturer was prevented from 'shipping' jobs overseas, it could choose to contract with a foreign company to take over some of the work at a lower cost. Or it could replace US workers with robotic platforms.
Automated manufacturing requires highly skilled workers, probably with credentials.
2
The actual machinery was also shipped abroad. The good old US of A squandered its birthright for a larger bottom line. Those manufacturing jobs are never coming back.
3
@Azalea Lover 1. What woman is married to the state? Does she have a name?
2. The US has always been importing people. Look around you. How many people are Native Americans? This isn’t something new. Or are you saying the US destruction began before US was a country?
3. Large companies are multinational. Laws aren’t going to stop them. They will just go elsewhere.
This is so sad, just a question does the local community college not offer courses in computer technology. Why did the elected officials nor anyone else in this area understand that coding jobs require a some college and that a associates or bachelors degree is what most company's require.
6
What with the rampant potential for fraud- and also the half-funding of inadequate "public/nonprofit" retraining and jobs initiatives that serve mostly as window-dressing, porkbarrels, and PR- it's clear that piecemeal efforts are not getting the results required for success here.
I think a program of universal national service for young people might help to provide an answer. Something similar to what's now provided by the military service. Without requiring weapons or military training, but also aligned with the stateside resources of the US military- their personnel, bases, hospitals and other facilities.
I'm not getting how the only option for "serving one's country" (and achieving some personal benefits in return) involves signing up to carry weapons, accepting the risks of overseas deployment in combat, stop-lossed involuntary enlistment extension, etc. which even enlistees in National Guard units are required to accept as a condition of their military service. I think that universal national service by American youth would be most effective as a mandatory effort (with provisions for exemptions) with both military and nonmilitary options, and placed under the Defense Department budget. For real national defense, not armed global policing.
Or, at minimum, we could learn from the efforts of other nations to ensure stable employment for their citizens- like paid training, job search, relocation with income suppport. To avoid "precarite", as the French would have it.
5
I have already left a comment, but after reading the rest here, I feel compelled to say something else.
Contrary to many of the self-congratulatory posts here about how incredibly difficult it is to be a successful programmer, it really isn’t. It just requires curiosity, decent math skills, and a love of puzzles. I have taught myself many languages over the course of sixteen weeks.
I don’t think you will get a job paying half a million at Google after that kind of training course, but you could certainly get a junior position, or QA, and then work your way up the ladder.
Most programming doesn’t require genius. It’s been said a programmer’s job is moving data in and out of data stores, and while that may not be describe every programmer’s life, it will take you a long way.
7
@Mercury S
I agree and have said similar.
But the key to your comment is that it "just requires curiosity, decent math skills, and a love of puzzles."
My experience is that is a minority of people.
Then take the average person with just a high school degree and no additional learning after that who has been a cashier for ten years, and those people probably don't have those "just requires" requirements.
Also similar to you, I say my job is writing code for business applications basically boils down to data in / data out. The business rules change, the technical part is pretty constant.
I also have to be in the vernacular of the day, a "continuous learner." There are things I used 10 years ago and even 5 years ago I don't use any more.
9
@Independent You may be right. I have often said programming is a great job for women, but you can pick up where you left off after taking time off after having children. However, most of the women I have pitched this to aren’t interested in programming, or do not consider themselves mathematically oriented.
That being said, I suspect there are a decent percentage of people who have those talents and simply never discovered them because, say, they took a cashiers job right out of high school. Not every programmer will love it, or do it brilliantly. But I think a good slice of people can do it competently if given a chance.
5
While you may not use information you learned a decade or even five years ago, but there may come a time when you might say, I’ve seen that before, and access that information in the hard drive in your skull. Never say never.
4
I flinched when I read the line “tech savvy miners”. Operating computer controlled equipment has little to do with composing their code, i.e. Driving a car does not make one a mechanic.
Like other specialties, computer programming requires a unique set of skills and aptitudes. It is cruel to promise success to a random population.
This story is reminiscent of the “for profit school” scandals. They accept all applicants, irrespective of their aptitudes or prior education. It is cruel trick. Some prescreening and testing should be done before applicants are pulled into debt and their hopes crushed by the reality that they are simply unprepared for the program.
Screening could direct weak applicants to remedial programs, e.g. baby steps.
In a world of finite resources, they should not be dissipated on those who predictively will fail.
496
@Bongo
"Driving a car does not make one a mechanic."
Well said!
26
@Independent
@Bongo
And "writing computer code" does not make one a competent programmer.
45
@Bongo Betsy DeVos and her cronies are laughing at these saps all the way to the bank. Winning is all anyone cares about nowadays.
43
Reading this story brought back the heart-crushing memory of a culinary training program I helped start here in Oregon. We had a grounded, industry-tested 12-week entry-level basic curriculum, we had funding, we had jobs waiting and employers calling. What we didn't have was students. Like the students in West Virginia, our potential students were finally working in our region's "full employment" economy, even if it was only a minimum wage job. But they were working, and like the Mined Minds program, we could not pay them to attend school. We graduated 16 students over 18 months, and many of them have jobs today, which is the good news. The bad news is that our lack of student support ... we could never raise enough money to pay them while they attended school ... meant we just couldn't attract students, even if they would leave the school with a far-better paying job and a potential for rapid advancement. Twelve weeks without pay is simply not possible for marginalized people who are barely hanging on to begin with. We need a nationwide program that teaches skills for basic work. The community college system could take this on, but in many cases has viewed these low-skill jobs as beneath them. Until someone does it right ... pays students to attend, creates effective wrap-around services that can meet their other needs while they attend school ... Mined Minds and other programs like it will fail.
398
We do have programs like you describe - they are union apprenticeships. Look into the IBEW in strong union towns/cities. My husband became an apprentice electrician in his 40s - only possible because he was paid during his apprenticeship and got raises every 6 months. He calculated that in about 3 years he would be at the same pay as the job he left (school teacher). Best decision he ever made.
252
Why does it have to be 12 weeks without pay? Why not evening classes? People go to law school at night...
54
12 weeks without pay would also move many non-marginalized people to marginalized status pretty quickly.
63
I hope they sue Amanda Laucher and her partners.
It sounds like she had a half-baked idea with a poor follow-through plan and wanted to add some plaudits to her resume to possibly help her get into law school. But she didn't want to put in the planning and hard required to make it successful.
She wanted to travel and drink Tequila like a party girl and do this thing part-time, all of which is a big recipe for failure.
426
@Geo
Sue?! If there is one thing I learned in 30+years of working on behalf of screwed over plaintiffs/workers/employees it was sue only those with money. And the other side defends like mad.
I'm on vacation in New Zealand and met a builder with projects here in Queenstown. He was on an assessment/recruiting trip. He's got projects, can't find help and the place is lousy with recruiting signs. Here was one: "Top wages. Need carpenters, electricians, plumbers, general laborers. Just walk in." One year working visas readily available. Guy on shuttle bus said he was met at the airport in Auckland by someone who offered a job because he arrived wearing a backpack.
Culture? Well it's not West Virginia. And the make most everybody wear safety gear!
21
Would be nice to see Northwestern Law rescind her admission offer. I was under the impression that Law schools take business ethics violations seriously.
31
@Geo-I'm wondering if the fraud was that much easier to manage-- because the Trump Admin/Betsy Devos has relaxed educational and business regulations and standards?
22
I think that Mined Minds is a symptom of a bigger problem. Too many people seem to think that Programming and Computer Science can be separated, with Programming being a fun hobby that anyone and their grandma can pick up. It simply isn't the case, a deep understanding of how computers work is needed to know how to write good code and you need to be smart to make it. There has been a recent push to make programming a blue collar job, with Tim Cook saying that you don't need a degree to program. What he really wants is a larger supply of labor that he can justify paying less. Mined Minds was an attempt to achieve this, And I'm not surprised it failed.
529
Universities in the Third World usually teach such absurd outdated programs. Except it takes four years.
14
@Sean
Remember there are two distinct categories of programmers. There are system programs, which yes, need to understand the hardware.
There are application programmers who are functional. They need some accounting: Finance and Payroll most notably. Also, any type of application programmer requires that the programmer understand the functional requirements.
17
@Mike Carroll
You are so right - and universities in the Third World also sell diplomas to students......some of the most beautiful and elaborate diplomas in the world.
Want a diploma? Got $250? It's yours!
14
The people who started "Mined Minds" sound like straight-up frauds, there to extract money from government grants, not to impart any value to the locals.
656
@Decent Guy
They are fraudsters, but hipster fraudsters. There is a whole scene of people getting grant money for projects that are not related to the skills of the participants or the reality of the job market.
21
@Decent Guy
Trip to Lithuania from Kentucky? Why not Cupertino or Mountain View where they could connect with experts and angels?
14
I started in IT in 1976 after 5 years of college and am now retired. I taught a lot of new people as part of my job. Learning one computer language even very well isn't even close to a career alone and it really isn't easy at that. I've forgotten how many operating systems I have had to learned and a lot of languages as well. I've made transitions in multiple major technology changes and crossed business sectors often.
A lot to be said about a college education because you need skills you don't think about all that often going in at the bottom of the ladder. Writing well (not code) is so critical it can destroy your potential. Communication skills matter! Too many biz folks tune out when the issue becomes Technology. Advanced reading and research skills matter as well. Answers are not always available to you on the Internet. Most of the important ones are not the answers but really the right questions.
IT jobs are fast paced and you can quickly become disposable. Good jobs can pay very well for a reason.
You need a solid education behind you in more than IT to survive 45 years.
Technology details are really the sideshow to the main show - making money and getting jobs done is really your main focus. You may work for someone and they will see it that way. You should too.
I hope the student lawsuit will prevail! They can start over. Learning comes from success and failures both.
316
@Paul Blais Thank you. The idea that you can program without any outside knowledge is ludicrous.
29
@Paul Blais
College ideally teaches you to think, interpret, compare, contrast, consider, and criticize with sufficient skill to find a place in a completely unpredictable world. It is not and should not be job training.
As for programming boot camps, I've discovered that proficiency in any coding language enables understanding of any other as long as students in these programs learn to find their mistakes and learn work-arounds and some logical reasoning.
15
@Paul Blais, very insightful, compassionate and informative. I can tell I would have enjoyed working with you.
19
It's hard to read these tales, over and over and over and... Quick fixes are so easy to sell from the top to the bottom, but rarely, if ever, provide lasting solutions to complicated problems.
Appalachia, and other rural areas, have long term decline issues that will not be solved by 16 week courses.
Better educational opportunities are part of a solution, but even that is a long road to attracting jobs that will sustain communities. The folks who can will leave. The folks who can't are facing a bleak future. It's easy to understand how they would grab any hope they could or can.
135
@doktorij Half of the people in Appalachia could have a phd, and it wouldn't magically create jobs. There's no money in the area. What business is going to set up shop there?
6
@John “ What businesses is going to set up shop there?” Plenty. Businesses set up shop where educated people are.
1
I've been a consultant in economic development for 25 years, and this sad tale is occurring in rural communities across the country, whether it's mines shutting down in Appalachia or small towns losing their low skilled manufacturing anchors.
These communities are on their way to becoming ghost towns. The new economy requires a stable, educated workforce, a culture of lifelong learning, and the institutions to provide it. And in addition to the usual infrastructure requirements such as transportation and sanitary sewer, high speed broadband is at the top of the list. Manufacturing is now digitally driven from the automated assembly lines to the management of suppliers and the delivery to customers.
These declining communities have neither the institutions nor the culture nor the infrastructure to turn the ship around. Thirty years ago you could have dropped out of high school and found a low skilled, high wage job. Those days are gone.
Republicans are promulgating the big lie. Tax cuts for the wealthy, a wall and tariffs will not result in more investment in rural communities, The modest recovery going on there now does not have the underpinnings for sustained growth. Instead of trillion dollar tax cuts, we need trillion dollar public investments over many years in infrastructure, workforce development, and incentives for the private sector to relocate. It will take a long term commitment to save our rural communities, including the miners of Appalachia.
728
@ebmem
So Trump University was a harmless example of city folks scamming others by selling a worthless and expensive product?
As far as foundations go, take a moment to compare the goals and results of the Gates Foundation to the now-dissolved Trump Foundation; funding global health vs a private checkbook for things like a portrait for ones' clubhouse.
88
@ebmem "Fraud using taxpayer dollars to exploit people and enrich the "founders." Sounds like the Open Society, Gates, Clinton Foundations."
How about outlining the crucial similarities between programs funded by those foundations and the track record of Mined Minds?
You've made the sort of claim that tends to draw a lot of attention. But there's more to supporting accusations- or insinuations- like the one that you've made than just picking two data points (or what look like they might be data points) and rubbing them together to try to strike sparks.
So, support your claim. I'm all ears.
24
@ebmem "Trump University" did no require you to quit your job, because mostly it offered 3 day "course" for $1500.....
39
Digital computing codes can not be learned overnight. Ask Facebook, Google and Amazon. Maybe it should be scaled down a bit like working for the fulfillment warehouses of Amazon where there are lot a of digital processing of gazillion orders including deliveries. A plethora of fulfillment warehouses exist all over the country. Mr Bezos will look good in the Appalachia region, specifically in this piece, West Virginia, to establish these fulfillment centers.
Information as well as communication, any form of services and renewable energy technologies are emerging powerful economies. Manufacturing jobs expounded by Donald as MAGA are gone. He lied to these people.
9
The idea that someone who completed a 16 week program is capable of teaching that program immediately after finishing it is preposterous.
Sounds to me like the funds needed for real teachers were not there and many of the students did not have the math skills to begin or complete the program and there were no companies willing to hire these people. Maybe not an outright fraud but not a planned program either. I guess anyone thinks they could open a school. Just ask Trump how that worked out.
19
Its looking more and more that coal county is our modern day dust bowl. Coal production will never be what it was, and until there is some reason/s for serious growth there - there will be little chance for the people living there to see a rise in their and the regions economy.
If a whole region can be, or should be mostly abandoned - which is not unusual in human history - its coal country.
The US dust bowl region is a classic example of such an abandonment. Its never bounced back, nor should it have. (Clearly the reasons for the decline - human ignorance, arrogance and resource misuse - are the not the same as they are in coal country, but the lost cause nature surely does come close.)
Coal country might be done as a place to sustain modern American life and its complexities and demands for cold hard cash, for all but the most hardy and resourceful. Its not gonna sustain life as we know it, or what the future will demand of it.
I don't have any answers for these struggling folks. But I can assure them, Trump lied to them as much as Mined Minds oversold their promises. He will not revive the coal industry. Nor will it revive itself on its own. (not unless the fantasy concept of clean-coal can be forced into reality by millions of hours and dollars of hard core R&D)
Mined Minds, anything like it, was/is but a spoonful from one bucket trying to bail out a swamped boat.
14
These coding initiatives are a joke. Coding isn’t a skill like operating an espresso machine. It’s not some rote set of factoids to memorize. Some people have aptitude for it, some do not.
Besides, the best code is that which writes itself. And that’s a layer of abstraction that simply can’t be learned in 15, or 16, or 19 weeks.
Maybe photoshop or basic web graphics would be more suitable. Those are marketable skills without requiring more extensive knowledge of math and logic. Teaching these students Ruby is a fool’s errand in today’s marketplace.
16
Why are the schools, community colleges and universities of West Virginia not meeting the needs of the people of their state who are seeking education that will enable them to achieve their ambitions? Why is an ambitious young woman like Tori Frame working at Family Dollar rather than finishing her education and embarking on a prosperous career? The educational institutions in West Virginia are not performing well and incompetent and unscrupulous people are filling the void. And the people of West Virginia are voting for Trump who says he wants them back in the coal mines, rather than demanding their educational institutions do better and moving the state to modern economic activity.
17
@Dave
I'm guessing that many of the people had weak high school educations. If that foundation isn't solid then a lot of remedial work needs to be done at some college. Computer science is a very competitive major at our flagship schools. It's not believable that good paying jobs are going to be available with a brief training course.
9
We have jobs that need workers and we have workers who need jobs.
There is a shortage of skilled labor, construction, plumbers, electricians, etc.
Just like there is a shortage of another skill in this country of software developers.
In both cases, people first have to get a couple of years of training to acquire those skills. Then they have to move to where the jobs are.
In the case of construction, many of those jobs are being filled by Mexicans.
In the case of software developers, many of those jobs are being filled by H-1B visa holders from India.
There is also a complication of employers using foreigners to keep wages down.
But even a little lower wage of a software developer is way more than $10 / hour as a cashier.
6
@Independent
Right on about employers using foreigners to keep wages down.
Excellent example of highly-skilled IT employees being replaced by companies lying about the ability to employ skilled it employees to get lower-wage foreign workers using H1B visas:
https://www.cbs.com/.../cbs.../-60-minutes-examines-h-1b-visas-outsourcing-american...
American workers are losing jobs because of a law designed to help the job market. The H-1B visa lets companies recruit foreign talent for emerging ...
To add insult to injury, the American workers were required to train their replacements before they were fired! If you didn't remain on the job, you were not eligible for a benefit package: you were considered to have quit the job, thus no benefit package, no unemployment compensation......shame on that employer and others who have done the same thing.
3
@Azalea Lover Isn’t it against the law to hire H1B, or H2B workers when you already have American citizens or green card residents doing the work? Where is the US Labor Department?Isn’t it their job to make sure the laws are being followed?
Wow. This is sad and mind boggling. As one who taught computer programming at a community college and who worked many years for one of the promised companies (Oracle) who would supposedly hire the graduates, I am amazed no one saw through this sham in the local government. Many other commenters with similar resumes have stated why this course wouldn't deliver and why companies like Oracle would never hire people with this limited experience. Apparently those elected to protect the public didn't understand this and didn't seek out those who did. Worse, no one in Washington wants to get involved. Although, Mindful Minds looks like something Betsy DeVoss might put federal funds into.
18
Shouldn’t Ms. Laucher’s acceptance to law school be rescinded? I can think of all sorts of ways she has already violated any code of conduct. Why admit someone who will likely- and eventually- be found guilty of fraud? The milestones of the gods and all that...
17
What makes this even sadder is that these are the people who are willing to learn something new. Yet they end up no better off than the folks who vote for politicians who promise to keep the coal mine open.
19
This sounds like a poorly executed program but it is not clear that it is a bad or unworkable idea.
5
The arc of history bends toward justice. Although Ms. Laucher may attend law school, the bar of every state requires demonstration of good character for admission to actually practice law. This article, which will easily appear when her name is Googled, will ensure she will not meet that standard.
9
This leads me to wonder what kinds of deals Joe Manchin was cooking up that inspired him to promote the program. Probably an honest mistake, right? Maybe when Ms. Laucher enters law school he can open up a nice clerkship opportunity for her.
7
What is the point of education if not to convey the critical mass of knowledge people need to be able to further teach themselves from resources they know where to look for?
1
Hope these scam victims get well-deserved justice..... I hesitate to add this but is "Billyjack Buzzard" a REAL person? Cannot possibly be....or is it? My apologies in advance to Mr. Buzzard if that is indeed his actual name.
5
Germany has faced the same globalization we have and they don't seem to have the laid off factory workers we have.
They are known for high-tech manufacturing. They don't have the poverty we have. They have universal healthcare. They have better schools for the working class. They offer some amount of trade school or university.
They have 3.4% unemployment and a very large trade surplus.
They also took in 1 million Syrian refugees as the result of our 2003 invasion of Iraq because of non-existent weapons of mass destruction.
On the other hand, the US has parts with infant mortality rates of a second world country and the highest incarceration rate in the world.
After 35 years of trickle-down Reaganomics, we got an opioid crisis.
25
@Independent - Germany has long supported and included apprenticeship programmes within its educational systems.
7
@Independent It helps that in Germany companies have to have union members on their boards.
2
I give kudos for the young people who have made the decision to relocate to where opportunities exist. That is a fundamental attitude that helped build this country. Go where the jobs are.
In the early 80s, with an aging BS degree I left my home town of Portland OR and its limited opportunities as assistant managers in fast food restaurants, landing first in LA with a job as a data processing analyst. While not being distracted by the false promises and dead end jobs, during the next 2 years I took several computer courses at UCLA night school, got some extra work debugging other people's COBOL programs - that was the most marketable computer language in those days, and parlayed it all into a 20+ year career in "information technology" ("IT") at one of the giant tech corporations in silicon valley. I learned few people here a genius at coding. The industry also needs many employees who have skills in design, analysis, testing, managing projects and people, and no matter what you do it really helps to be able to get along with people. Plus, many of the people I worked with lived elsewhere, in many of our 50 states to the far reaches in other continents. Many "remote jobs" exist.
Every American should have the opportunity to learn that Fraud is a mainstay of the American capitalist system. Our president and his Trump U personifies this practice. The lesson feels painful, for you trusted and were swindled and betrayed. Once learned, take your wisdom and move on.
6
* “They’re coming here promising stuff that they don’t deliver,” said Mr. Frame, his hands and face still gray with coal dust. “People do that all the time. They’ve always done it to Appalachians.”
* "It was a too-good-to-be true kind of deal. ...Just false hope."
* “I wholeheartedly believe, and will always believe,” Ms. Frame said to the camera, “that God has sent Mined Minds to us to save us from what could have been a very bleak future.”
Too trusting, or simply naive? And how reminiscent this attitude of wishful-thinking seems when applied to DJT supporters.
7
A large part of my career has been spent in designing software. It’s not impossible for a talented and motivated person to get started with a 16-week training program. After all, a successful college student is mostly a self-taught learner, and professionals in all fields must re-teach themselves continuously. A software developer’s body of knowledge is ultimately comparable to that of a medical doctor, and even the Surgeon General once had to learn how to get a tongue depressor out of a jar.
The problem in places like Appalachia is that boys and girls with an interest in this kind of work are most likely to discover programming in high school or before. They leave for greener pastures as soon as they can.
Those who remain are inevitably people who were drawn to other things. This is not a criticism of their intelligence or motivation. Nor is their later interest in programming impossible to build upon. For the person with ideas to express, or who enjoys the feeling of technical mastery, code can be both expressive and rewarding. The abstractions and paradigms needed for professional work can be drawn as readily from their past experiences as anyone else’s. Terms like “constructor”, “factory” and “framework” come from the physical world, not the mathematical.
This isn’t a defense of Mined Minds. However, no one should think that it’s impossible for people to change their paths in life, or that coding cannot lead to a successful career.
95
@Global Charm
My relatives in the South tell me that "coding" is the new pot of gold--a skill that does not require a four year college degree. It's what they are advocating high school students to do rather than go to college. The problem is that even if that premise is true, and I doubt that it is, rural students often have limited access to the internet and no computer at home. In many places, families could pay for high speed internet and computers, but their priority is to buy guns and bass boats. The rural South is at a crossroads. It can't survive if it stays culturally backwards and yet it refuses to change. Change requires a culture to admit that it is not perfect, and the hubris of the rural South does not allow it to do that. If this non-profit was a scam, it profited by understanding that vulnerability and exploiting it.
29
@Global Charm I think you hit the nail on the head in addition to Mined Minds sounding like they spent more of the money on themselves then the students or real instructors.
My company had a similar program for veterans the difference was they were paid a salary while they learned. Even with the support I wouldn't call it successful because most were removed once the year was up. You can't just wake up and decided to code. It takes interest and will to put up with the mundane, technical and difficult aspects of it. Most were just coasting because it was a good opportunity.
15
@hilliard In my professional career, I have met a number of people who aspired to rise from clerical or testing positions to development, or from development to project management or architecture. Only a small number actually succeed.
For later-in-life students without some initial knowledge of the work, I would expect maybe one out of ten to be successful, if even that.
Yet as Shakespeare put it: a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, else what’s a heaven for?
Speaking as a taxpayer, I think that it’s worth supporting programs like the one you describe. You say that your program was not a success, but it might have been more successful than you first think.
7
No need to blame people in Appalachia for falling for this fake educational scheme. As Governor of Texas and later President, George W. Bush destroyed a generation of critical thinking in American education with his "No Child Left Behind" program of rote memorization, largely benefitting one of his brothers' get-rich classroom software sales schemes. Education Secretary Betsey DeVos continues the collapse with her forced acceptance of for-profit charter schools resulting in the loss of public school funding.
In short, the laughably inept criminals behind Mined Mines (Mined Pockets?) are by no means the worst offenders, although they are the easiest to spot.
29
@Anne P. I reread but missed the part where they were charged with a crime. Certainly ineffective, possibly inept. I likely have the same concern about entities scamming people just for the money, if so there should be consequences but this doesn't look like Trump University either.
You'll know that the US really is at full employment when employers eagerly train their own workers at their own expense.
24
@Steve Bolger I grew up with one of these companies with a defined pension excellent pay and benefits. It slowly went away, maybe coincidence but the CEO's through that period got paid much more stock, were vested faster and still get cars and flight time and millions per year. And that's all I have to say bout that.
4
The good people of Appalachia has always been exploited by outsiders and the government. And...sometimes they are their own worst enemy.
I should know; I was born and raised in West Virginia.
15
Sounds a lot like the promise and delivered goods from Trump University.
26
This was such a sad story.
I'm not qualified to judge whether or not the founders designed it as a scam from the beginning. Perhaps they started off with good intentions, but through their sheer ineptness and swayed by all the easy money washing around, just went off the tracks.
Either way, a pretty big chunk of innocent people who are desperate to change their circumstances and are willing to work hard for the chance, were taken for suckers. If they had a glimmer of conscience, they'd be ashamed of what they wrought and would have left the business. But they seem to have merely shifted the same fraud to a new location.
11
@Dan McSweeney: The US Founders negotiated a scheme to unify 13 arbitrarily defined and culturally distinctive regions into a national economy supervised by a common federal government, expecting it to last about 20 years before needing a comprehensive revision, to address the complications that would arise as the nation expanded across the continent.
2
@Steve Bolger. What's your source for 20 years and then "comprehensive revision"?
2
@Steve Bolger I apologize for my lack of clarity. When I said “Founders”, I didn’t mean THOSE founders, I meant the founders of Mined Minds.
Henceforth I shall take care to use the term only in relation to that particular group sometimes also known as the Originalists.
For the record, I think their idea was the exact opposite of a scam, and has benefited the country and the world greatly ever since they wrestled it into place. And far from lasting just 20 years, their superb, wonderful creation long ago shot past the 200 year mark and only now seems under serious threat.
1
Brilliant, meaningful reporting. Journalism supported by the relatively small number of major media, largely national (and international) like The NYT, are so critical in this era of authoritarian, Trump-GOP-Fox propaganda.
The truth in stories like this one hurts, but it also punctures the idea that simple, overnight fixes are the answer to economic and cultural change.
13
Trump's unemployment numbers skipped Appalachia and Mined Minds training. This shaggy dog story is nothing compared to the core and crux of these villages and hamlets where good boys and girls pray to Mitch McConnell and eat dirt for supper. West Virginia, Kentucky and SW Virginia might simply erase themselves by bulldozing all house trailers and immigrating to California where good jobs exist in the farm fields and coding and coal pickaxing are not required. Ran Paul, Manchin , Capito and McConnell could care less about hillbillies and poverty.
13
@terry brady Don't want any more uneducated racist whites moving to California.
3
This is Nina Castro:
So another sector of our economy and our culture at large, high tech, is engaged in cannibilistic narcissism, just as politics descends into a mentality of "I'll get mine, and move on". The owner of the company, Ms. Laucher, must be self hating in the extreme, to kick backward so hard at the persons on the lower rungs of the ladder of upward mobility, with whom she shares history.
6
The people of West Virginia are being victimized right an left. Trump has run the biggest con job on them, telling them that their coal jobs are going to come back--a total lie. The existing coal companies have destroyed their health, their wealth and their spirit. Now this. West Virginia is a wonderful part of the country with many natural resources that remain unrealized. But if they keep pulling the lever for Republicans, they will never get out of their misery.
27
@William O, Beeman West Virginia had been under the control of Democrat’s for the past 60+ years. Remember senator Byrd the longest serving US senator. That would make wv a blue state for over 60 years for those not paying attention. If the solution were as simple as Democrats or Republicans West Virginians wouldn’t be in the situation they are in. West Virginians need solid state leadership to diversify the economy instead they have had hold your nose while you chose the lesser of two evils.
@Minerniner Maybe Democratic in past history but West Virginia is currently Republican in all three branches of state government.
2
What a shame! And, more importantly, what a scam!! The bottom line is that these people have as much chance of being a software coder as I have to walk on the moon, without any oxygen. This company got some government grants, made some big noise in desperate parts of the country and were seen as the God-sent savior. And, some fell for the scam.
High paying software jobs are not coming to West Virginia and rural Pennsylvania any time soon. Those jobs are staying along the West and East coasts and Texas were the well educated workers are. That is why many of these places cost more. Because the educated want to live there and the companies know that is where they are going to find the best workers.
10
I have a Degree in Computer Science\Math. 5 years at a good State University, not 16 weeks. Fraud and corruption spills over in Trump government
13
After struggling for years trying to find work in this sad economy in southern WV My husband and I after raising five kids. Thank God we made it without relocating while they were getting there education. Have now relocated and are enjoying our retirement years in much better circumstances which is very hard because I leave behind two adult children who choose to stay and my retired parents who couldnt afford to relocate I find it very disheartening that the people we hire for office never keep there promises. I am not educated enough to make sure my writing skills are up to par. But after reading this. I felt compelled to leave a comment. It hurts me to know that these so called people in office turn a blind eye to how the people live in such poverty and don’t care. I think people need to fight for jobs being brought back into the state. Most of the hardwood is shipped out. How sad that our beautiful forests are being destroyed and it goes into their pockets. Please think about who you vote when deciding WV future. They all make fake smiles and promises
332
@Tammy You are educated enough to have read and understood this article in the New York Times. You have written a comment telling the rest of us how this horrible story matches your family's life experience in WV. You have connected the WV generational poverty to the politicians who do nothing to help but line their own pockets while destroying the beautiful forests - shipping the lumber away. Your last line is a perfect description of politics and politicians, "They all make fake smiles and promises." Thank you for writing.
92
1st- DEMAND candidate specify & detail a job training program and detail history of success.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.
Preceding: Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Key document: Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935
Employees: 8.5 million 1935–1943; 3.3 million in November 1938 (peak)
Annual budget: $1.3 billion
18
@Tammy
Writing well is more than perfect grammar and spelling (like mastering anything, that just comes with practice -- and reading a lot) -- no, writing that is worth reading requires ideas and critical, imaginative thinking that connects those ideas to the reader's world and, Tammy, you've got that part already so please keep reading and commenting a great deal more! Plenty of NYT readers like me will benefit.
56
Old-timer here. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the NYT used to run exposes of consumer frauds, such as nursing homes or computer schools.
Each expose would be well-done, several stories, by a star reporter, like Fran Cerra or John Hess. There would be a scandal, and legislators would introduce legislation. (Sort of like Elisabeth Rosenthal's series on health care.)
Then, after about six years, everybody would have forgotten the series, and it would be time for a new one.
John Hess said that he would start by reading the old stories in the Times files (morgue). Nothing changed. Time for a new story.
So we used to have computer training schools, that would charge hefty tuition, on the promise of a job in the growing, glamorous computer industry. They had ads on subway cars. They would teach the basics of computer programming, with punch cards and obsolete equipment. People would graduate, but couldn't get jobs.
(One of the problems with computer programming, BTW, is that it's specialized. The schools used to teach on Burroughs machines, but the industry was moving to IBM.)
I can't remember any exposes of computer schools in the NYT lately. I think computer training has become so much more complicated that it would be more difficult.
If you want to write one, I recommend starting with the U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/home.htm Check their facts. Is it really that easy?
9
Terrible. We could enact regulations. But you know, those are job killers. /s
14
@jaco Some jobs need to be replaced as times change...blacksmiths are an example.
3
If it seems too good to be true...or as P.T. Barnum would say, "There is a sucker born every minute." I don`t. mean to make fun of these poor people. Honestly. But the good folks of this region need to look Senator Manchin and all those involved in this fraud and tell them in no uncertain terms Thank`s for NOTHING. It seems as if certain regions or areas just get written off as too poor, backward, or unimportant to bother with. It says a great deal more about human nature and power politics than the poor who are always seen to be taken advantage of. It also speaks to who is really benefiting under Trump`s great economy. Certainly NOT the people who need it the most it would seem. More of the same; the rich getting richer; the poor be damned. America/ 2019!
9
And where is the con-artist Laucher heading now “law school in Chicago” - EGAD!
11
Sounds like they preyed on the hopes of the less fortunate. Typical Republican maneuver.
6
In the quest to find meaningful / decent paying work, many people leave their hometowns, cities, states and even countries for this pursuit, often with limited or no resources to start.
Why should it be any different for those in this situation?
9
My local community college sponsored an outside program for online medical coding or medical transcription training There was no time limit on coursework, but in order to keep online privileges, a student had to pay renewal fees.
I wonder how many people finished within the nonpaying time limits and actually found employment? Beware everyone in this supposed "great" economy; evidently, the scams abound.
13
I worked for years with almost every job training program that existed from the 1960s on, the Neighborhood Youth Corp program, Apprenticeship programs, the Job Training and Partnership Act, etc. etc. etc. All had their, what we called, "glory stories", but most were just wishful thinking. There were some good and valid reasons articulated for their failure--as with this program--but failures they were.
Politicians and do-gooders (not necessarily the same) have been looking for answers to what is a social as well as economic issue since the Luddites opposed mechanism of England's cotton mills in the 19th century. With few exceptions progress does not result in prosperity for workers employed in archaic (coal mining, in this case) industries.
Job training programs personify the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing expecting a different result.
Until we put our resources and emphasis on a good education from early childhood instead of one that produces an expedient supply workers for soon-to-be obsolete jobs, and then when the jobs are gone expecting adults to their lifestyle, this tragic cycle of human lives in despair will continue.
How very sad.
74
@charlotte
Well put. But I dont understand the reference to "soon to be obsolete" jobs. No techie here, but I was not under the impression good coding jobs, in up to date coding languages, are going the way of the dodo anytime soon. And starting with early childhood is great, but doesn't exactly address the problems of these young adults.
@Wine Country Dude - all coding languages are obsolete within a very short time. The trick is learning how to learn the new ones as they come along, not just learning the one at hand. COBOL programmers became C+ and C++ programmers, Edlin became DOS became Windows became, became, became became. Effective early training in how to learn is the key - rote memorisation is only the key to failure.
12
This same thing happened a few years ago with for-profit colleges.
Republican presidential candidate Bill Weld got mixed up in a for-profit college -- I think it was Corinthian -- that was going to teach *carpentry* and building via an on-line course.
Students would learn stuff on-line then have to travel to places like Kentucky, stay in a hotel, and learn in two weeks what it takes carpentry apprentices years to learn.
Unsurprisingly, the school shut down, none of the students got jobs but they all had big debts to pay off.
Another scam, just like Trump University.
One wonders about Governor Weld's acumen that he was so easily bamboozled by this kind of a scam.
~
63
@DickeyFuller
Well, a failed "university" isn't something Trump can use against Weld during the presidential campaign...oh, the irony!
8
"Mined minds" indeed. To soulless, predatory capitalists, and their corrupt government enablers, we are ALL exploitable resources, to be strip-mined and then discarded.
And those who prey on people seeking to better their lives are the worst of the worst, in my book. (Also the for-profit colleges.)
I traveled through WV (including Beckley!) a couple of years ago and met so many nice people. I hope they start voting for politicians who serve their interests. This remains a rich country and there is plenty of good and honest work that we could be supporting in fields like education, medicine, child care, and sustainability. But first we need to break the grip of the dishonest .1% on our government. Jailing a few fraudsters, including the victim-blaming Ms. Laucher, and voting out horrible politicians like Manchin, would be a good start.
Oh, and btw, Manchin's daughter is one of the reasons life-saving Epipens are now $700 instead of $70.
98
@Hillary Rettig
Sadly Senator/Governor Manchin is/was far better than his opponents in the last decade or two.
10
The people of Appalachia are the victims here. They had no experience or skills to realize, until they had spent their scarce and hard earned
money on these pointless classes that they WERE being scammed.
I see a lot of victim blaming in the comments here.
Their perceived religiosity has little or nothing to do with the failure of this tax supported, federal government recommended scam by yet another "for profit" school.
33
I wonder if people would have smelled the scam sooner if they hadn’t been indoctrinated to believe that “coastal elites” are all lazy, entitled, “just book smart,” overrated, lacking common sense, etc. How many movies do you know where the All-American Joe Average arrives late to the party, solves the problem with good old common sense, and shows up all of the pointy-headed liberal professors who looked down on him at first? Of course people thought they would be qualified for a high-paid coding job (working remote, no less) with 16 weeks of part-time classes and some gumption. They have no respect for expertise or understanding of what it takes to acquire it.
105
@Glen
They thought they would get what they were told they would get - an apprenticeship. How about a smidgen of respect for the victims of the scam?
16
@Glen In fact the "Star Wars" saga is precisely that - a farmer's kid (Luke), on some back water planet, shows those city slickers that he is the true Jedi....
4
Just remember, we don't have to regulate companies, they will self-regulate because of Adam Smith's invisible hand, right? Just ask any Republican.
61
@LaughingBuddah: The whole political system is warped by companies striving to gain public subsidies and mandates for their products and services.
11
@LaughingBuddah - Even Adam Smith recognized that the invisible hand couldn't be left completely ungoverned.
10
Doesn’t this article just describe how some parties are using social media effectively? Imagining that as “Russian” seems little more than an effort to smear them.
2
Remember the O’Connor killing of 1967 in an eastern KY mining community? The filmmaker was funded by the US Dept of Commerce to document Appalachian poverty when he was shot dead outside a rental house that was let for $10 month. Never to be accused of learning from history, the Feds have again funded projects in 2019 which everybody knows have besmirched Appalachian dignity and community life, all for the sake of imaginary benefits of tech life. This very article does the same in its blissful ignorance. Only this time it’s the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), a honeypot of slush money and conservative blowhard, mostly southern governors and their sycophants, which fund and champion every technology bad enough to outsource to unsuspecting locals and, oh yes, to the Feds. Also, it nearly defies the imagination that this article could miss the real culprits in this fiasco so completely. Appalachian communities care about their dignity, their autonomy, and their families. The Feds and the States best learn from history, but given this country’s current direction, it’s just one step forward, two steps back.
9
Sad that people get lured into a certain field with the promise of a good paying job as the primary reason. To really excel in any field I believe a passion is required especially to get through the 35 year burnout phase.
I pulled an A- in BASIC my first A ever in any class. The next semester a B+ in COBOL, my interest already waning. For my third semester I skipped FORTRAN and went right to PL1 and withdrew before the semester ended. Even though I was pretty good at it, coding just wasn't for me for the next 40 years.
Also with any high tech job be prepared to constantly upgrade your skills, new technology becomes old technology rather quickly.
12
I am a Software Developer employed full time with benefits making $55k/Year maintaining my companies proprietary systems.
Last year I was a Circus Artist.
I completed a coding bootcamp using React.Js, C# and SQL. Someone else from my cohort is also employed at my company. The vast majority of my cohort members found employment in software development.
To the Computer Science Grads here: Not every job requires a genius to invent a new algorithm or revolutionize the framework. A lot of jobs are out there for maintaining legacy code. It might not pay over $100k/year but it's stable livable money.
This story pains me because the concept could do so much to help Appalachians out of what frequently looks like a hopeless situation, if only it weren't being run by incompetent scammers.
50
@Grandtheatrix
Thanks for pointing out these essential bits of information. I can only whole-heartedly agree. As with all jobs, to get good at them requires time, lots of time. A few weeks just ain't enough. Learning a programming language is one thing, using it to program an efficient algorithm is something else altogether. First one has to understand how to structure the algorithm, root out all conceptual errors on that level and only then can one hope to get a meaningful program that is useful in the end and not a klutz.
I learned BASIC, FORTRAN and PASCAL in the 80s to process biochemistry data. I got fairly good at it, because there was a need to fill a gap I needed to close. Those languages are mostly outdated these days. So just for fun, I recently thought I teach myself Python over a rainy weekend. In two days I made it thorough the very basic stuff and got an understanding of the commands, but I found the structure to be very different from what I had used before. Just for the fun of it, I did manage to code an efficient program for calculating primes, perhaps the simplest beginners' task of all, but to do that, I need to point out, one not only has to understand the programming language, but also the more advanced math behind it.
From the article, I did not understand where that was taught. I would imagine that someone who has spent their adult life in coal mining did not use their evenings to keep up with math.
16
@Kara Ben Nemsi - "...one not only has to understand the programming language, but also the more advanced math behind it. "
You nailed it. Coding boot camps work for some people, but only if they already have a math background.
11
@Grandtheatrix
How many operating engineer and engineering technician positions still exist? All these boot camps train are people who will soon be obsoleted by technology or deskilled to the point that they will be shipped to Mexico.
5
How on earth could anyone transform Vance's peeps, and the MAGA set within a blink of an eye into career oriented, value creating individuals?
Yeah I read Vance's book too; he is clear that his peeps do no work, get no education, make no sacrifices, but want to plain destroy everyone not them (or want the government to do it for them). So maybe they are not all subjects of Vance's elegy, and maybe some are genuinely where they are for choices they didn't get to make. Yet, there is no escape from reality.
People successful in any type of tech seem to have gotten there after a lifetime of hard choices, delaying gratification, enduring pain. It would be anomalous to find an adult without education or skills, to magically transform into a successful tech employee within a year. Or two. Or three. Not when factories are robotized, offices are computerized, a lot of things are on apps, and enterprise level software. Not when blockchains will engender unprecedented accountability. Not when critical thinking skills are required of just about anyone.
See the work load of say any STEM major at a serious college; it is nothing if not challenging, often painful, often calling for unrelenting stick-to-itiveness and sacrifice.
Writing code is not typing.
32
@Kalidan "How on earth could anyone transform Vance's peeps, and the MAGA set within a blink of an eye into career oriented, value creating individuals?
Yeah I read Vance's book..."
Very true. but then again, you yourself seem to think reading a single perspective on a group of people you don't know is all the knowledge you need to make sweeping judgements.
Lazy thinking is not the sole domain of the West Virginians.
10
These are the same communities that voted for Trump because he was going to bring coal mining jobs back. Education, real education, is the key. It doesn't have to be 4 years or more of college, a specific program from a community college such as auto mechanics or applicance repair would work just as well to get a person a good paying job. However, falling for flim flam never works. Easy money is neither.
14
@Padfoot What “easy money” happened here? People had to quit their jobs and go to class.
Learning to code is in some ways no different than learning a new language. It’s not going to happen overnight. Regardless of the skill that you wish to master. It will take education, experience and discipline. If it were easy to do and profitable, then everyone would be doing it. At that point there is no need for the applicant since there is an abundant pool of qualified people to do the job. We live in a time of great mobility. Are you stuck in rut because you don’t want to leave an area that has zero job prospects. Even the coal industry has evolved over the years. You no longer see abundant jobs of underground mining. The coal industry hasn’t lost jobs because of environmental laws. They have lost jobs because it is cheaper, cleaner and a lot easier to install a gas pipe to the power plant than to haul train load s of coal. Along with all the manual labor and storage associated with it. You want a future....get out of an area that is dependent and beholden to a single commodity...coal.
17
Anyone who really wants to pick up coding skills or in fact just about any skill (e.g., basic statistics, machine learning) required for a job in the tech industries may rely on the many excellent, completely free-of-charge course offerings on Cousera, EdX, Khan Academy, MIT OCW, Udacity, etc, taught by world-renown professors from major universities. If you need someone to explain a thorny concept or help with a problem set, you just need to ask on Stack Exchange or Stack Overflow, again this is completely free-of-charge and you almost always get insightful, high quality answers from experts seeking to earn reputation points.
In the age of MOOCs and Stack Exchange and Wikipedia, knowledge really is freely available on the internet. In fact, many people in other parts of the world (e.g., China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam) rely on these resources to pick up skills they need for their jobs or to find a new job.
The only "problem" is that any kind of learning, whether in a classroom setting or online, requires self-discipline on the part of the learner. Predatory schools like Mined Minds or Trump University do not have more qualified instructors or better curricula than what you can get for free online, but they do offer the false hope of acquiring a skill with minimal effort, and therein lies their appeal.
44
This is a most regrettable situation, but it emerges with an elegant simplicity that this is what you get when a culture of permissiveness meets laxly made and laxly enforced regulation. If company boards were decimated every time something like this occurred, we would have a lot fewer slip-ups.
11
J.D. Vance joined the Army, went to college, then went to Yale law school, became a venture capitalist and then wrote a best selling book trashing Appalachia. I read the book and didn't like it much, I was expecting more of a cultural analysis and what it was was his memoir. It seemed to me that much of the book was self-congratulatory for getting out of Appalachia and for being different than the people he left behind.
15
It’s heartbreaking what these people endured and to see that - once again - the wealthy oppresses those who have less and had been disadvantaged for generations. It’s about time this type of behavior is severely punished by law as a moral example to society.
5
I went online and googled Amanda Laucher's name to check out the referenced video. I found that one and several others. The one I watched (GOTO 2018 • Coal to Code) featured Amanda and her brother, who was, according to your story, an instructor for the organization. Mind Mines has a clever name and logo, little content on their website and, if their presentation skills are any indication their skills are novice at best.
Yes, our country must to offer retraining opportunities to individuals seeking them, but we need to do a much better job of vetting the "leaders" who envision and, more importantly, execute these programs. Amanda and her brother didn't have the skills to make any of this happen. It was a horrific waste of money that caused folks to invest their time and resources in something that made perfect sense in theory, but was vaporware in reality.
15
Can we try to avoid the saviors who parachute in with nothing more than TED fame as credentials?
Rural areas, especially those with a financial dependence on coal, are hurting. It won't get better if people don't shift from hoping coal will rebound. That industry is going away. Pennsylvanians, fracking will last a few more decades maybe, but don't bet your kids' futures on it. So you will need an education, then you will need to decide if you can support your family where you are, or if you will need to move.
Rather than depend on pie-in-the-sky promises from outsiders, look at what you can start with locally, with actual teachers and course plans. I won't bother with listing the colleges, but here's a step - community colleges and technical schools.
West Virginia - the link to your state's Technical and Community Colleges: https://www.wvctcs.org/
Kentucky - same: https://kctcs.edu/
Pennsylvania: https://www.education.pa.gov/Postsecondary-Adult/College%20and%20Career%20Education/Pages/Community-Colleges.aspx
If you have greater ambitions, great. Avoid for-profit schools, especially since the current enforcement of same is managed by people interested in protecting the school owners, not the students. But community colleges can be a start, and can potentially get you a better job without a mountain of college debt.
30
As long as rural America continues to put in republicans who are owned by the extraction and agribusiness industries, the cupboard in the state house treasury will be bare.
Funds will not be available for schools to educate and train their children. Hospitals will go shuttered. People will go hungry. Bridges will collapse,along with society into a dystopia.
'' Mom, I'm getting a headache from beating my head against the wall.'' "So stop beating your head against the wall.''
West Virginia's State House, congressional delegation, and Senators are solidly in Republican hands. It's citizens dug their own grave, and keep on shoveling.
How they passed on Ojeda, who served for 24 years in the military, , rising to the rank of major, one of their own, is a mystery to me.
How the grandsons and daughters of men who died establishing the UMW became anti union is another mystery.
33
@Lawrence West Virginia had been under the control of Democrat’s for the past 60+ years. Remember senator Byrd the longest serving US senator. That would make wv a blue state for over 60 years for those not paying attention. If the solution were as simple as Democrats or Republicans West Virginians wouldn’t be in the situation they are in. Careful with that political rhetoric when you don’t have the facts ;)
@Minerniner yes in past history. Currently all branches of state government are Republican.
1
Thanks so much to the reporter, interviewees, and researchers who worked on this story. Desperate, gullible people throughout the U.S. are preyed on by vultures. Now to educate and develop the skeptical mindset in all our citizens. So important in personal decision-making.
4
No one would expect that they could get a mining job or a manufacturing job without moving to the vicinity of a mine or a plant. But lately people seem to expect that, by a miraculous process, jobs will come to them. Moving is now seen as just beyond the pale.
Anybody can get a job here, judging by the help wanted signs. In all kinds of work. You don't need to be smart or educated. Contractors need help, stores need help, restaurants need help. And lots of people are moving in, which is a big part of the reason that everyone needs help. When you lose that mining job, you need to move out of mining country, and to an area of the country that's growing. And don't worry about the culture, we've got plenty of everything. You'll find people you love.
10
@roseberry Insane. How much to you think it costs to move? Why should people leave their families and support systems behind?
1
@Jay Strickler Just sell all your junk and put the kids in the car and drive. Rents aren't high outside of a few big cities. Churches here will help you. It's what my dad did. In this town, hardly anyone was actually born here. Just find a place where the population is growing, contact the local employment office and see what's cooking.
3
There is a deeply entrenched disdain for education, intelligence , science and critical thinking in this country.
That culture is particular prevelant in places like Appalachia. I don't blame them.
I blame a lack of funding for schools, birth control clinics, infrastructure and creative problem solving .
Why can't former coal miners winterize homes and install solar panels?
You don't need computers for that.
13
It’s interesting that “Learn to code” is sold as basically the only fix for unemployment or underemployment. I’m in IT and unfortunately it’s not for everyone and it’s not a universal fix. What bothers me is these people are taking advantage of desperate people with essentially no tech background, other than hearing it was a quick path to solid work.
I lived through the first Dotcom Bubble and there were many for profit training companies selling Microsoft or Sun system admin certification training. Their hook was taking people off the street with no background and giving them enough...assistance...to pass their exams. They also took a lot of federal grant money for retraining as well as GI Bill money from veterans. This scheme is worse in my opinion because they’re collecting all sorts of education grant money based on false promises.
My opinion is that we need to find a set of jobs that can replace manufacturing so we can have a diverse, balanced workforce. Not everyone is capable of higher end knowledge work...but just a few decades ago it was still possible for people to get a factory job and have a very decent standard of living. Forcing everyone into minimum wage work or putting them in a “coder bootcamp” and falsely promising them work and money isn’t a good replacement.
22
What does Sen. Manchin have to say about this? Doesn't he bear some responsibility?
8
A person can learn enough HTML, CSS and Javascript in 16 weeks to do custom web-based work using widely available platforms, but not much else.
Things you can't learn in 16 weeks: principals of good design, a sense of composition, taste in color and graphics, what looks current versus what looks dated, estimating project scope, managing time, and interacting with clients.
Also, the best source of jobs for students coming out of a program is often going to be the other students in the program. Better to attend a "boot camp" in a city that will be hiring your classmates than in a locale with little need for those skills. Proximity to jobs is important when you're trying to get started.
67
Good for you! You have provided good information. Most comments use the opportunity to slam a political party and a president. Those folks provide rent-free space in their brain to Trump.
Many comments assume the people in W. Virginia are dumb: they are not.
Many comments assume Trump or DeVos is responsible for this program: they are not.
Many comments assume no legitimate school would offer such programs: they are wrong. (Georgia Tech, ranked #35 nationwide, offers a 24 week coding boot camp: https://pe.gatech.edu/certificates/georgia-tech-coding-boot-camp; MIT offers boot camps in coding and entrepreneurship: https://bootcamp.mit.edu/
Bootcamps. One semester condensed into a week. You will form a team, work with MIT-trained ...)
Many people who read about states with employment problems, especially Southern states, offer sneers, not sympathy; offer political advice, not help.
Those comments are by people who seem to be either blind or dumb because those problems exist in their own states, in their own inner cities. They pass such communities on the train to work; see signs with names on the interstate but don't recognize the name - there's no highly-ranked hotel, spa, restaurant there.
There are millions of forgotten Americans, who don't get the sympathy undocumented immigrants get.
Why no offers of help for these forgotten Americans, who are black and white, whose ancestors were here in the 1700's - 1800's, as sharecroppers or slaves?
9
Apparently, they have a community college. What are they teaching people? They should be offering tech course with reasonable tuition. It does not appear that there is a demand for tech skills in their area. So even with tech skills, they may have to move on.
33
So sad, and so predictable. The locals were scammed, the abandoned. Who, exactly, provided the Taxpayer funds for this Con ? Absolutely no repercussions, I assume. Please, name the (self ) promoters.
27
There is rampant fraud in the for profit education sector. And this sector generally preys on people with few options and very limited contacts in the desired field who might help them make better decisions about enrollments and which educational programs will help them meet their goals. Unfortunately, instead of building better advisement,Trump, the darling as far as West Virginia is concerned, cares nothing for their problem and instead chooses to make them more vulnerable to charlatans. His stooge Betsy de Vos guts any protections that existed before the autocrat began his trail of destruction. Will West Virginians learn from these times? We will know in 2020.
138
@Michele
The "for profit education sector" has also made great inroads into schools with children of poverty in them - both urban and rural. Technology - designed, robotic teaching programs usually, but not always, cause both the students and their parents to rebel.
3
"Mined Minds was one of the primary beneficiaries of a $1.5 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission." That was the only thing they mined- taxpayers' dollars.
62
Sounds like another trump fantasy university. Fits in with reopening all the coal mines and reemploying all the out of work coal miners.
34
@BS
Gee, Trump University did not take any federal funds. None of their students got student loans to attend. And in the settlement, they got their tuition back.
Are the operators of this charitable non-profit planning to return the federal funds they scammed? Are they going to reimburse the students to whom they provided incompetent training? No, one of the founders is going to law school with her ill gotten gains.
This charity was established under the Obama administration. Had Hillary been elected, it would still be in operation, because no one would be questioning the effectiveness of a Democrat scheme.
2
@ebmem "Mined Mines" was a scam. So was Trump University. Excusing the latter by indicting the former is error. Both preyed on desperation. Both made outrageous, unsustainable promises to people grasping at straws. Both took financial advantage of their victims. (Trump conned people out of Millions, then between 2005 and 2017 threatened and countersued those who protested, until he agreed to settle -after vowing he never would. His victims borrowed from home equity lines, friends, banks and family. Some did give up jobs in reliance on Trump's get-rich-quick promises. AND he got a massive tax write off for $25Million settlement. That's government funding!) Ultimately, a hustle is a hustle.
6
@roane1- thank you. Well said. Fasts are tough to argue against, unless you’re a true believer.
2
"Money woes did not make sense, given what they saw of the founders’ lifestyle: the travels worldwide, the views from an office in Chicago’s TRUMP Tower..." Proving again that the Trump brand is a favorite among grifters....
34
@Michelle
Founded in 2015, funded by federal training grants that flowed through the state governments, endorsed by the Democrat Senator from West Virginia.
This is what Obama and his administration thought was a reasonable use of federal taxpayer training funds. It sounded like a good idea: provide short term instruction in coding and get graduates jobs as coders. There was no need to examine the business model, evaluate the quality of instruction or the charities effectiveness in finding jobs for graduates. Certainly no need to question the expensive travel budgets of the philanthropist founders to foreign countries.
This is the same criteria applied to all federally funded employment training programs. All the grant application needs is a plausible narrative. Proving again that the federal government is a honey pot for the politically well connected.
Not unlike Solyndra being granted a "loan" of half a billion by the Obama administration that had been turned down under the Bush administration because their business plan was not viable. The $0.5 billion loan made it possible for the "investors" to recover their investment in exchange for $0.1 billion in donations to Democrats. Taxpayers gave $0.4 to the investors in Solyndra and $0.1 billion to Democrat politicians. that was to save the planet from global warming. No results or benefits to Americans required.
1
@ebmem While Amanda Laucher filled out the paperwork in 2015, the actual fraudulent boot camp didn’t get funding til 2017. And yes Joe Manchin shouldn’t have put his endorsement on this without doing his homework.
2
This is what often happens because conservatives like Joe Manchin insist that the private sector can fix what is wrong with our economic system and there is no need for government to deal with it. How many articles have we read about incentives heaped upon corporations by state and local governments with the promise that wonderful jobs would be created, with the result that corporate shareholders pocket the money and deliver little in return? Too many. Will politicians ever learn? Wrong question. They already know very well the deal being proposed is a scam, and they don't care because they themselves are corrupt.
14
@Mrsfenwick
With all due respect, in March 1965 Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Appalachian Regional Development Act, which subsequently funneled unimaginable sums into the area. Government sector fixes have been tried, Mrs Fenwick.
5
@Mrsfenwick
Right. Joe Manchin, the Democrat who voted for Obamacare, is a conservative. He is also the father of the CEO of Mylan, the drug company who increased the price of EpiPens from $100 to $600 [and overcharged Medicaid while they were at it]; and has a contract with the Clinton Foundation to provide generic AIDS drugs to the third world at higher prices than other producers. Mylan is now under indictment for anti-trust price fixing of generic drugs.
Democrats, including Joe Manchin, are not conservatives. They are corporatists who give money to their friends, family and donors and pretend their progressive policies are intended to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. In fact the poor get pennies and the rich get millions.
The charity had millions heaped on it by the government, which they uses for high cost foreign travel and to fund law school for a founder.
Democrats grant lots of corporate welfare. They also grant a lot of grants to the charitable/industrial complex to fund high salaries to "philanthropists."
Hillary went from dead broke in 2001, so poor she had to steal property from the White House to furnish her new mansion in Westchester. [Purchased with funds borrowed from a political supporter.] By 2016, she and her husband were members of the 0.1%, with annual average taxable income of $30 million per year. Wasn't it a violation of the emoluments clause for her husband to receive consulting and speaking fees from foreign agents?
2
@ ebmem Some of the things you ay aren’t true. I don’t have time to fact check everything. Here: https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/oct/01/viral-image/viral-image-wrongly-accuses-clinton-stealing/
No course syllabus? No catalog? No degree plans for Systems Analyst? Network Engineer? End-User Support Tech? No textbooks? "Google" to find the answers?
And the credentials of the person 'teaching' the course are... Having just taken and passed it? What?
By that logic, a college dropout who passed algebra could suddenly have a Master's degree and get a job as adjunct faculty teaching College Algebra? Absurd!
Here's hoping the AG in West Virginia (and or Pennsylvania) can get a grand jury indictment for fraud. First step in seeing con artists like Ms. Laucher in jail where they belong.
147
@B_Bocq If they did that, and extrapolated to a National level, Trump is toast. Can't have that. The military industrial cesspool needs its mascots more than ever. Support Our Dupes!
3
@B_Bocq They were able to get over $1 million in grants with not even a syllabus or degree plan. That boogles my mind. I would love to know who audits how the money was spent, if anybody even follows up. Having worked for non-profits who receive federal grant money, I do not understand how they are just spending this money like water with such low success rates and nobody is investigating it.
90
This does not only exist in the computer world. It's all over with a plethora of "certificate programs" that are basically useless.
They have supplanted what used to be referred to as "Matchbook University." Learn at home Ph.D programs. Online law degrees.
It would be farcical if it wasn't so sad. America has become a huge con job.
Turn on cable news: it's filled with 25 year old actors (men with two day beards, women with toothpaste smiles) with all sorts of
unheard of diseases who have been cured by popping pills and petting their dogs.
33
@george eliot
How many graduates of four year non-profit colleges are working as Uber drivers and baristas.
There are viable certificate programs that provide training and job placement. They are not typically scale able to federal programs because they need to be comprehensive and specific to local needs.
It is a tragedy how much federal training money is squandered on inappropriate objectives.
But compare it to most federal training programs. This program took federal funds to enrich the "charity's" founders and did not produce a measurable number of jobs for the participants who were exploited. Compare that to Job Corps. How many participants have jobs paying more than minimum wage a year after graduation? Federal programs were set up after NAFTA for workers displaced by jobs that moved to Mexico. How many of those trainees came close to replacing their pre training income?
Federal training funds would be better spent providing pet dogs to the unemployed along with grants for dog food. At least the people would have the comfort of a pet.
4
Were aptitude tests given to the Mined Minds applicants before their 16 week course?
Objective and properly interpreted aptitude tests could have at least guided professional curriculum developers on what types of interactive learning activities, projects, and entry-level computer science career paths each Mined Minds student/apprentice may be best suited for.
Also, it's really unethical & irresponsible to pressure people to drop paying jobs and spend money they don't have on business networking trips (in even more freezing parts of the world like Lithuania where alcohol consumption is a given) that they might not be well-suited for.
Perhaps Ms. Laucher's acceptance into law school should be revoked.
She and her family members have shown a serious lack of planning, competence, and ethics in the highly exploitative practices of Mined Minds.
Shame on the Lauchers for not thinking & planning through how Mined Minds would have worked better if it were partnered w/ existing community colleges that can administer & interpret aptitude tests, as well as provide other classes (ex. psychology, global business etiquette, resume writing, job interview prep, etc.) that could have helped the students be more realistically competitive & adaptive to the dynamics of the 21st century job market!
17
@AnarchiesSuck:
the entire thing was a scam. Its not about the "aptitude tests" needed by the students.
They are the victims here. They had no experience or skills to realize, until they had spent their scarce and hard earned
money on these pointless classes that they WERE being scammed.
12
@RLiss Very true - any legitimately competent operation would have issued aptitude tests for mathematical ability, logical reasoning, personality/leadership tendencies, etc. And worked w/ existing community colleges, but it is painfully obvious that Mined Minds had zero interest in doing any of that.
Fyi to enter the US military, one needs to take a 3-4 hour exam called the ASVAB, plus a psychological assessment exam called the AIMS test.
Anyone scoring below a certain percentile in the ASVAB will not be recruited into the military (no matter if we are in the middle of a war/desperate for fresh recruits), because that below-acceptable-percentile test-taker is just not ready for the demands, challenges, & opportunities of military life that may take a US combatant worldwide.
Also, the AIMS test can gauge reasonably if someone is a leader, follower, bystander type and then inform how the recruit can fit or not in certain teams.
Furthermore, even of a prospect passed all these plus the Physical fitness tests, but turns out to be a felon, then that recruit is a no-go!
The Lauchers apparently never cared about honest standards & solutions in the 1st place.
Thus, like what I said earlier, the Lauchers should face penalties for preying on their own to primarily line their own nepotism-driven pockets.
4
A few years ago, I was reviewing a request for funding for an education project. Its premise was as ridiculous as the idea that someone with a non-technical background can learn computer coding well enough in 16 weeks to get a high-paying job. Like Mined Miners, this project would simply have told a lie to vulnerable people and left them in the lurch.
Most people in my review group wanted to fund the project. Two of us spent some time pointing out its very serious flaws. When we were done, the chairman replied, “I agree with everything you’ve said, but I’m still voting to fund it, because it would be so wonderful if it were true.”
(It didn’t get funded)
This is the crux of things like Mined Miners: people who should (or do) know better will overlook almost anything when they’re told a pretty lie that would be so wonderful if only it was true. This includes people like senators and county commissioners and reviewers who have a duty to protect others from schemes and cunning plans that won’t work.
We can’t fix human nature, but maybe we can vote for candidates who really, truly want to make things better for all of us. But they will and do irritate others because the change they propose will harm people who continue rake in funds or profits, despite failure and despite clearly not caring about the best interests of people around them. But I may be asking too much.
51
@Valerie
Sometimes knowing better can be supported and enhanced by having solid review criteria.
3
Trump U for Appalachians.
If something sounds too good to be true, it's almost certainly too good to be true.
Nevertheless, one can't help but feel sorry for the people who took the bait.
They deserve much better. Federally subsidized, high-quality multi-year tech programs. Graduates leave school with skill sets valuable in the marketplace.
Don't tell me there is no money for such programs. Tax me. I'll pay my share.
38
@Taz:
Tax money paid for this "for profit" school to be established there.....
Folks, please check out Andrew Yang, a Democrat running in the presidential race.
One of the things he talked about was that other politicians have talked about "retraining" disenfranchised citizens to do something else, which is an insane idea.
He said you can't train a truck driver with coding skills and then send him out in the highly competitive software market.
What we need is a fundamental change in how the economy works.
Unless that happens, we will keep seeing stories like this over and over where the downtrodden are being taken advantage of over a false promise.
24
Most good coders become coders before they receive any formal training. They learn how to learn using the web, O'Reilly book and other resources. They do this because they are fascinated with the subject.
Those who don't know how to teach themselves fall behind the curve in six months, and are almost unemployable after a year.
A degree of natural talent is also required, similar to being a writer or a musician. And someone who had no prior interest in software, and no curiosity about it, probably does not have this talent. And a 16 week course will not instill it.
This is why the American coders at the dawn of the internet were so good and the Indian coders that replaced them were so lackluster. The Americans were in the field because they loved it and had the talent for it, the Indians came from all walks of life and were looking for a decent paying job. Many didn't even like computers and software. I know because I saw this.
55
Very true. And the coders who came from India, many on H1B work visas, obtained a full higher education at places like the Indian Institute of Technology, similar to MIT. (And then they waited years for their work visas to be approved. It was all done through hard work, and an interest in the technology field.)
There’s no shortcut to a quality education or to pick up valuable skills. It certainly can’t be done in 16 weeks learning Ruby. Unfortunately, in places like the Appalachians, the best answer is to move away and get a quality education.
4
@Morgan That's an awfully broad brush you're painting with there. There is absolutely no shortage of world-class computer science talent in India, I can assure you. There's a good reason that just about every single large tech company in the world has at least, in part, an Indian workforce and it's not just about cost-savings.
10
There is no shortcut to a higher education (that is, post-high school) in critical thinking. And critical thinking is required for most jobs that pay well. To suggest a short cut is fraud.
25
The brutal reality — These parts of the country have a problem that can’t be solved by simple courses. It starts with underpaid teachers, underfunded schools and communities that don’t value education. By the time children become adults, their foundations are too weak to catch up with the educated elite. Computer coding, like most other ‘thinking’ jobs, requires advanced problem solving skills... skills that don’t show up on any syllabus, but are gained through years of quality education. I’m originally from one of these ‘dying’ parts of the country. My advice — Get out. Move. Migrate. It’s your best option. I’ve achieved a high-level of success of my life, but it would’ve never happened if I stayed where I grew up. Once you’re out, make sure your kids get the best education available. Unfortunately, most red states don’t offer this opportunity.
103
@M. We chose a blue city in a red state, where our kids got excellent prep for college.
2
This is very similar to Trump University.
In America these days, we can always count on shady operators to arise to meet the needs of people in trouble.
10
... to arise to meet the needs of people in trouble and their own.
1
Did anyone bother to look at the 501(c)3's tax return? I ran a large, complex nonprofit. This is not the space for a complete dissertation but the 2017 tax return depicts, in my opinion, a sham.
6
I have moved and lived in different parts of the U.S. and now live in Europe because that's where job opportunities existed. When one does this, there are sacrifices. You can't expect the same life you had before. You need to adapt. Sometimes you need to sell everything and start over. And I'm not talking about some "American Dream" nonsense. You either choose to work where you are and accept the local economic realties, or change your circumstances by thinking clearly about your options. You can't expect anyone to be your advocate in the current "shareholder value" world we all live in.
25
@mrfreeze6 I felt much as you do until I read Wendell Berry's Imagination in Place. I still agree with your points in part, but Berry makes a fine point that we cheat ourselves by allowing our human selves to be treated as modular economic units to passed around like so much breathing currency. We cannot expect anyone to be our advocate in the current world, but we can on some level try to advocate for ourselves and a type of dignity that is personal and not strictly economic.
3
Anyone who tells you that programming is easy, that anyone can learn it, and it can be learned in a few weeks or months is lying to you, and those who make these claims are scammers, and they themselves do not know how to code.
But to be fair, and those scammers aside, the culture of Appalachia is also a problem. They have this victim's consciousness, they are waiting for someone to tell them what to do, what to sign up for, and they do not check things out. In other words, that culture shows them as easy marks. So on one side, we have the scammers, and on the other side, we have people of a culture that does not promote education, success, nor self-initiative. Yes, there are exceptions, but few. And it's these folks who are Trump's strongest supporters. See the pattern here?
38
@Philsky Petersky Your thoughts reflect a lot of truth and you said it better than I could have. I don't think it's just a regional problem though, it seems to be an issue shared by small, isolated towns. I've seen it in CA, OR, and WA as well. Interestingly, it corresponds to Trump country in most cases.
5
“I wholeheartedly believe, and will always believe,” Ms. Frame said to the camera, “that God has sent Mined Minds to us to save us from what could have been a very bleak future.”
Ms. Frame should rely on her talent, smarts and hard work and not God. God has nothing to do with it.
47
Sorry to sound like the typical elite east coast liberal but these people's problem is their victim mentality. No amount of training or help will make any difference if they don't learn to take some responsibility for the role they play in their own lives instead of waiting around for someone to give them something.
Anyone can learn to code but it won't help if you don't also know how to take initiative in finding a job, and know how to function in an office workplace.
Did this woman really think that going out and getting drunk with her supervisor was going to help her?
16
@Matt D:
Yes, apparently she did.....how would she have known otherwise? What could she have asked her parents or other elders around her that would have told her differently?
She was not a middle or upper class girl who had plenty of people to guide her in life.
7
@Matt D At a former job I had that was exactly how one got the good paying assignments. I’m guessing that happens at other jobs as well. Mining Mines however wasn’t a job.
2
“I wholeheartedly believe, and will always believe...that God has sent Mined Minds to us to save us from what could have been a very bleak future.”
What, did people just assume that pyramid schemes evaporated once they became mainstream? If only it were that easy.
‘True belief’ is not a characteristic that should inspire any comfort. It should raise concern, and probably even a bit of alarm.
A ‘true believer’ will blow themselves up - and any random person caught in the crossfire - if it is for the pleasure of the Almighty, whose tastes for this kind of human suffering have been documented quite well over the past thousand years or so.
Beware any who claim to possess something called ‘Truth’.
5
16 weeks to a well paying job in the software industry! Even for those with no previous experience.
This is the sort of magical thinking that has allowed the GOP to gain and retain the southern states. Nixon knew this, he knew without doubt, and his southern strategy is built around promises to culture rather than actual advantage.
Death panels, obama being born in kenya, trickle down will work this time,and socialist takeovers, and all other fear inducing stories are easily sold to the desperate on the edge of homelessness.
Is extinction better than adaptation?
10
I agree with those who indicate programming takes years to learn.
I coded for a large company until they decided to "prairie source" my position to places like Rapid City, South Dakota, and Corsicana, Texas. The company's premise was my job could be done for 1/5 of the cost if outsourced to one of these locations.
I was told I could keep my job if I moved to one of these places. My husband was a manager at the same company, and we've always been happy living in Southern California, so I refused the job they offered.
I was then promptly laid off. To receive my severance package, I had to train my replacement. Thankfully, my trainee was a very kind young woman; she made my training job much easier.
Fast forward three years. I had another programming job in the same company. The remote teams never completed the project that was pulled from our department. They had incurred huge overruns and came back asking for more money. Not long after, several of the remote offices were closed, and everyone laid off, including my trained replacement.
Those new to programming need to work with experienced programming teams to develop their skill sets. One or two courses don't provide these skills. Even though college graduates were hired in the remote locations, their lack of experience cost the company big time.
52
This is just one more example where the hype of software development does not correspond to its reality. Those of us in the engineering profession have known for years that software development has become a short term occupation, and not a career. There are long term software jobs, but those are occupied by those with special skills beyond those of a coder, such as a knowledge of machine tools, semiconductors or software defined radio. I first became aware of the problem in 2002, when trade-schools were advertising $80K/yr jobs after a two-year training course.
The two major culprits behind this seem to be: (1) software companies attempting to suppress wages by increasing supply of workers; (2) trade schools trolling for new students. State labor (unemployment) departments and the press have participated in duping the public. But in their defense, disinformation about an absurdly rich 'tech elite' in silicon valley (e.g. $1M/year AI jobs) has fed the flames about this. Here in Minnesota the new fad is cyber security professionals.
Unfortunately, all of the STEM professions seem to be following this same trend nationwide.
21
Coding classes need to be taught in the high schools. Those who show aptitude will be able to take it from there, independently developing a portfolio of work over time that will impress employers. Trying to learn how to code because you need a job isn't exactly the recipe for success.
17
@Jeff Coding classes are already in high schools.
5
Majority of the people working in the software industry are not exactly practicing computer scientists. In fact, most of the work is copy paste and pattern matching and following the guidelines and that is for people who are actually coding. A large percentage of people in sales, support, and testing just need to be familiar with the technology and plain simple hard work to learn and practice on the products and services of the company they work for.
It is possible to train a coal miner to work in the hi-tech industry. Everyone does not need to be a programmer. There are plenty of other jobs. Just that, education and training need to be comprehensive. Not to focus on an over-hyped trendy technology of the moment. General education on technology or a mature programming language like C, C# or Java is more helpful for technology jobs. A focussed training on a language like Ruby or a JavaScript framework might be a gamble. Some would find a lucrative job right away and others would find their skills useless when the trend moves to another new thing.
22
I feel like I missed critical context in this article. Such as, how does the Mined Minds model fit into the wider economic picture of the state and our country? How does Mined Minds compare to other efforts like it? We have a huge, growing shortage of software developers in this country. Help readers understand the complexity of models designed to meet the needs of tech employers in order to meet the needs of underemployed, underpaid, and unemployed Americans who, through chance of birth, live in economically distressed areas from Appalachia to East Oakland.
That said, it is a very important story. We must find a way, as a country, to create on-ramps to living wage work for folks who need greater economic opportunity. One intriguing model for doing so is apprenticeship: paid, on-the-job training lead by mentors who provide contextualized guidance and training. Apprentices, typically paid less than full-time employees in similar roles, need time to build skills and apply learning from bootcamps or other training programs (this article mistakenly conflates apprenticeship and 'job' - apprenticeship is an extension of the training these students received). This model of training workers is a significant cultural and economic shift and not practiced widely in the tech industry. Unless employers are on board it is irresponsible to make the kinds of promises that Mined Minds made to its students.
11
@G There is no shortage of people who have a better idea. The country is not going to find a way for any of this--only individuals who claim to be trying. Are they for real? Maybe no more or less than the people who write their good ideas in comments but no real ability to execute. Other people's lives are just a casual thing.
@Ann it may be that the people who have shared their good ideas in comments developed them through developing and executing them.
To echo other comments -- the real fraud is telling these people that "programming" is a simple skill that can be picked up in a few weeks. Well-paying "programming" jobs don't require "programmers," they require "problem-solvers." It takes years to gain the experience to do that properly. A college education does more than just teach simple skills.
One comment in support of the instructors though -- becoming proficient at a programming language does require the student to spend time by themselves, trying to solve problems independently. And yes, this includes trying to "google it" first, before asking the instructor how to do it properly. Google is a great resource for simple issues, like "what was that syntax again?"
61
Computer science is a discipline of extensive requirement, and a faux tech school isn't going to prepare anyone for anything in short order. What could be more useful is some funds for state community colleges training people for technical careers, which could include manufacturing components for renewable energy systems of the future. So federal funding for enterprise zones would also help. The funding should come from removing all the royalty free access to public lands for fossil fuels, and actually pricing that access according to what it is costing the public to continue using fossil fuels, i'e' 100s of billions a year.
66
@James makes a good point, there is abundant manufacturing and distribution work which could be located in Appalachia for the design, fabriation, and construction of machinery for renewable energy production. The roads, which can carry huge, fully loaded logging trucks, the railway tracks and right-of-ways existing from coal days, and the flat-topped mountains (or defunct mines) combine to make Appalachia a perfect location for constructing renewables, i.e., scrubbers or wind turbines. However, because America lacks the insight for economic planning - leaving such decisions to the free market - this coordination will not occur. If Mitch McConnell every left the bluegrass and went into the towns and hollows of Appalachia he would understand this . . . but he won't, he never will.
74
@Michael Shirk this is an excellent comment.
8
@Michael Shirk Obama tried to set up training for energy jobs. They wanted to stick with their coal jobs.
20
The arrogance of the technophiles, who believe there’s an app for everything, and that “learn to code” is a mantra, fail to see that human issues are the root of all problems and their solutions.
24
There are countless sites on the internet that will teach you to code for free. There are videos on You Tube that offer tips on how to be successful at it. Yes, people prey on the poor and unfortunate, but come on -- all the information is out there, FOR FREE!
18
@Nancy
partly true. I doubt there is a properly structured, systematic, comprehensive, computer science/coding training program online for free.
Fragments here and there, sure. But it takes more than scattered fragments of training to prepare one for a programming career.
8
Nancy — you assume everyone has local internet service providers, high speed internet access, quality libraries and computers. Or, that they can afford smartphones or can intuitively google and evaluate what pops up. Not true in many parts of America, including areas of some big cities! Many cannot even get a bank account. The folks that took these risks could not afford to take them and our government subsidized and/or promoted them. That concerns me.
5
@kenzo
There's a lot of very high quality, organized, systematic training in programming on Udemy and Coursera (for free). They can last over 16 weeks. Some of the courses I took were better than the courses I took in grad school. But it was grad school that opened doors, not the MOOCs.
5
Survival of the fittest. Isn't that what the GOP is doctrinating its followers everyday?
31
“Every single one of them” finds work, Ms. Laucher said of the boot camp graduates, in a 2017 interview. “They all find a job.”
Indeed they do. Right back at Family Dollar.
145
TED talks and good intentions do not a teacher make, nor a rigorous curriculum design. Nor does this take into account the rampant fraud in start-ups hoping to cycle cash grants through the washing machine until it lands in their own pockets. The people of West Virginia, like everybody else, should not be reduced to hoping someone will "save" them through the boot-strap 'em, John Galt 'em, make-the-boss-happy-or-else culture of authoritarian capitalism. Communities must be empowered to make the decisions as to what resources they need, and what goals are in their best interests.
We don't need a helping hand for the people of West Virginia. We need a new system that makes them the masters of their own fates rather than trapping them into a cycle of predatory abuse.
42
I work in technology developing software. To be a successful software engineer you need critical thinking skills -- computers don't operate in an alternate reality, as do people; "fake news" and faith-based arguments don't work on a computer.
Seeing how the state of West Virginia appears uninterested in reality-based education (https://ncse.com/news/2016/02/attack-science-standards-west-virginia-0016942) we should expect the software jobs will be much more likely to go to places where people value and strive to improve their critical thinking skills such as India or China.
31
@Mark
I have worked with tons of Indian H1Bs in a programming career spanning 20 years. In one team of 50 programmers I worked on, 47 were H1B (a huge chip designer/manaufacturer that you know the name of).
That particular team was quite good. However for the most part in my career, the H1Bs obviously had fake Indian degrees. They learned the buss words and simply purchased their "degrees".
So I can't agree with your opinion about logical problem solving for Indians, unless you exclude ethics and intellectual honesty from the mix.
11
"...“Progress is difficult,” she said in an email, “with the current atmosphere in Appalachia which is deeply interested in maintaining a ‘culture.’...."
Sounds to me that these refugees from the coal mines - the Lauchers - certainly learned Big City culture. Come up with an idea, get a nice grant and then sucker poor 'ole country bumpkins into a shell game while you party. And then blame the students for not embracing your idea of proper 'culture' when the business model is questioned.
It's sad to hear bank teller Ty Cook say "...“something that would make me a worthwhile member of society.”..." as if bank tellers have no value. Is this what society is teaching?
The working class is no longer respected by society. I'd like to see a coder paint my house or build a house for that matter! These folks are the legs our country stands upon and they are being forgotten or worse, blamed for their situation because of their 'culture'.
244
@B Dawson First, I must ask - Why do you hate americans from cities? Are you somehow better than roughly 80% of americans who live in or near cities?
Second, Can a miner with no construction experience build a house? Or write code? How silly.
These folks are not the legs our culture stands on. These people are looking for quick fixes that will allow them to remain unchanged, instead of facing the real long term hard work it will take to improve their position.
This is at the core of why all deep south red states are economic basket cases reliant on hated blue states to pay their bills. What they're been doing stopped working long ago but they see no reason they should adjust to a new scary world. They want "libruls" to carry them.
45
@B Dawson
I didn't see any of the people mentioned were skilled labor such as painters or building a house as you mentioned.
We have jobs that need workers and we have workers who need jobs.
There is a shortage of skilled labor, construction, plumbers, electricians, etc.
Just like there is a shortage of another skill in this country of software developers.
In both cases, people first have to get a couple of years of training to acquire those skills. Then they have to move to where the jobs are.
In the case of construction, many of those jobs are being filled by Mexicans.
In the case of software developers, many of those jobs are being filled by H-1B visa holders from India.
10
@shrinking food
Excuse me??? "These people are looking for quick fixes that will allow them to remain unchanged, instead of facing the real long term hard work it will take to improve their position."
I didn't see one iota of information in the article to substantiate Laucher's claim that the "culture" of Appalachia impeded students' progress. Not one.
And I'm wondering how much expertise you have gleaned - from your position on the coast in Seattle - about the culture of Appalachia. Zero, based on the tone of your comment. It's so easy to load completely unsubstantiated (with facts or a semblance thereof) comments on top of some load of criticism put forward by a fraudster whose con game has been called into question.
9
"But you seen that advertisement in the Spicy Western Story magazine. Don't pay nothing. Just send them the coupon and you're a radio expert. Nice clean work. " - The Grapes of Wrath
128
Ms Lauscher, like all well positioned snake oil salesmen, took advantage of a vulnerable population and took her winnings for a law school education in Chicago and Senator Manchin can take credit for empty words.
44
@Moses
Senator Manchin can take credit for a lot more than that.
You remember Epi-Pens, which are used to treat people with allergies who have a severe auto-immune reaction? You remember how the manufacturer, Mylan, raised the price from $100 to $500? Manchin was responsible for that. His daughter was CEO of Mylan, and he passed a law basically requiring every school in the country to buy one.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/20/family-matters-epipens-had-help-getting-schools-manchin-bresch/90435218/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephrine_autoinjector
8
Re: "...Over two dozen former students in West Virginia are pursuing a lawsuit, arguing that Mined Minds was a fraud. Out of the 10 or so people who made it to the final weeks of Ms. Frame’s class in Beckley, only one formally graduated. He is now delivering takeout..."
I'm reminded of the 'Trump_University' fraud!
I remember how I felt the day that, ('college acceptance'), letter arrived! This sort of disgusting cruelty SHOULDN'T be allowed!!
61
As 'P.T.' reputedly said. "There's a sucker born every minute. You just happen to come along at the right time." No disrespect intended to well meaning hopefuls at all. But Charlatans seem to proliferate these days. Caveat Emptor - for real!
12
A majority of these well-meaning, but shallow-thinking folks put Trump in office. Put a Trump in office, and it's reasonable to expect more "Trump Universities."
69
@Joe West Virginia had been under the control of Democrat’s for the past 60+ years. Remember senator Byrd the longest serving US senator. If the solution were as simple as Democrats or Republicans West Virginians wouldn’t be in the situation they are in. Care with that casting stones about shallow thinking ;)
1
@Minerniner The past 60 years is the past. Now West Virginia is Republican in all three branches of government.
1
I am a software developer, with over 30 years experience, and although I think that some people can learn it at a beginner level and obtain a job after intensive training (assuming those jobs exist), it’s definitely not for everyone. Nothing to do with any cultural ‘bad habits’, or opiod crisis...
Moreover, instead of learning the simplest languages as a starting point for people who have never dabbled in coding, they chose Ruby ? perhaps ‘hip’ and ‘cool’, but one of the most conceptually challenging languages for novices, and not widely used. How about more useful and easier to grasp PHP or ASP for website programming?
Hard to say whether this was outright fraud or incompetent dreamy-eyed good intentions, but alas it was good money thrown after bad; primarily because our government (Dem or GOP) has no one in leadership capable of making that judgment in the first place, because while we say STEM matters, the fact is that few in politics understand and sufficiently care about it to bring the right people to the table.
99
@ml:
I understand your points. But I don't think these people "chose" Ruby or any other aspect of the training.....they were presented with it as a good way to get a good job and they scammed...and it was paid for with tax money so they were scammed twice.
Very sad.
4
@RLiss I think @ml is talking about why the organizers of the course chose Ruby, not that the students chose it.
6
The same scam existed in 1933 but it was called, "Become a radio technician in 6 weeks. Send away for our free course book." Only the details have changed.
55
Not hard to tell where the money was going...the top obviously.
If you could learn coding in such a short time then we wouldn't be sending our son to Oregon Tech in software engineering. Coding doesn't pay that well either and the expectations at tech companies are long hours and stressful deadlines.
It would be better to put the money into community colleges with solid, long term programs instead of get rich quick schemes.
I wonder if Eco tourism would work in the Appalachians. Glamping etc.
30
@Sharon:
probably not since the Coal industry blew the tops off so many mountains there.
10
It's difficult to tell from the article whether the people were conned by Mined Minds, or the West Virginia folks just wanted to believe what they wanted to believe. Reading some other articles about Ms. Laucher, Mined Minds and for profit companies promising to teach out of work people certain skills to then get great tech jobs, I'm leaning toward most of these folks were conned.
Just like many politicians have been promising distressed parts of the county, and faltering employment sectors, too many of these people seem to buy these cons. Just look at #45 and the people holding out for rainbows, jobs, and a better life. Farmers, miners, auto workers, to name just a few, continue to be duped by the pols they voted for.
22
''In late February, she and Mr. Cook packed their belongings in a trailer and left West Virginia''
For those in Appalachia without a degree, that's what it will take to have any small success in this life.
Those left behind are too old, too sick, or to poor to start over.
As the local hospitals shutter, they will be in an early grave.
25
"trump University" redux.
Now I know why Trump praises Manchin, a Democrat, so loudly.
When are people going to WAKE UP?
Trump promised all these people that coal would be back. He lied to them. Yet if you ask, I bet most would still say they are waiting for Trump to save them, if he just gets one more term, everything will be roses again.
Sad.
19
Has anyone written to Senator Manchin about the disappointing performance of this program. He endorsed it and should be informed of how this was a scam. I am not a fan of Senator Manchin's but I realize that his demographic is a much more complex situation that Chicago. Regardless, this program was and continues to be a sham—
12
@Catherine
'' I am not a fan of Senator Manchin's but I realize that his demographic is a much more complex situation that Chicago. ''
How long have you been a resident of Chicago? Was this said in jest?
The problem here is that a 16 month training course in "coding" is not going to prepare people for longterm careers in computing. Companies are increasingly involved in advanced computing projects in areas like text mining and machine intelligence. High performance applications are increasingly based on distributed architectures. Security requirements mean that developers need to be able to assess risks and take preventative action. As a result, companies need employees with knowledge not just of programming, but algorithms, distributed systems, and artificial intelligence. They also need employees with the ability to keep learning new topics, quickly. You can't give people that knowledge in 16 months, especially people who likely are not coming in with a lot of academic preparation. That factor alone puts projects like this at high risk, and then add in the obvious corruption - it is truly sad. I am from an Appalachian state myself, so I know the problems, and know how hard it is going to be to bring good jobs to the residents.
48
@csgirl The course was 16 weeks.
16
@Raine K. That's even worse!!!
2
I'm a highly-paid software engineer, but I started learning at 15, put in my 10,000 hours and earned a four-year computer science degree too.
I've had only one colleague who entered our profession after attending a boot-camp, but he appears to be the exception to the rule.
What we programmers do is pretty difficult and requires a fair bit of natural talent, not to mention inclination. Telling people that "anyone" can learn to do it, and in 16 weeks no less, is selling a pipe dream.
366
@Barry F:
yes, it was a "for profit" college type scam from the start.
13
Barry, you probably meant imagination and not inclination, right? Anyway, I fully support your statement.
The good news is that the steel tariffs are causing more us steel production. Beckley mines metallurgical coal. We can only hope those $30-40 plus per hour union mining jobs increase and bring some cash flow back to the area. There are many other challenges there. But these are great, tough people who deserve better. I know - I have actually been there.
20
I spent my career as a Computer Scientist. I want to start out by saying that coding has about as much to do with Computer Science as telescopes have to do with Astronomy. The art and practice of coding is trivial compared with the skills required for real high paying and demanding jobs such as inventing new algorithms, system and user interface design, and data collection and analysis. I could go on.
To tell someone that they can make big bucks (having no experience with coding) with a 16 week course is criminal.
Reading this story brings tears to my eyes.
757
@bob I agree. This is the equivalent of telling someone they can be a doctor after taking a first-aid class. Yes, there are some people who can thrive in a programmer's position without a Computer Science background or a 4-yr degree but those people are very rare in my experience. The demand for programmers is real, and the pay can be great, but you need more than a 16 week course to be seriously considered.
177
@bob Agree that selling people that they can be taught programming in few weeks/months is a fraud, but most good paying CS jobs really are very repetitive routine work. Most developers never invent new algorithm(s), at least not in any real sense.
26
@Berlin Exile @bob Thanks for the insight. However, how do you feel about bootcamps or online courses that enhance an existing resume. E.g. I am an apparel designer who segued into digital illustration and some front end web design but taking a few courses in CSS/HTML....
10
The 'streets paved with gold', rah-rah boosterism of Silicon Valley encounters the reality of the Trump economy. The tiniest fraction of people making out like bandits, the huge bulk struggling along with the generous gift from the haves of a 3% increase to their starvation wages. Also comes to mind Aristotle's alleged remark to the young Alexander the Great who wanted a luxurious path to mathematical knowlwdge befitting his status: 'There is no royal road to geometry.'
35
I hope that Senator Manchin and some of his Senate colleagues hold an investigation into this scheme that he apparently supported.
He can start with how government money was spent.
107
@Ed C Man
The people of West Virginia should elect populist representatives. They vote against their own interests far too often, are far too often triggered by xenophobia and Biblical superstition.
Science. Policy. Reality.
33
@Ed C Man you can bet he got some money for supporting this scheme. He is after all and his voting record proves it, a Republican. What do you expect, that he would actually do anything for his constituents unless he got rich from it. When ever the Republicans need a democrat to vote their way they grab Joe, and he licks their boots and they still spit on him.
31
@cheerful dramatist fact check: Manchin votes with Democrat leader position 75% of the time.
8
How telling that, of three comments so far, the only one demonstrating cogent analysis, humility, and empathy comes from a contributor identifying as female. Thank you, Kathy. Thanks for the good you’ve done and the good you will do.
6
This is a tragic story but why wait for "handouts"? All of this information on coding is available for free online or in universities where any American can easily get a loan to attend. Why are Appalachians sitting on their hands waiting for someone to rescue them? Why is no one "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps"?
I think this story illustrates that something is missing from the conservative argument that sheer force of will is what grants success. These are obviously hard working people who are willing to put in the hours and take risks to improve their lives. So what's going wrong?
55
@Christian more to the point, coding is taught at community colleges, which anyone can attend and have lower tuition and fees.
19
Odd that you dropped in TEDTalks in the overview- when none of this has anything to do with TEDTalks. Why tar that brand in this expose?
24
@Robert agreed. It was a shameless name drop. They didn't even quote a Ted talk.
14
@Robert,
Because Ms. Laucher is a poster child for the TED-talk approach to social problems. Lots of empty claims about what technology can do and absolutely no reference to collective action.
That she turns out to be a grifter . . .
22
@Chris You clearly have not watched many TEDTalks, if you think there is a "a singular TEDTalk approach to social problems" They quite literally are a platform for MANY approaches and often"remarkable" approaches to social problems. AND in fact many talks are about Technology being the problem and countless talks - (many of the most widely watched) are about collective action. You are ill-informed sir.
2
I'm a computer scientist and a teacher. I have also been recruiting many software developers so I think I know what I'm talking about. There are thousands of these "bootcamps" all over the world and I have never hired anyone from these.
You can't learn to code in 16-weeks unless you have a suitable backround (such as in mathematics). The thought that someone can just take whoever and make them a programmer in such a short time is preposterous and quite frankly also insulting. For me and for most professionals it took years to be in a level what is required for a junior position.
There are no 16 weeks bootcamps for physicists, mathematicians or doctors. It should be obvious why not.
621
Great comment. When I was hiring programmers, I tried to hire people who either majored in Mathematics or Computer Science. If they could do well in these disciplines they where more likely to become competent programmers
50
@Nil this is an outdated opinion. Most programming jobs require basically no mathematics. Any teacher worth his salt can teach a 16 year old to make an IOS app in a few months.
7
@Nil There are no 16-week bootcamps for physicists or mathematicians because there is no job demand for those skills. I know many people who have undergraduate degrees in those fields. They quickly realized that they had two paths forward: progress into Masters/Ph.D., or pursue careers that actually help pay bills.
7
With 4.7% unemployment some companies can’t find labor. If you want to find work, you need to leave the coal mines of Trumplandia.
The I-85 corridor from Raleigh, NC to Greenville, SC can’t find enough workers.
You want a job in 6 weeks making $90K? Get your CDL and be a long haul trucker.
73
@Boris
Had class A cdl for thirty years.
Trucking no longer offers a middle class life for the drivers.
You owe your soul to the company lease.
Owner operators are in hock up to their ears.
82
@Boris
Trucking is a terrible job now - my husband is a veteran truck driver and his yearly income has been halved since he started. And rent isn't cheap in Raleigh if you're starting with nothing. You have to have resources to relocate. Period.
4
What did West Virginians expect? Manchin’s support should have assured them that the enterprise was a fraud. Man chin is a far-right Republican masquerading as a conservative Democrat. Special interests will always come before helping the people. As Harry Truman said, when government does something that helps everyone the monied interests start screaming “socialism.” When it does something that helps them they call it capitalism.
296
No, Manchin is no Republican....
5
@DSD Manchin might be conservative for a democrat, but he's left of almost anyone in the Republican party.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/
3
I'm a computer scientist and a teacher. I have also been recruiting many software developers so I think I know what I'm talking about. There are thousands of these "bootcamps" all over the world and I have never hired anyone from these.
You can't learn to code in 16-weeks unless you have a suitable backround (such as in mathematics). The thought that someone can just take whoever and make them a programmer in such a short time is preposterous and quite frankly also insulting. For me and for most professionals it took years to be in a level what is required for a junior position.
There are no 16 weeks bootcamps for physicists, mathematicians or doctors. It should be obvious why not.
26
Remember Greg Mortonson and 3 Cups of Tea?
13
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
31
There are no fast tracks in life. Even for the rich who can afford to spend million of dollars for private tutors and eventually bribes to get their spoiled kids into prestigious colleges. They might get the piece of paper but they’re not any smarter.
It’s one thing I’ve noticed about Americans is they always like to take shortcuts but they just end up just cutting corners and things just don’t come out right.
If it sounds too good to be true... it probably is.
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16 weeks to learn to code?? Try a few years, just to be competent, followed by a whole lifetime of learning new products and languages as the old ones get replaced.
A better strategy: Learn it the boring, slow, but effective way. Go to a community college or similar training. Go slow if you have to. Learn HOW to learn to code, and then practice over and over and over again. Expect to start at the bottom. Find people you can learn with.
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I know a number of people who make a good living doing coding as contract work. Go to Upwork. there are lots of opportunities there.
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The capstone project was something that one can do on their own, create a website.
This whole “mined minds” was quite a scam, reminiscent of Trump University, only payed for by tax dollars rather than bilking people out of their family’s savings.
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Not sure I fully understand how this outfit got its money to swindle people so effectively. Federal college-loan money like the kind for-profit "universities" use to swindle the gullible, who are then stuck with the debt? Some other subsidies? Something literally does not add up with the money.
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The environment that they've created is peddling a failed promise to riches from the start. Having employees with little knowledge in tech, self-learning classes for people who may need more guidance into the field... all of this chalks up to such exploitative incompetence.
I'm surprised the classes were promised as free. It's already super close to a for-profit college predatory scam.
Coding bootcamps do have merits; many of my colleagues here in California have successful jobs coordinated with their program or similar. But while it had the exterior of one, it certainly didn't seem like an actual operation at all.
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My son recently landed one of those coveted high-paid computer coder jobs in NYC. He didn't land the new job with a diploma from Stanford or MIT- most companies don't care about academic success stories anymore, let alone a certificate from some computer boot camp.
The interview process involves a slew of tests, starting with IQ and leading to testing speed and accuracy of computer skills as well as creativity in problem solving.
At the end of the process, my son knew exactly where he stood in overall competence compared to others in his category and so did the people who hired him.
Many who don't have the skills needed to get this kind of work are capable of acquiring them- my son taught himself most of them, but had mentors in previous jobs that taught him what he needed to teach himself.
However, high paying tech jobs are an extremely competitive commodity and that competition is global. The idea that we can save a substantial number of rural people by sending them to a computer boot camp without even screening them for potential, strikes me as absurd. It is akin to running a baseball camp recruiting people without outstanding athletic skills and promising graduates a job in the big leagues.
Ideas like this need to be tested thoroughly before they become touted as a panacea. Otherwise, the only ones who make money out of them are the organizers that run the programs. I really feel sorry for the victims who were misled by these false promises.
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@alan haigh . As someone who has worked as a computer scientist and interviewed hundreds of people, I can say with some authority that your son must have been an exceptional candidate. In reality, this would be like being recruited off the neighborhood hoops court to play in the NBA. Some people are that talented, but most aren't. I've only met two in 25 years.
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@alan haigh
i've never heard of a tech company performing IQ tests on applicants. It's generally whiteboard programming. I wouldn't make the assumption that your son's company is in any the norm here.
Also, stating that a degree from Stanford or MIT wouldn't matter to tech companies is ridiculous.
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@Mike I've been given personality and aptitude tests, some which were similar to end of term exams and might have been designed to estimate IQ. Whiteboard interviews appear to be taking over, which is not as good a way to evaluate in my opinion because the applicant simply may not be able to perform in that environment but can do good work at a desk.
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Learning coding is not for everyone. It's a tedious process and you have to really enjoy it to be able to go through with it. 80% of the coding is troubleshooting and debugging. It's not as glamorous as it sounds. That said, motivated individuals can learn and find jobs in many different sectors. Learning coding on its own won't necessarily bring you a job. You need other knowledge. For example, in bioinformatics it's far more important to have a solid understanding of biological principles in order to efficiently implementing coding. Therefore biologists are far better bioinformaticians than people who only learned computer science.
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@Indisk Actually, coding/programming is only a small subset of computer science.
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So how long was the course? Months, a couple years. I wish life was so easy that you could take a months long course and make over fifty thousand a year. Life is not that easy. Also like making gold out of lead, if a job requires a short amount of training then its' commercials value is reduced. Too many people hunting too few jobs.
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@Tom Could you direct some of that disdain toward the woman who made the false promises? These people were trying to better themselves.
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@Tom people who are targeted by these programs don't know what they don't know. They aren't aware that a 16 week course isn't realistic because they haven't been exposed to much in the tech field.
But do you know who was aware that this was unrealistic? The founders of Mined Minds, who took that grant money and frittered it away, then blamed the "culture" of the people they were taking advantage of when the program failed to meet its promises.
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