The Same Amount of Bull

I sent this letter to a fellow who thought that trade schools were a rip-off and intended to make a documentary on the subject. Little does he know, all the schools are just as screwed up.

Education in America has become a joke, and I can only hope that this person looks at my letter and comes to understand.

Most schools are full of the same crap.

Hay Folks,

Sorry I didn’t go to a film school, but I do have an experience at a state school to talk about. I started my time as a theater arts student. I had dealings with the film department that you may find interesting.

At school the professors demanded I accept failure, and I even had a teacher start screaming when I asked what electives would most likely get me a job.

I left theater arts when I had to ask a teacher to leave me alone and they refused. I took a total of 12 units of film classes, the most interesting one being screen writing.

I took the class because the professor told us that he would find a production company for our work. It bumped me from part to full time so it cost me a thousand dollars. Not much for a class at a private school, yeah, but 5% of a $20,000 education.

I pulled an A+, but he never kept his promise. That would be breach of a $100,000 contract. He lied and took his student’s money. If it had been a student with a lower grade I would have understood, but I exceeded is expectations.

To add insult to injury, he told the whole class they should intentionally fail their classes in order to gain access to the facilities to make their own film.

I mentioned that if five students got together the tuition for one semester would be well over ten grand enough to buy almost all the equipment one needs to make a film. He agreed that I was right but never retracted his statement.

I think his goal was to get students to take more classes and put more money in the schools coffers.

The film department at CSU Fullerton wasn’t just screwing the students out of their money. They were screwing the taxpayers, because the taxpayers pay for that school.

It’s not just the film schools, but all the schools that have a problem. We can get the knowledge we need out of books and experience. Students pay for school in order to make the needed connections to work in the industry. If you don’t get that you’re just throwing your money away.

I guess this doesn’t help much, but it’s the truth,

Richard Leland Neal