In an opinion piece written for the Daily Comet, a local paper in Louisiana, VCE Ambassador and Army National Guard Veteran Kenneth Mejia wrote about his service and experience at a career school. In the oped, Kenneth talks about how his career school helped save his life. Kenneth writes:
"During one of our labs in class at Unitech, my instructor and education director ran an EKG test on me. The results revealed abnormalities. I immediately went back to the VA medical facility and, after finally being seen, it was determined that I had a fatal heart condition. Within days, I was undergoing surgery for a defibrillator." June 22nd marked the 75th anniversary of the GI Bill® (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944), signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944.
Veterans for Career Education (VCE) celebrates this occasion by reaffirming our commitment to fighting for a veteran's freedom to choose where they learn under the GI Bill®. Veterans have the right to use their earned veteran education benefits at the school of their choice. Veterans for Career Education Responds to Rep. Shalala's Bill Limiting Education Choice for Veterans6/19/2019
Michael Dakduk, Co-Chair of Veterans for Career Education, responded to legislation released by Rep. Donna Shalala (D-FL) that would limit veterans access to higher education:
“We’ve seen proposals to manipulate the 90/10 rule and change it to an 85/15 ratio. Rep. Shalala now says take it down to 80/20. Two Democrat candidates for president are calling for cutting off career schools from serving veterans on the GI Bill® altogether. It will never be enough for critics of taxpaying career schools. Veterans for Career Education (VCE) leaders Tim McMahon (USAF veteran) and Michael Dakduk (USMC veteran) wrote a letter to the editor that was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In the letter, VCE veteran leaders called out The Chronicle for biased reporting related to career and trade schools. In the letter, Tim and Mike wrote: "In partnership with other veterans, we helped to found Veterans for Career Education to combat this bias among some in the media and in certain political circles. We implore The Chronicle to exercise balance in future reporting." Read the full letter here: https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/letters/stop-belittling-veterans-for-attending-taxpaying-career-colleges/ Two Democratic candidates for president, Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro, are offering proposals to eliminate the use of the GI Bill® and other earned military and veteran education benefits at career colleges.
Opponents of taxpaying (for-profit) career colleges believe that manipulating the 90/10 rule to include military and veteran education benefits, like the Post-9/11 GI Bill®, in the 90 side of the rule protects veterans from being “targeted” or from attending “low-quality institutions.” This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Veterans from Louisiana gathered in New Orleans to protect veterans' access at taxpaying career colleges. Many of the veterans in attendance were students studying in fields such at process technology, construction management and massage therapy.
Pete Hegseth, veteran advocate and Senior Fox News Correspondent, joined the rally advocating for a veteran's right to use their earned benefits at the school of their choice. Kenneth Meija, a Louisiana Army National Guard veteran and graduate of Unitech Training Academy, and Stacy Caughlin, a 17 year Army veteran and student at Unitech Training Academy, called on Senator Cassidy (R-LA) to defend the right of veterans to use their earned benefits at the career school of their choice. Senator Cassidy is a member of both the education and veterans affairs committees.
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Veterans for Career Education
1530 Wilson Boulevard Suite 1050 Arlington, VA 22209 Contact: [email protected] |