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For many families, May signals the end of the school year. Some parents start worrying about how to keep their kids busy during the long summer days, and others worry about how to afford to keep their kids in college.

This month I thought about these issues and more – how to explain the shrinking job market for college grads, why California is losing bright students to other states, and how the presidential election will influence college financing. Please click on the my article links below, and feel free to share your thoughts!

“College Grads Facing Higher Levels of Unemployment”

FIRST PERSON | As a ninth grade AVID teacher in Davis, California, a huge part of my job is preparing freshmen for admission to the college of their choice. I help them plan their high school schedules to make sure they have their admission requirements satisfied. They register for and complete the PSAT, set up College Board accounts, research and tour all types of colleges, and create a final project highlighting the school of their choice. I teach them the value of a college education, and how much more money college graduates make than mere high school graduates. However, according to Investors.com recent article, “New Normal: Majority of Unemployed Attended College”, I may have to change my message.

Brain Drain: Are California’s Brightest Students Leaving the State?

COMMENTARY | Arizona State University, University of Oregon, Northern Arizona University, University of Nevada-Reno, Oregon State University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. What do these colleges all have in common? Each university has seen a triple-digit percent increase in the number of California freshmen students enrolling in their campus. Nearly 27,300 students left California in 2010, up 90 percent in the last decade. California’s declining support of education, combined with large numbers of qualified applicants, has made out-of-state college a very attractive option.

As the number of California students accepted to out-of-state colleges grows, California has increased its own efforts to recruit out-of-state students.

If Romney is Elected President, My Kids May Not Go to College

COMMENTARY | Parents, look out. If Mitt Romney is elected president, the only hope your kids have for going to college is if you can pay for it. Romney’s proposal suggests reducing funding for Pell grants and other student financial aid resources for middle income students, cutting 18 percent of federal education funding, and defying teacher’s unions efforts to maintain manageable class sizes.

There’s a few things Mr. Romney doesn’t seem to understand. Not all parents can afford to pay for college. In fact, for most of the middle class, like me, we work hard, save for retirement, and are being forced to choose between helping our kids fund higher education, or helping ourselves fund retirement. Hard working Americans shouldn’t have to make these kinds of choices.

What do you think?

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Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.