{"id":1057,"date":"2022-01-06T16:29:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T21:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=1057"},"modified":"2022-01-18T15:53:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T20:53:24","slug":"pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-39-no-10\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\/","title":{"rendered":"PEF retiree pens book about the cost of education"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
PEF retiree and author Robert Fisher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 14, 2022 — <\/em>Do you have teenage children or grandchildren?\u00a0 Robert Fisher has written a book he thinks you should read. \u00a0A professional sociologist, Fisher is a former PEF member retired from what is now the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.<\/p>\n

His latest book, \u201cEducating Public Interest Professionals and the Student Loan Debt Crisis\u201d is aimed at parents and students as well as public policymakers, academics and lending institutions. He wants everyone to understand that our country and our state need more well-educated professionals in public service \u2013 both in government and private not-for-profit organizations.<\/p>\n

Fisher says it costs students more money to achieve their professional degrees and training than they can reasonably expect to recover in a few years working as teachers, social workers, school guidance counselors or other public-service professionals.\u00a0 He urges policymakers to channel financial assistance to students who want to earn advanced degrees and make their careers in public service.\u00a0 One idea he favors is directing federal Pell grants and other student aid to focus more support on students who seek careers as public interest professionals, particularly in the \u201cSTEM\u201d fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese vacant positions are not being filled and the public employees who are in them are carrying such heavy workloads that they are burning out,\u201d Fisher said.\u00a0 \u201cWhen they burn out and leave those public positions, it has a cascading effect.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t take action, the problem will keep growing until it seriously threatens our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t just about how much people owe in student loan debt, it\u2019s also about not being able to pay it and other bills because professionals in public service earn so little,\u201d Fisher added.\u00a0 The current situation puts them in an impossible situation.\u00a0 \u201cThey want to serve the public interest, but they have to go into other work or go into default.\u00a0 They need loan forgiveness and they need better pay in public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher\u2019s book came on the market at the end of 2021 and is already being snatched up by libraries in most states and several foreign countries so far.\u00a0 He credits the urgency of the subject matter and the very good reviews it has earned for this early success.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fisher said he wrote it to be understandable and relevant for students and their parents.\u00a0 One chapter is devoted to advice for students.\u00a0 In it, he strongly urges students to \u201cchoose your major before you start college and don\u2019t waste time or money changing schools or majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t treat college like a candy store for trying out lots of different flavors.\u00a0 You need to come out with the best education you can get with as little debt as possible if you are thinking of working as a public interest professional,\u201d Fisher advised.\u00a0 Students currently average about $30,000 in student debt when they get their bachelor\u2019s degree.\u00a0 Professionals, however, often need more advanced degrees, and their debt may amount to six figures.<\/p>\n

While PEF members may be able to offset some of their educational costs with reimbursement through their contract\u2019s education benefits, that\u2019s a union-bargained benefit that millions of people in other jobs and states don\u2019t have, he said.<\/p>\n

Fisher acknowledges that his ideas are not revolutionary, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s mostly ideas that are already out there in the professional literature put together in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher and his wife, Shirley Anderson (also a retired PEF member), live in the Capital Region.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 14, 2022 — Do you have teenage children or grandchildren?\u00a0 Robert Fisher has written a book he thinks you should read. \u00a0A professional sociologist, Fisher is a former PEF…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-1057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-39-no-10","issue-volume-40-no-1"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPEF retiree pens book about the cost of education - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-39-no-10\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PEF retiree pens book about the cost of education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 14, 2022 — Do you have teenage children or grandchildren?\u00a0 Robert Fisher has written a book he thinks you should read. \u00a0A professional sociologist, Fisher is a former PEF...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-39-no-10\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-06T21:29:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-18T20:53:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bob-Post1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-39-no-10\\\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-39-no-10\\\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ccanham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\"},\"headline\":\"PEF retiree pens book about the cost of education\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-06T21:29:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-18T20:53:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-39-no-10\\\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":602,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-39-no-10\\\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/bob-Post1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-39-no-10\\\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-39-no-10\\\/pef-retiree-pens-book-about-the-cost-of-education\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF retiree pens book about the cost of education - 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