Following Barbara Boxer's lead, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa - who is, by the way, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary committee - has rifled off a stern, well-cited letter to ABA Commissar Stephen Zack.
It rehashes the mass media reporting off the last few months, including both New York Times articles, and shows concern over the ABA's recent non-compliances as an accrediting body.
There's little I can add to the letter; I encourage readers to check it out for yourselves.
The kicker is that Grassley requests a written response to 31 questions (not all are answerable; many are "if not, why?" to previous questions) at the end of his letter and he asked for a response by July 25. Among the questions, these are my personal favorites:
Has the American Bar Association raised concerns with law schools about the practice of awarding more first-year merit based scholarships than they plan to renew?
I like this one because "raised concerns" is ambiguous enough to where I can bet the ABA - if it responds - will say "yes" and try to pass the grenade to the schools.
Does the American Bar Association have a program to ensure borrowers do not-default on their federally-backed student loans?
Do you think the writer chuckled while writing this one?
This is hardly Luther publishing his Theses; the questions seem slightly askew and limited in focus, but maybe that will prove more successful at getting real answers. Personally, I'd rather see more probing questions about the accreditation standards and I'd like to see questions on the ABA's complete lack of oversight regarding bogus/misleading/rigged employment data (think he's trying to avoid a fraud finding?), etc.
But hey, progress is progress. Two percent of the Senate - a diverse and powerful two percent - is now publicly critical of the ABA and aware of these issues.
This is great! We should all send him a big, fat "Thank You" email.
ReplyDeleteKudos!. I was talking to someone about this exact topic...and I am disgusted how this has been for many years. Law students are not artists. They INTEND to get employed, perhaps given up some dream that they had to secure a job that has a certain return. How misguided and misleading. Well SAID!!
ReplyDeleteAnyway we can start a petition to this bozos...and make them hear? In this day of internet, they cannot hide under a rock for that long!
Apparently, Grassley has the nads to hold this corrupt and morally-bankrupt industry accountable. Make sure to call in and voice your appreciation.
ReplyDeleteLet's see Ass-Hat Stephen Zack's response. I imagine it will not be quite as trite as the one he sent to Barbara Boxer.