This is the most American thing I've ever seen. As someone who has worked (and moonlights) as a consultant in education, it makes me sad how true this is.

Consulting is the ultimate communication of education and it's out of control. A #thread on #Commoducation

This isn't solely an education problem but that's what I know best so I'm going to start there.

Let's dive into the world of education consultants

First, just assume all the disclaimers have been given #notall-InsertGroupYouWantToDefendHere

Second, consultants by definition perpetuate inequality. Any paid service is exclusionary and thus perpetuates inequality. The only question is one of scale and amount of impact.

So let's quickly dispense with the most obvious group of consultants: Independent Education Consultants (aka private college counselors).

There is story after story on exorbitant rates and shady practices long before Varsity Blues.

One of the problems with IECs is that often their clients are most easily sold by someone who leans into the idea that the clients child deserves whatever they wants and its someone else's fault when they doesn't get it.
https://twitter.com/akilbello/status/1318574009836048384?s=20

https://twitter.com/James_S_Murphy/status/1339940650414993409?s=20

The next most obvious group is test prep ...

like most of the consultants in this thread, there no regulations of this industry. There is no verification or certifying of qualifications. Anyone can claim a perfect score and use that to drum up clients

It's really a business that is built on marketing . . . like the self-help and weight loss industries

The products "work", but probably not as much as the marketing says and the client really does all the work. Many are honest (some/many/few aren't).

Anyway those are the obvious ones... let's get more obscure.

There are gap year consultants

Financial aid consultants.. Remember the guardianship story out of Illinois?

You can also pay to have someone figure out how you can get in-state tuition in a state you don't live in .

College tour consultants . . . college visits are already an inequity and this makes it worse of course .. https://www.niche.com/about/enrollment-insights/which-students-were-already-not-visiting-college-campuses/

"Community" Service Trip consultants.

Ok.. you get the picture. I'm tired here and bored.

A few other consultants I know are out there:

- Social media clean up
- admissions to kindergarten https://www.testingmom.com/blog/admissions-consultant/