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Kansas City real estate and community news blog featuring Olathe and Overland Park, Kansas.
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Missouri has just adopted the new national formula for counting graduation rates. The old formula took in to consideration kids who graduated late due to slower learning or from a medical condition. The new formula only looks at kids who graduated high school in four years. At first glance, the new formula doesn't look fair because it doesn't count kids who had challenges. After talking to an area school administrator, most school districts have less then 1% of their student body face challenges from medical conditions like an illness or injury that will keep them from graduating in high school within 4 years. Since the graduation rates dropped so significantly in Missouri, I must assume that either there are lots of kids in special programs or the old way of counting graduates had many flaws. Education is a team. It consist of the school system, community and parents. Somewhere, there is a HUGE flaw in the school districts that are only graduating around 50% of the students within 4 years. To read the Kansas City Star article about the new graduation formula, go to New Graduation Formula. RE/MAX sells more homes than any other real estate company.For a reason...should we talk?Blog post written by the Dowell Taggart Team of RE/MAX Premier Realty Comments are appreciated! Go ahead and add your 2 cents . . .We have 3 easy steps to find you the perfect home . Click here to get started, today! Short sales, foreclosures, luxury homes, investor homes, first time home buyer homes, land, investment properties and move up buyers.
Gardner, Olathe, Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Mission, Merriam, Prairie Village, Basehor, Tonganoxie, Lansing, Leavenworth, Spring Hill
Eudora, De Soto, Edgerton, Platte City, Smithville, Gladstone, Liberty, Riverside, Independence, Lee's Summit, Pleasant Hill, Raymore, Belton, Grandview, Raytown, Waldo and the surrounding Kansas City communities.
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New Landings (NL) is sponsoring their fourth Career Expo. The purpose of this career fair is to provide job seekers with face-to-face networking opportunities with recruiters from over 50 companies in Johnson County and the surrounding greater Kansas City area. This event is being sponsored by American College of Technology and Kelly Services (including IT, Finance, Scientific, and Commercial divisions). Participating companies include A-1 Careers/A-1 Staffing, Adaptive Solutions Group, Balance Point, COMSYS, ECCO Select, ExecuPros, Ferrellgas, Genesis 10, Kforce Technology Staffing, LandaJob, Inc., MegaForce, Midwest Consulting Group, Morgan Hunter, Multi Service Corporation, New Directions Behavioral Health, PAiGE Technologies, LLC., Sprint Nextel, Workforce Partnership, Yoh IT. Vendors: Allegar Enterprises, American College of Technology, APEX Business Advisors, A-Z Professional Resume Service, Brockton Creative Group, Careerlink.com, First5 Image Consulting, LLC, Franklin Covey Company, Law Office of Lois A. Gladstone, LLC, Jim's Portraits of Life Kansas City, Jobb Shop, Send Out Cards, SmartSpot, The Entrepreneurs Source, The Job Radio Show.com, The Kansas City Business Journal, WagGem Solutions. THE JOB RADIO SHOW WILL BE GIVING AWAY A 'JOB HUNT MAKEOVER'. WIN TEETH WHITENING, SALON SERVICES, BUSINESS CLOTHES, CAREER COACHING, RESUME & BUSINESS CARD PRINTING AND MUCH MORE!!"
The Career Expo is on April 1st, 2010 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Double Tree Hotel (Seattle/Monterey Room) The Double Tree Hotel is at 10100 College Blvd in Overland Park, Kansas (69 Highway & College Blvd.)
Special kudos to Alaina Gibson for sending me this information. Let us know what you think or add to our blog by writing a comment.
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Jessica Janasz didn’t think twice before swiping her Commerce Bank debit card to pay for a $10 haircut.
The next day and one debit card purchase later, she checked her online account and realized she had been charged $55 in overdraft fees.
“I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that I was charged so much,” said Janasz, a junior from Overland Park.
Janasz isn’t alone in her frustrations with overdraft fees. According to a 2008 report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., nearly half of people ages 18-25 incur fees each year for attempting to withdraw more money from an account than is available.
Big Bucks
Banks in the United States stood to collect $38.5 billion in overdraft fees in 2009, according to data from Moebs $ervices, an economic research firm.
However, new Federal Reserve regulations set to take effect this summer will soon cause banks to face stricter rules for charging overdraft fees.
The Federal Reserve regulations will require banks to explain overdraft policies and get written consent from customers who enroll in overdraft protection programs. The alternative would be for customers to have bankcard withdrawals denied when the checking account has no money.
Even with the changes, consumer advocates are demanding more protection. Director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America Jean Ann Fox said the new Federal Reserve regulations don’t go far enough. Fox said the regulations don’t protect consumers from disproportionate charges, additional fees assessed when charges aren’t paid and charges from using paper checks. “Competition hasn’t disciplined banks and the Federal Reserve hasn’t taken the necessary steps, so Congress needs to take action,” Fox said. The Consumer Federation of America is supporting the passage of House Bill 3904 and Senate Bill 1799, which would “amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and transparent practices related to the marketing and provision of overdraft coverage programs at depository institutions, and for other purposes,” the legislation states. Both bills have been held up in committees since the fall. U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore is a chairman on the Financial Services committee that is currently considering House Bill 3904. He said the Federal Reserve regulations were a step in the right direction, but more should be done to protect consumers. “Congress needs to ensure a $2 cup of coffee doesn’t end up costing the consumer $40 in fees,” Moore said through e-mail. “The best way to avoid fees is to keep track of what you spend,” DeYoung said. “You shouldn’t write checks or use debit cards without writing it down in a bank book.” Daniel Rezaiekhaligh, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., said he learned to be more diligent about checking his account records after he was charged $80 in fees from Bank of America for a $1.80 purchase. “Once you have it happen, you’ll see it’s such a scam,” Rezaiekhaligh said. Rezaiekhaligh said it helps to keep track of finances, but banks also need to be more responsible for telling their customers about overdraft charges. “Banks will notify you about anything else, but not about overdrafts,” Rezaiekhaligh said. “You never hear, ‘Hey, not only are you out of money, but we’re charging you $25 more dollars.’” In a statement about its overdraft policies, Commerce Bank said, “Commerce Bank has invested in providing more information and services to help customers effectively manage their finances to avoid overdrafts.” A Bank of America representative did not respond to an interview request.
Check out Braden Katz's article for more information about debit cards and overdraft charges.
With the new regulations set to begin this summer and more legislation pending Congress, banks will soon have to readjust their policies. |
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