WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:06.040 It's Night's Eyes Dan, I'm going you Boston's News Radio. 2 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:08.359 Thank you very much Medicine. As we move into a 3 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:12.119 Monday night and another week of Nightside here on WBZ, 4 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.480 Boston's News Radio ten thirty and your Am dow Rob 5 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:17.800 Brooks is here. Rob is actually going to have a 6 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:19.800 few nights off later this week. So if you want 7 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:22.760 to talk to Rob tonight's the tomorrow night of the 8 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:25.559 Night's to call. Other than that, he'll be gone for 9 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.280 the rest of the week on a very well deserved 10 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:32.000 few nights off. Rob takes probably the least amount of 11 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:35.600 vacation as anyone I know. Does a great job for 12 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:41.960 us here on nightside every single night. Now we we 13 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:47.240 will talk later on tonight about the future of Massachusetts 14 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:51.560 vocational educational schools. We're going to talk about that. Also 15 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.159 in just a minute, we'll talk about hazards on the 16 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.079 roadways and whether or not we should open up Alcatraz, 17 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:01.759 as President Trump is suggesting. As a prisoner, as a 18 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:06.079 prison I was there by a year ago, it looks 19 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:08.560 fine to me. Well, I don't know. I wouldn't want 20 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.680 to spend a night there, that's for sure. I think 21 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.439 anyone who would be contemplating going there would be on 22 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.480 their best behavior. Anyway, we are, as I mentioned, we're 23 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:22.560 going to talk about voke ed proposals here in Massachusetts. 24 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:24.640 I happen to have the point of view that we 25 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:30.959 need more vocational educational technical high schools in Massachusetts. And 26 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:34.000 joining me is a leader in the fight for that, 27 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:38.840 former Massachusetts Lieutenant governor and currently he's the president of 28 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:42.319 the Worcester Chamber of Commerce. The appellation is supposed to 29 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.640 be for a former lieutenant governor. Governor, so I will 30 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:49.079 introduce you as governor. Welcome to nightside. How are you, 31 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:49.719 Tim Murray? 32 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:53.560 Well, I'm saying good to be with you, and we 33 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:54.599 rolling into Monday. 34 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:58.480 Yes, yes we are. Look, this is a very serious topic. 35 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:01.519 I'm somebody and I'm know you are somebody who really 36 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:08.080 believes in voke ed voke ed technical education for young 37 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:12.199 people who may not be inclined to studying you know, 38 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:17.199 Shakespeare and Shelley and all of those those great British 39 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:22.479 authors in British in British literature courses. Not everybody is 40 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:27.199 college you know bound these days, and a great way 41 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.800 to find a career is through vocational schools. We have 42 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:36.840 dozens of vacational technical high schools around the Conwealth of Massachusetts. 43 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:40.919 And I guess whenever it's something in Massachusetts is going well, 44 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.080 somebody always comes along with an idea to mess it up. 45 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:44.719 What's going on? 46 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:47.960 Well, no, that's the case, but you're absolutely right. I mean, 47 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.960 one of the most positive stories that when we talk 48 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.840 about public education today is our vocational technical schools and 49 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.159 our agricultural schools. There's thirty regional vote techs in the state, 50 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.879 but at our comp hentsive high schools across the commonwealth, 51 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:07.039 more and more communities are putting Chapter seventy four vocational 52 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:11.960 technical programs into those schools because kids and parents want it, 53 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:15.680 and it's about preparing young people for college and or career, 54 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:20.039 giving them those options, and candidly, that's kind of the 55 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.360 way of the future in terms of what employers want 56 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.520 and need. Unfortunately, you know, Governor Healy has put a 57 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:32.520 proposal on the table that doesn't dramatically expand you know 58 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.599 Chapter seventy four vocational technical education, which they're looking to 59 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.759 do is kind of ration what we have by introducing 60 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:44.400 a lottery system admission system by which students would be 61 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:48.479 accepted into the vocational technical programs as the stands. You know, 62 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.879 currently many of these school districts stand have the students apply, 63 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.800 because number one, this is a more costly form of education, 64 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:59.879 and number two, you want to make sure that the 65 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.199 students genuinely interested in it. And so students apply when 66 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:06.840 they're in eighth grade, and to some extent, as it 67 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.800 stands right now, student's attendance, their grades, and their student 68 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:16.959 behavior are factors in whether they're accepted. And the proposal 69 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.920 on the table by Governor Healy basically says, to an 70 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:24.240 eighth grade student, she's been working hard academically to achieve, 71 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:26.360 she's got herself up to go to school every day, 72 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:30.639 has not been a problem with behavior. That student, now 73 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.439 with this proposed lottery is being told that hard work 74 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:35.759 doesn't matter. They're going to be equal to a student 75 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:39.399 that has not strived or worked hard academically, been absent, 76 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.399 unexcused up the twenty six times, and had behavioral and 77 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:48.600 had behavioral problems. And so you're penalizing young kids, young 78 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.519 people for doing the right thing. Now, I believe that 79 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:55.720 that other students should also be afforded opportunities to pursue 80 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.199 Chapter seventy four education, which is why we need to 81 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.120 dramatically expand it. We need a march plan right now 82 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:05.360 to expand Chapter seventy four programs across the board and 83 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:09.519 DAN just you know, in the last fifteen years, more 84 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.399 or less a program that Governor Patrick and I started 85 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:14.519 with the support of the legislature was now known as 86 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:18.600 the Capital Skills Program. The Biker Pleto administration continued to 87 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:22.040 support that, working with the legislature, but targeted grants to 88 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:27.079 vocational technical schools and traditional comprehensive high schools to add 89 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:31.319 programs and seats. And we've added nearly fifteen thousand seats 90 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:36.160 across the state with just this targeted program. Now, the 91 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:41.199 Millionaire's Tax Path or Fair Share Amendment, this significant you know, 92 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:44.319 revenue on the table, and what we need is leadership 93 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:46.920 that's going to say we're going to you know, have 94 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.319 universal access for Chapter seventy four programs. We're going to 95 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:52.959 work with the MSBA and Treasurer of Goldberg. We're going 96 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.480 to look for waivers for instructors and some of the 97 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.920 key trades. And you know, instead of that, we're being 98 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:05.439 creating winners and losers with this lottery system in urban 99 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:10.120 communities and rural communities and suburban communities, and it just 100 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:13.759 doesn't make sense. We should be expanding this, not rationing it. 101 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:18.480 Yeah, it's such a no brainer. And the fact that 102 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:24.319 leadership in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts now after having turned 103 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:28.759 Boston Latin School into a zip code school, no longer 104 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.560 is it a school of academic excellence. It's a zip 105 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:37.120 code school here in Boston. And now they're going after 106 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:41.920 these trade schools or vocational educational schools, which are great 107 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:46.759 pathways for young people who may not be inclined to 108 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.560 pursue four years of college and the additional expense that 109 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.399 that costs to come out with a sociology degree, which 110 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:57.399 is probably going to be kind of a dead end 111 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:02.199 in many respects sadly. Uh. And to now not make 112 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:06.759 education available to kids who for two young men and women, 113 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:10.800 I should say, who want to become electricians and you know, 114 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:15.839 plumbers and uh and and skill people with actual skills 115 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:19.079 by which they'll weren't they'll earn a living for the 116 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:23.319 rest of their lives and become you know, contributing supporters 117 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:28.160 of the of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth just doesn't 118 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.800 make any sense. At at nine o'clock we're going to 119 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:36.800 be talking with Jamie gass Uh the Pioneer Institute at Boston. Uh, 120 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.160 dive a little deeper into this. Look, you were on 121 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:46.399 Beacon Hilltim, you were a legislator, a lieutenant governor. How 122 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:49.639 is this stuff like this in Massachusetts always seems to 123 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.279 go off the rails when it's working. Well, why do 124 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:56.839 people want to mess mess mess with it? Is it 125 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.959 just because they feel that somehow there's some short term 126 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:04.920 political gain for their for their next election. Is that 127 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:07.519 what drives this stuff. I'm not trying to put you 128 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:09.480 in a box here, but I'm just y, Yeah, I'm 129 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.720 frustrated as as a taxpayer who pays a lot of 130 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:14.879 money that they've come wealth and sees it wasted in 131 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:16.959 a lot of ways. Go ahead, I'm sorry, go right ahead. 132 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.079 Well, I mean they're you know, political narratives or ideologies, 133 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:21.839 but you know, the fact of the matter is this 134 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:26.000 is look, you know, the folk tech programs and districts 135 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.759 should absolutely be reflective of the districts and the communities 136 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:33.559 from which the you know, students or the district is from. 137 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:37.039 And there were some some schools where there were some 138 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:41.279 legitimate issues that were brought up. But the Commonwealth has 139 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.600 the ability to remedy that and to you know, take 140 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.320 because of a handful of schools, and just recently in 141 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.399 March of twenty twenty four, the state Department of Momentary 142 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:54.720 and Secondary Education and their compliance report to the Federal 143 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.480 Department of Education. So there were four schools that did 144 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:03.200 not fully represents sending communities. Well, the commissioner has the 145 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.759 ability to go in and make those tweaks and changes, 146 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.240 so you don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Here, 147 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.240 you've got a system that is working extremely well. If 148 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:15.759 there are a handful of communities as reported by Dessi, 149 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:19.000 that are not reflective, then go in and make some 150 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.759 of those changes. But one of the challenges that some 151 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:25.200 of the vocational administrators will tell you and believe it 152 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:30.159 or not, that in some areas of the state, superintendents 153 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:34.440 won't let vocational technical personnel from the high schools come 154 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.799 in and talk to seventh and eighth creators about the 155 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:40.360 opportunity because they don't want want those vo techs. They 156 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:42.320 don't want those students leaving to go to the vote 157 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.320 tech school because the money follows the students. So and 158 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.639 particularly in some of those communities where there's some of 159 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:52.639 the concerns around whether they're they're diverse diversity in terms 160 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:55.480 of reflecting miscending districts, some of those same districts or 161 00:09:55.480 --> 00:10:00.360 the districts that don't allow this NAVA mass associations, vocal 162 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:04.360 vocational school administrators and superintendents to go in and talk 163 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.559 to those those communities. So access is an important factor 164 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:09.399 here as well. 165 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:11.960 All right, well, look, Tim, I appreciate that you're still 166 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.519 involved with this obviously as the president of the Chamber 167 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.320 of Commerce. Out there, you know your city, you know 168 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.600 what serves your city best, and I just hope that 169 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:22.600 you stay on it. We're going to talk about this 170 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.360 at nine o'clock and talk to hopefully parents as well. 171 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:27.960 And please keep us in fond of this because this 172 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:30.840 is one that I really firmly believe in in that 173 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.720 education is not one size fits all. Not everyone needs 174 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.600 to go to Harvard, Yale or Princeton, as simple as that. 175 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:43.080 And let's help people find what do they say, they say, 176 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:44.679 if you love what you do, you never work a 177 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.399 day in your life. And let's grand kids who love working, 178 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:53.519 you know, with mechanical their skills, their mechanical aptitude, Let's 179 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.679 give them. Let's open every door for them as possible. Timur, 180 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.399 a former lieutenant governor, still looking up for the interests 181 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:02.159 of the people of Worcester in Massachusetts, appreciate it very much. 182 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:02.399 My friend. 183 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:03.639 Thank you. Dan. 184 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:05.679 All Right, when we get back, by the way, at 185 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:08.080 nine o'clock, we're gonna be talking with Jamie Gass as 186 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:11.440 I mentioned of the Pioneer Institute, and I hope that 187 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:13.120 some of you will weigh in on this. When we 188 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:15.159 get back, we're going to talk about the air traffic 189 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:19.879 control mess that this country is now dealing with. And 190 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:21.960 far be it from any one of us to be 191 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.320 up at an airplane and have our airplane not followed 192 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:28.600 closely by some traffic control. We will talk about that 193 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:30.919 coming up right after the break on Nightside. 194 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:36.600 It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio. 195 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:40.799 Well, if any of you have watched on television news lately, 196 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:44.559 both locally and nationally, you know we have a big 197 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:49.679 problem at our busiest airports with air traffic controller shortages. 198 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:53.519 With us is Mike Catton, former helicopter and commercial airline 199 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:58.799 pilot Newport is having a really rough time. Mike Catton, 200 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:00.639 Welcome to Nightside. Thanks thank for joining us. 201 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:04.559 How are you tonight, and I'm great, thank you for 202 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:06.600 bringing me on what's going on here. 203 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.679 I remember as a young television reporter back in the 204 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.399 early nineteen eighties when the air traffic controllers went on 205 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:19.159 strike and President Reagan fired air traffic controllers, and I 206 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:23.240 think that they brought military air traffic controllers in until 207 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:27.480 they reconstituted the workforce. That's my recollection of it. Is 208 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:28.679 that your recollection? 209 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.960 That is my recollection. And it's interesting you brought that up. 210 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.480 I haven't talked about that today at all, but I 211 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:40.240 was a helicopter pilot in the US Army in Fort Riley, 212 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:44.799 Kansas when that happened, and I'm curious why this walkout 213 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:49.480 didn't trigger the same type of action from the administration. 214 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:54.840 Yeah, I mean, I don't know. The walkout was in Newark, correct, 215 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:57.159 That's the one airport where people have walked out or 216 00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:58.759 has it spread to other airports? 217 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:02.919 As far as I know, it's only Newark at this point. 218 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.200 My understanding is watching tonight's evening newscast that there was 219 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:10.679 a period at some point over the weekend when their 220 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:14.200 screens went blank for ninety seconds and they had no 221 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:18.639 contact with planes landing or taking off. For a full 222 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.559 ninety seconds, which must have seemed like an eternity. 223 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:27.879 That's true, And I saw the same report, and I 224 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.000 can tell you these men are consummate professionals, men and women, 225 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:37.200 and ninety seconds with them that must have been extremely 226 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:42.639 stressful and frankly sheared terror for them. Yeah, communication like that. 227 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:47.679 So my question is we had the crash that took 228 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:52.159 the sixty seven lives over the Potomac in early January 229 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.559 or January this year, and many of those folks were 230 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.759 from an associated with the Boston skating Club. So although 231 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:02.200 the horrible accident was over the Potomac, it was felt 232 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:06.000 greatly here in New England. They were parents, there were coaches, 233 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:11.120 there were skaters amongst the fatalities. Crazy that they're running 234 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:16.200 helicopters at night, black Hawk helicopters at night into the Pentagon, 235 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.919 and that apparently there was that's part of the problem. 236 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:23.200 We'll hear from the National Transportation Board like nine months 237 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:24.960 from now as to what the cause was. And I'm 238 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:26.720 sure they're going to find that somebody was at the 239 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:31.240 wrong elevation. But put that aside, how have we gotten 240 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:34.159 to this point all of a sudden? It seems as 241 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.799 if the bottom's falling out of the system. Where has 242 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:42.840 been use a military term, the preventive maintenance for the 243 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:45.600 last ten years. Did they not see that there was 244 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.360 a surge of people retiring. How did we get to 245 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.159 where we are today? Is my question? 246 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:56.120 Mike Well, first of all, I'm just condolences to the 247 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.120 entire Boston area up there. I can relate to this 248 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:02.080 up I was fourteen years old and I was very 249 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.039 close to the site where the Marshall football team crashed 250 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.879 through Marshall University. So I understand what this does to 251 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:12.879 a community and how did we get here? We have, 252 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.720 in my opinion, and I can back this up, we 253 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:21.759 have avoided updating and modernizing the airspace system for years, 254 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:27.600 and I'm talking about shortly after nine to eleven. You 255 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:32.799 may recall that Al Gore chaired a committee, a focus group, 256 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.200 whatever you want to call it, about modernizing the system. 257 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:41.480 Recommendations were made to improve the system, upgrade the technology. 258 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:45.000 Money was appropriated, It went into an account somewhere, it 259 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.399 never got spent. Depending on who you talk to, some 260 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.240 will say the money is still there. Some will say 261 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:54.639 the money's already been spent on another program. But we 262 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:59.799 are in a dire situation. As far as the technology goes, 263 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.200 I've been in the rooms up there at Newark. I 264 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.240 was based in Newark for fifteen years, and I've toured 265 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:10.120 the facilities and it is old equipment. As far as hiring, 266 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:13.840 they got behind the hiring curve. You may remember a 267 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.279 couple of years ago coming out of COVID, they called 268 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.879 it the Summer of Love. Up and down the East coast. 269 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:23.639 Jacksonville Center was the choke point, and that's a huge 270 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:26.799 choke point, and of course the Northeast is a huge 271 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:29.440 choke points. You have all the airports up and down 272 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:35.720 there at Boston, LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, and many corporate airports 273 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.559 up there that people don't talk about either. So it's 274 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.799 just been a perfect storm of events in my opinion. 275 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:45.039 Okay, so the technology needs to be updated. Okay, how 276 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.480 are they going to get an infusion of more traffic controllers, 277 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.639 more competent traffic controllers on such short notice. I just 278 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.000 don't understand why someone some being counter wasn't sitting there 279 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.960 and saying, hey, you know how many of what percentage 280 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.720 of the traffic controllers are going to retire into twenty fifteen? 281 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.319 The percentage they're going to retire in twenty twenty. They 282 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.640 could see this stuff on the horizon, Mike, you know that, 283 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:08.160 and I know that. How could they miss this? 284 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:13.400 They know exactly. They have charts showing the years and 285 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.839 the number of retirements, just like we had at the airlines. 286 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.000 You can find any airline how many pilots were retiring 287 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.640 the pilots. The airlines got behind the hiring curve with 288 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:27.279 pilots too. The reason that they are behind the curve 289 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:29.599 right now, you ask how long does it take? It 290 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.559 takes us several months to spool someone up to get 291 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:37.000 them out of the academy in Oklahoma City where that 292 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:41.400 they can come to a facility and start training again 293 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.799 for the local traffic in the local area in that facility. 294 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:50.079 Getting people to come to work is part of the problem. Also, 295 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:55.160 people don't want the lifestyle and nighttime long hours. And lastly, 296 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.319 one of the incentives they have offered is the administration 297 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:01.799 has offered for people who are planning to retire but 298 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:04.720 have not reached the mandatory retirement age. They're offering them 299 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.039 a twenty percent bonus for every year they continue to 300 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:09.599 work until they have to retire. 301 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.720 You know, any major League Baseball team. They have on 302 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:16.680 the wall, every general managers will on the wall, has 303 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.480 every position, and they project who's going to be our 304 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:21.880 shortstop five years from now. He's a kid in single 305 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.839 A ball because our shortstop now is thirty one years old, 306 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:27.400 and we got to change that. If they can do 307 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.559 that for Major League Baseball teams, they should be able 308 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:32.359 to do it for something as more important, with air 309 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.400 traffic controllers. Mike, I appreciate your time. He gave us 310 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:38.599 some good perspective and insight in this, and let's hope, 311 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:40.240 for the sake of any one of us, could be 312 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.000 up there in one of those airplanes and all of 313 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.079 a sudden we find out that we're on a plane 314 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:48.920 that is adversely impacted not by power failure, not by 315 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:51.759 an engine blown out, but but just just by simple 316 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:56.799 inadequate human anticipation of what needs to be done going forward. 317 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:59.000 Appreciate your time left to have you back. 318 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.799 Thank you, I appreciate it, and have a great night 319 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:03.319 you too. 320 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.000 Mike Caton, former helicopter commercial airline pilot. And we get 321 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:11.039 back when we talk about collections on defaulted student loans 322 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.960 may affect millions of people's credit scores I'm not surprised 323 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:19.200 at that. I think that probably is going to be 324 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.720 one of the impacts. We're going to talk with Janie Spooner. 325 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.640 She's an expert on lending and credit and the market 326 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:29.160 president of the Great Planes Bank South Lake. We'll talk 327 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:31.079 with Jannis Spooner right after the break. 328 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:37.400 It's Nightside with Boston's News Radio. 329 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.720 All right, back to our nightside news update. We do 330 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.680 this every eight o'clock hour on Nightside. We don't get 331 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:48.920 we give the phone callers arrest. Well. We will talk 332 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.359 a little bit later on, beginning at nine o'clock about 333 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:57.400 the the problem that is being created by some of 334 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:05.000 the commonwealth to not expand vocational education, but to basically 335 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:07.720 limit it and put people in some sort of a lottery, 336 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:10.799 which to me seems crazy. If kids want to students 337 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.519 want to go to vote volgade schools, they should be 338 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.759 of they should be allowed to do that. Those are 339 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:21.160 the best best jobs that I think young people can get. 340 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:24.799 They'll always work, which kind of brings us to our 341 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:27.680 topic at hand, and that is a lot of students 342 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:31.599 have gone to colleges and universities and they've gotten fairly 343 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:35.119 useless degrees, and they've come out and there's no one 344 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:38.039 knocking the door down to uh TO to hire them. 345 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.240 And now it looks as if the Trump administration is 346 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:44.799 going to once again attempt to begin to collect on 347 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:48.359 these defaulted loans with us as Janet Janice Spooner, she's 348 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:51.920 an expert on lending and credit market president of the 349 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:55.759 Great Plains Bank, South Lake. So, Janice, what what are 350 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.839 we about to see happen in the next few months? 351 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:03.119 The the bell is tolling on these loans, what are 352 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:06.000 these students going to have to do? File bankruptcy or what's. 353 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:06.319 Going to happen? 354 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:13.319 Honestly, I think this isn't just a debt crisis, It's 355 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:19.079 a generational economic emergency. The five million barbers heading into 356 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:23.839 default represent far more than mispayments. They reflect the system 357 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:27.480 that's honestly failing an entire workforce generation. 358 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:31.759 Well, I agree with you, really, I do agree with you. 359 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:37.200 The problem is they took these loans to go to 360 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:45.000 these schools which are overweight with administrators. You know, the 361 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:50.079 cost of higher education for thirty years outpaced inflation. You 362 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:52.680 and I both know that as people who are perhaps 363 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.000 a little older than most kids who are just out 364 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:59.319 of college, did people not see this coming. 365 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:05.160 I don't think they saw it coming at all, because 366 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:09.599 sometimes we as consumers stick our head in the sand. 367 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:12.960 It's so much of the nation is in the highest 368 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.839 credit card debt, much less student loan debt or both 369 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:21.680 that they don't want to face it. But now it 370 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:26.960 is vital that they take notes and listen and check 371 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:32.000 to see if they're in default, because repayment on both 372 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:39.839 private and federally backed loans has already started and it's progressing, 373 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:43.079 and now they can actually go after you because it's 374 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.720 considered in default, which is by definition two hundred and 375 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:51.519 seventy days plus has due. So they're going to bring 376 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:58.279 very significant collections and trying to get this money started 377 00:22:58.359 --> 00:22:59.200 to be repaid. 378 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.359 The Biden administration, unlike the Trump administration, kept holding out 379 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:09.960 false hope to some of these student loan bowers. I 380 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:14.599 think they did it for political purposes, and now, of 381 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:18.640 course the Biden administration no longer is in power. Trump 382 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:23.720 administration is taking a different tact. It seems to me 383 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:29.680 that the alternative, particularly in terms of the government loans, 384 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:33.680 would be to have What the Bide administration was trying 385 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:38.319 to do was let's forgive the loans, and let's have 386 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:46.759 others pay for the college education that people secured through 387 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:48.759 the loans. But now they're not willing to pay for 388 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.319 the loans. So people who never went to college and 389 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:55.599 who started businesses or joined the military and now we're working, 390 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:58.519 we were kind of in the point where who's going 391 00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:01.440 to pay? And a lot of the the young people 392 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.640 who owe these loans will hope and there's going to 393 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:06.599 be someone else, But looks like that hopes nothing more 394 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:07.640 than a pipe dream at. 395 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:13.000 This point, Yes, just a pipe dream. And I think 396 00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:17.839 it is really the most critical advice I could give 397 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.680 is check to see if you're in default, because and 398 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:24.960 I say check, so many people have moved in five 399 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.240 years time. They might not even know they have a 400 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:33.279 new servicer and that's happened. So they really need to 401 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:38.039