Free tuition program can be lifesaver
Christopher Johnson
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Features
"modest" condo in
Doylestown and must pay for
their health-care coverage
through COBRA, so there are
scant funds available for education
expenses.
Hart, 54, is a single mom
from Perkasie and a recent
college graduate. Laid off in
February from the Eastern
Pennsylvania Emergency
Medical Services Council, she
and one of her two sons,
Greg, 27, who was also laid
off, spend much of their time
attending job fairs, tracking
down government job openings
and taking civil-service
tests. It's grueling. It's not
unusual for them to take
more than one test in a week
- or even in a single day. "I
feel beat up," she said.
Hart said she plans to "take
as many civil-service tests as
possible" because a publicsector
job "offers amazing
benefits and a very good pension."
After her layoff, she says
she panicked. Unlike
Nieman, Hart's last employer
didn't participate in COBRA,
so she has no health benefits.
And this month, thousands of
dollars worth of insurance
and property-tax bills are
coming due.
The good news is that Hart
has a chance at a job with the
state. The not-so-good news
is that the position pays less
than what she receives in
unemployment benefits, no
health coverage is offered
and it's an intermittent position.
The bad news is that if
she is offered the job and she
refuses to take it, she must
give up her unemployment
benefits.
But Hart is practical. If a
job comes her way, she might
heed the advice she heard on
CNN lately: "Just take the
friggin' job!" If it's not a perfect
fit, she thinks, "it may not
be THE job, but its experience
that I can use down the road."
Hart's résumé is impressive.
A straight-A student,
she recently earned her college
degree while working
12-hour shifts in the emergency
room of the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia. She
started a business. She is a
Doylestown and must pay for
their health-care coverage
through COBRA, so there are
scant funds available for education
expenses.
Hart, 54, is a single mom
from Perkasie and a recent
college graduate. Laid off in
February from the Eastern
Pennsylvania Emergency
Medical Services Council, she
and one of her two sons,
Greg, 27, who was also laid
off, spend much of their time
attending job fairs, tracking
down government job openings
and taking civil-service
tests. It's grueling. It's not
unusual for them to take
more than one test in a week
- or even in a single day. "I
feel beat up," she said.
Hart said she plans to "take
as many civil-service tests as
possible" because a publicsector
job "offers amazing
benefits and a very good pension."
After her layoff, she says
she panicked. Unlike
Nieman, Hart's last employer
didn't participate in COBRA,
so she has no health benefits.
And this month, thousands of
dollars worth of insurance
and property-tax bills are
coming due.
The good news is that Hart
has a chance at a job with the
state. The not-so-good news
is that the position pays less
than what she receives in
unemployment benefits, no
health coverage is offered
and it's an intermittent position.
The bad news is that if
she is offered the job and she
refuses to take it, she must
give up her unemployment
benefits.
But Hart is practical. If a
job comes her way, she might
heed the advice she heard on
CNN lately: "Just take the
friggin' job!" If it's not a perfect
fit, she thinks, "it may not
be THE job, but its experience
that I can use down the road."
Hart's résumé is impressive.
A straight-A student,
she recently earned her college
degree while working
12-hour shifts in the emergency
room of the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia. She
started a business. She is a
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