Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf] • Hacker News Board

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#351

Post by austenallred » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 1:06 PM UTC

CriticalCathed wrote: post #346

austenallred wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People who don't like the idea of capitalism in general tend to not be huge fans of Lambda School. But we only get paid $30k in the case where you get a software engineering job after Lambda School that pays $85k+. Everyone else pays less, and absolutely no one pays more than $30k. Our upfront tuition for the nine-month, full-time course is $20k if paid upfront.

85k? I thought it was 50k.

It’s 17% of income for two years.

So if you’re making $50k you actually pay less than the upfront tuition amount ($17k).

You have to be making $85k or more to pay the full $30k.

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#352

Post by TheCoelacanth » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 1:52 PM UTC

GordonS wrote: post #261

kaushikt wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lambda School is preparing to enter India as well right? How is it regulated there? better or worse?

Given all the dodgy looking "English School" signs and graffiti I've seen in several Indian cities, I'd guess there's a lot less regulation. That might of course differ for a large foreign company, so I would still be interested in hearing from the OP on this :)

Not necessarily less regulation, but less enforcement for sure.

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#353

Post by feenix566 » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 2:46 PM UTC

QuadmasterXLII wrote: post #144

merpnderp wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25 lbs of paperwork to register an online school? Sounds less about protecting students and more towards protecting incumbents and cronies.

When the government makes you waste a a day filling out paperwork to prove that your dog food doesn’t contain human remains, don’t blame the regulators. Blame the guy before you who made a buck by vertically integrating his cannery and his morgue.

Instead of making everyone sign a stack of papers stating that their dog food doesn't contain human remains, the legislature could simply pass a law stating that you pay fines and/or go to jail if your dog food contains human remains. That way you avoid punishing people who act in good faith for the misdeeds of those who didn't.

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#354

Post by the-alchemist » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #65

merpnderp wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25 lbs of paperwork to register an online school? Sounds less about protecting students and more towards protecting incumbents and cronies.

The real fun ones are where we have to submit the curriculum for approval every time we make a change (considering we make small tweaks to curriculum every day - they did not plan for that use case). Good thing there are APIs for printing and mailing changes to a diff :)

I've been following Lambda School and yourself on Twitter for a while now, and even looked at some resumes for our company.

I have to say, thank you for your thoughtful comments here and on Twitter, and your dedication to students. As a former teacher myself, I know the work is hard.

I only wish there was a Lambda School here in Philadelphia so I could teach here. :)

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#355

Post by austenallred » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

the-alchemist wrote: post #354

austenallred wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real fun ones are where we have to submit the curriculum for approval every time we make a change (considering we make small tweaks to curriculum every day - they did not plan for that use case). Good thing there are APIs for printing and mailing changes to a diff :)

I've been following Lambda School and yourself on Twitter for a while now, and even looked at some resumes for our company. I have to say, thank you for your thoughtful comments here and on Twitter, and your dedication to students. As a former teacher myself, I know the work is hard. I only wish there was a Lambda School here in Philadelphia so I could teach here. :)

All of our instructors are remote, apply!

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#356

Post by randyrand » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 5:02 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #235

randyrand wrote: post #140

Looking at the text of the fine, you can't charge money to teach people things ("offer education" in their parlence) in a physical location without state approval. Could that be any more broad? Education is often just verbal and written communication between people. Seems like a first amendment violation.

> Looking at the text of the fine, you can't charge money to teach people things ("offer education" in their parlence) in a physical location without state approval. It looks like you ignored a lot of the text of the order, such as the citation of exemptions, and the limiting qualifier “postsecondsry” before education. > Could that be any more broad? Well, no, it would be harder for it to be more broad than your misc…

Ah you're right that I missed postsecondary. It should be:

>Looking at the text of the fine, you can't charge money to teach adults things in a cirriculum ("offer education" in their parlence) in a physical location without state approval.

It's an important distinction, but I don't think that huge game changer. Still looks clearly unconstitutional.

I could literally rent a storefront and recite audio books and that would be illegal. How is that a constitutional law? Note: educational books often have a curriculum built in. The difference between a book and a class is just the medium it's presented.

Limiting the spread of information is what dictatorships do. There is a reason it's the very first amendment.

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#357

Post by hiei » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #286

hiei wrote: post #224

Lambda employees always do PR damage on HN. Had commented about a poor experience of mine and was told to reach out via email, no response ever. They're all talk.

When did this happen? I can look into it

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19375303

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#358

Post by the-alchemist » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #355

the-alchemist wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been following Lambda School and yourself on Twitter for a while now, and even looked at some resumes for our company. I have to say, thank you for your thoughtful comments here and on Twitter, and your dedication to students. As a former teacher myself, I know the work is hard. I only wish there was a Lambda School here in Philadelphia so I could teach here. :)

All of our instructors are remote, apply!

Oh, I didn't know you were still hiring instructors, thanks!

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#359

Post by jjeaff » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 9:05 PM UTC

freewilly1040 wrote: post #195

jjeaff wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or have one page with a single checkbox that says "I understand it is illegal to use human remains in dog food"

Regulation isn't about informing people what the rules are, it's about people proving they are following the rules.

Sure. And there is no way a stack of paperwork can prove you are -not- using human remains.

Check the box that you understand and expect possible, random inspections.

Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

#360

Post by nybble41 » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 9:41 PM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #248

xyzzyz wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theft is also forbidden by regulation, but thankfully I don't have to file daily reports yet to Theft-Prevention Agency listing all the things that I handled but not stolen today.

Theft is not forbidden by regulation, it's forbidden by laws . What's the difference? Laws are written by legislators, i.e., the elected representatives. Regulations are written by agencies created and empowered by laws to oversee certain parts of the government/governmental functions. Regulators work largely by requiring reports because most agencies don't have criminal enforcement powers, and thus can act only on t…

The real difference is that theft is punishable under natural law regardless of what any regulators or legislators might say. There can be no consistent system which would permit theft while prohibiting a proportional punishment for it. If theft is permitted then enforced restitution (recovery of the stolen property) and punishment (fines) must also be permitted, because these are ultimately the same action.

Laws and regulations which are not merely codification of natural law ultimately come down to attempting to create rules which apply to some people and not others. Unfortunately, legislators and regulators get away with this all to often through a combination of good propaganda and willingness to employ unjustified force to achieve their goals.