When I was pregnant with my first child, we bought a house in our old high school's neighborhood, so I already know what I'm in for: a life of raising money for the school, which has long used the parent groups to fund programs the district wouldn't. I also already know many of the ways my money will be used, as I've been involved on the receiving end too; as a volunteer track coach, my "salary" was paid out of booster club funds. The district's budget would only pay for two assistants if fewer than 50 athletes took the field, and it's difficult to coach a dozen different events with only three staffers. The booster club paid me a stipend to help out with the high jump and hurdles, events that really require a specialized approach.

In a Wall Street Journal article today, proof that my local high school is not alone in asking parents to pony up to help out with budgetary restrictions and falling school incomes. And they're going deeper than craft supplies, uniforms and high jump coaches and paying for school staples, such as school books, dictionaries, and teachers' assistant pay. Naturally, critics worry this creates inequities (and this is a huge discussion point in my city); students at schools with involved, upper-income parents end up getting far richer classroom experiences than those with lower-income parents and those whose commitments prevent them from becoming involved.

It's nowhere more clear than at my oldest son's school for children whose behavioral and learning issues require that they be isolate from the general education population. Most of the parents are so exhausted from parenting a special-needs child that they don't have the bandwidth to even join the PTA, let alone spend a lot of effort raising funds for the school. So the kindergarten teachers' longing to start a school garden -- a project that would require major parent fundraising to (ahem) get off the ground -- is all dream unless I somehow manage to find the time and passion for the program.

Have you been asked to provide funds for something you think should be part of the school's budget as a matter of course? Have revenue shortfalls made unusual holes in your school's programs? Do you see inequities in your district's parent groups? It's a big problem that, in a recession, can only be getting bigger.

Where I live in Detroit, there's a lot of grumbling about NAFTA, the free trade agreement that some see as the great evil that has made it increasingly difficult for working people to find good-paying jobs. But in this increasingly global world, it seems unlikely to me that we're ever going to return to a time when working on the line pays top dollar.

Bill George, author of best-selling leadership book, Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide, and a professor of management practice of Harvard Business School, spoke last week at his alma Mater Georgia Tech's winter commencement. In a column for Business Week, George expands on what he told the students. He says a manufacturing economy isn't returning to the U.S. -- too many people elsewhere in the world are willing to work for much less money than working people here need and want. So he says if we are to compete, we must do it with our brains, not our hands.

He offered the new graduates a plan for improving the economy by encouraging innovation. The concepts aren't radical, but they are do-able and worthy of consideration -- particularly at a time when government -- and people, in general -- seem short on innovative ideas.

Your college education may well be the largest investment you ever make. Tuition costs are up again this year, as they have been every year in recent memory, and four years of higher education will run up a bill in excess of six figures for many students. Most will take out loans, and many will still be paying on those loans 20 years from now. Yikes.

You see why it's important to pick the right school? In a new twist on college rankings, SmartMoney has put together a list of the Colleges That Pay Off. SmartMoney looks at the cost of a degree at each school, and then the average income of alumni five and 15 years after graduation, then gives each school a payback ratio, which highlights the relationship between education costs and future earning power. A higher number is better.

With a payback ratio of 338%, the University of Georgia tops off the list of public universities. The top private school in the survey was Washington and Lee University, with a 145% payback ratio. Those private school tuitions really make a dent. SmartMoney gave the Ivy League schools their own category, with Princeton topping the list with a 132% ratio. Still think those Ivy League degrees are worth more? If only ego factored into the equation.

The debate rages on over where you go for the best education, but strictly speaking in terms of numbers, it's the public state universities that churn out the highest-paid graduates. The Princeton alum may have the bigger head, but Bulldogs have bigger houses.

It's not news that the annual tuition increase at American colleges and universities always outpaces the rate of inflation. And more bad news comes via Zac Bissonette's blog about a recent report that those hefty hikes threaten to make college unaffordable for most Americans. Unfortunately, that's not a shocker to you, right? I blogged last month that more students should consider community college and trade school. Here's another alternative: college abroad. And not just a semester -- think the entire four years.

Don't laugh. For an article I wrote last year, I interviewed a 22-year-old college grad who just passed the New York Bar Exam and is now a practicing attorney. That's because he chose to get his law degree at Oxford, where his undergrad program included law school and took just three years to finish. He also saved a substantial amount of money. Because Oxford costs $20,000 a year, he paid $60,000 total for college and his law degree. If he had gotten it here, he would have paid $100,000 for four years of undergrad -- and then a ton more for three years of law school.

And that's the norm. Tuition for international students at top universities in the U.K. and Canada are 25 percent to 50 percent less than at U.S. private universities. Students also save time too, shaving at least a year off of undergrad. Travel and living expenses add to the amount, of course, but the total cost is about the same as an out-of-state resident attending state school. The Institute of International Education says a student at Scotland's Unversity of St. Andrews (Prince William's alma mater) pays the same per year -- $13,000 -- as a non-state resident at the University of Virginia. With the dollar climbing against other currencies, it's not as much of a hit to the wallet as compared to a year ago. College is even more affordable in Australia ($11,000) and New Zealand ($9,500). Nearly all U.S. federal loans can be used to pay for school overseas. A good resource for all the information is CollegeAbroad.com.

From the Who Thinks This Stuff Up? files, there's a new pencil on the market, designed to help your kids concentrate in school. The British company Concentrate recently launched a pre-chewed pencil design. It's not really pre-chewed, it only looks like someone's been gnawing on it.

The company studies things that distract kids in school, and then designs products to help students focus. They say that these pencils are cheap but effective, because kids won't get distracted chewing on them if they already look like this. Um, hello? I see some flaws in this logic.

First of all, who says you can't chew and concentrate at the same time? I'm a long-time pen chewer myself, but it was never something that required a lot of my attention. I graduated with dozens of mutilated pens and straight A's, thank you very much. In fact, bad habit though it may be, chewing pencils or biting nails or cracking knuckles or whatever annoying thing that you do mindlessly while learning about the New Deal might even calm your nerves in a way that helps you concentrate.

I also know what it feels like to have a chewing compulsion, and I doubt these nasty looking pencils will deter anyone, really. A real dedicated pencil muncher will hardly notice the marks, and those who are bothered will simply reach for a different pencil. Or, you know, not buy these in the first place.

The verdict? You get points for creativity, Concentrate, but these pencils aren't going to revolutionize education. This idea stinks like #2.

Everyone knows their child is the best looking in the world. Admit it. You know yours is. I know mine is.

Now's the time to prove it, as long as your child is a baby who is born this month.

The second annual nationwide search by TurboTax for America's Cutest Last-Minute Tax Deduction is on, so hopefully you did your homework nine months ago. One baby born in December 2008 will win a $5,000 United States Savings bond worth up to $10,000 upon maturity, according to a company press release for Intuit Inc., the maker of TurboTax. That's the value at the bond's maturity, not the child's.

When the times get tough, it's time to get creative. When administrators slashed his school's supply budget, California Calculus teacher Tom Farber found himself in a bind. All of his quizzes, tests, and exams added up to $500 in copying expenses -- almost $200 over his allotted paper budget.

A "cool" teacher might have forgotten about tests, but a good one would find a way to give his students the practice they'd need to prepare for their Advanced Placement exams at the year's end. Instead of dropping tests, Farber started soliciting sponsors. He sold ads on test papers for $10-$30, depending on the size of the test, and soon he had his copying expenses covered.

The educator's innovative solution has not been without controversy. While most of the sponsorships are simply inspirational messages paid for by parents, about a third of them come from local businesses. Some are worried that this could spark an over-commercialization of schools, but Farber says it's just a logical solution. "We're expected to do more with less," he says. For most teachers, that means paying for over-budget expenses out of pocket -- to the tune of about $430 per year, according to the National Education Association.

Looking through recent articles about college students, I keep seeing the same basic suggestions: minimize loans, don't get a credit card, pay your bills, and keep track of your spending. While these are certainly useful little tidbits of advice, they don't really address the largest problem that is currently facing students: the economy.

In some ways, college students are sort of like the canaries that miners used to carry with them. Given that they have shallower pockets and have not yet fully entered the job market, they are much more susceptible to downturns in the economy. From having to survive on ever-decreasing resources to trying to find work in a sluggish job market, students are having to make difficult decisions before they even get their diplomas. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for the soon-to-be graduated about ways to weather a very difficult economic storm.

High school students are always looking for college scholarships to apply for, but a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Charles Schwab Foundation looks like it should be required math for anyone wondering how the economy works.

It's kind of like the TV show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-grader?" but with more of a scholarly aspect to it. Students have to be a lot smarter for the fall National Financial Literacy Challenge; they have to get a perfect score in order to win a $1,000 scholarship. Up to 100 students can win.

Here's a sample question: If you deposit $1,000 in a savings account with a fixed annual interest rate of 5%, how much will you have in your account after two years if you make no additional deposits or withdrawals?

A. Exactly $100; B. Exactly $1,100; C. Les than $1,100; D. More than $1,100.

The other sample questions have to deal with net worth, diversified investments, fixed-rate mortgages vs. variable-rate mortgages, and a question about how to get a large mutual fund balance in 20 years, a question I suspect the Schwab co-sponsors had a lot to do with being asked. Still, some unique questions to ask I high school kid. I guarantee you I didn't know about variable-rate mortgages when I was 17; I barely understand them now that I own a house.

The deadline for taking the 35-question online test is Dec. 12. Teachers can sign up their students at the U.S. Treasury's Web site.

Aaron Crowe is an unemployed journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read about his job search at www.talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com

An occupational study done by Robert M. Hauser at the University of Wisconsin Madison several years ago is causing a buzz. Why is a study on jobs so interesting? Because the researcher laid out the average IQs of people involved in over 50 occupations. See how much these fit the stereotypes you hold in your own mind.



On the lower end of the IQ spectrum on his chart were workers in blue collar occupations like janitor, machine operator, truck driver, carpenter, assembler, and construction craftsman. On the upper end of the IQ spectrum were typically white collar professions, such as engineers, social scientists, legal occupations, college professors, doctors, and accountants.

Does this tell us anything we don't already know? Probably not. Those with higher IQs likely have an easier time in school and perform better on tests, and are therefore probably more likely to pursue a college education, which is required for most of these occupations listed for the higher IQs.

Should this be viewed as a dig to the blue collar workers? Of course not. While they may have a lower measured IQ, they may have a very high level of skill in their area of specialty. This skill level might not be captured by an IQ test, and therefore not reflected in this study.

The results of this study, however, seem to be worth more than just the bit of trivia demonstrated in the graphic. The author of the study comes to an important conclusion that traditional measurements of IQ aren't all that useful and it might be good to develop a different tool to measure abilities than just standard tests. He says that education reform should include reform of traditional testing tools in order to measure other important skills and abilities. I agree.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Over the last few months, bartending schools have seen a 20-25% growth in enrollment, as the newly unemployed begin to explore their next career move. For former financial-sector employees and office workers, this may be an outstanding move. After all, it's going to be a long, cold winter and it seems likely that a lot of people will be gathering together for warmth and community.

While I'm not much of a bar drinker (frankly, I'm way too cheap), I can certainly understand why so many people choose to while away the hours sitting on a bar stool and paying too much for mixed drinks. Bars are communities, comfortingly familiar, yet simultaneously offering the opportunity for surprise and excitement. They are places where you can drink the old familiar or surprise yourself with something new, talk to your best friends, or strike up conversations with total strangers. In the best of times, they are places to enjoy one's fellow human beings; in the worst of times, they are places to huddle for warmth.

This, perhaps, is why bars seem to do well, even when the rest of the economy is experiencing difficulties. Granted, the bar scene may change: frothy, ultra-engineered drinks will recede and traditional highballs will return, while microbrews give way to cheap, mass-produced beers. However, even as the scene shifts from upscale cocktail palaces to lowbrow dives, the taste for community warmth, leavened with whiskey, will survive. If you're not sure about your next career move, you might consider becoming a part of it.

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. In bars, he usually just drinks sarsaparilla.

A weak credit market and badly beaten retirement portfolios are making some families rethink sending Junior off to a four-year college straight out of high school.

Here's one possible alternative: learning some sort of trade that can pay the bills and taking classes at a community college before transferring to a four-year college. For students who have questionable academic backgrounds and motivation, this can be a terrific route. Here's why: the attrition rate at four-colleges has soared in recent years. With more and more kids going to college, an ever-increasing number are dropping out. Government data shows that just 54% of students who entered a four-year college in 1997 had earned a degree six years later. For that 46% that didn't complete the program, post-college life often consists of large debt loads without the benefit of the increased earnings that come with a degree.

Students who learn a trade after high school will benefit from increased earnings power while they pursue education, and also benefit from the respect for hard work that comes with bootstrapping. Community colleges tailor their programs to accommodate non-traditional students, meaning that night classes while working full-time are a possibility.

The learn a trade and go to community college before transferring route isn't for everyone, but it's a great option for a lot of kids.

Not everyone suffers during an economic downturn. Apple farmers and pencil manufacturers, for example, saw a surge in sidewalk sales during the Great Depression. Our current mess will benefit a few folks who were previously on the outs, too. In this case, C students.

All year long, Catholic schools around the country have been reporting a decrease in enrollment. At first, the soft matriculation rate was thought to have a lot to do with softer attendance on Sunday mornings, too. But the Archdiocese of New York just reported a drop of nearly 6,000 students. In Brooklyn, the plunge is as deep as 5%. Los Angeles schools are reporting that similar trouble is brewing.

For some families, that $5,500 tuition (the average for a Catholic school) could be better applied in other areas, so off to public school, that socialist institution that even hard-core conservatives love, the kids go.

Any parent can tell you that finding a good daycare for your child is a giant pain. Once you've figured out how you'll work it into your budget, you shop around for a long time looking for the perfect place, and then when you've narrowed it down, you spend months on a waiting list just to see if you'll even be offered the privilege of sending your kid and all of your money to the daycare of your choice.

At least, that's how it used to be. The sharp downturn in the economy has had a pronounced effect on the daycare industry, as struggling families can no longer afford it. Parents are pulling kids from daycare and either staying home with them or sending the kids to friends and relatives during the workday. The waiting lists that used to mean job security for all the daycare providers have dried up, and centers are offering part- time services as well as extended hours for parents who work odd or extended hours.

Some parents are quitting their jobs because daycare expenses exceed their income. The National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies estimates that day care costs range from $3,380 to $10,787 per child per year. In every state in the country, the monthly child care bill for two children is higher than median rent payments and as high or higher than a mortgage. Those figures are even before factoring in the fuel costs of getting children to daycare, which have been the breaking point for many families, not just lower income.

For families that don't have helpful grandparents, there are no easy choices. Many parents are forced to take on second jobs just to afford the cost of child care while they're at their day jobs. Families are cutting back on child care "until things get better," but so far, things aren't improving.

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's First Family of Personal Finance, answer your money questions every Friday.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.

Crisp fall weather means college campuses everywhere are being invaded by visiting high school seniors eyeing prospective dorms ... as their parents hyperventilate over the price tag.

Today's credit crunch is making the already daunting burden of paying for college seem even more impossible. Luckily, there is still plenty of funding available – if you know where to look. We have the scoop for you in our video below.

Looking to secure a loan for college to help cover those hefty tuition bills? Find out where you can get funding in Ken and Daria's special alert, only on Dolans.com.