This West Virginia coding dream was fantasy on so many levels it is difficult to keep track. A group called Mined Minds promised to teach West Virginians how to write computer code and ensured them they would get good-paying jobs in the tech industry. For people displaced by de-industrialization and the closing of coal mines it seemed like a dream come true. Unfortunately it was too good to be true.
A number of prominent people were sucked in, including Senator Joseph Manchin, leaders of the state’s National Guard contingent, county commissioners, and editors of local news outlets. Mined Minds received a $1.5 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. Mined Mines was even featured in a PBS News Hour broadcast.
Desperate but hopeful people quit jobs or dropped out of school to secure training and start lucrative tech careers. Almost none of the people pulled in by Mined Minds promises are working in computer programming. One of the few pupils who completed the program is now delivering takeout food. Another, a former coal miner, is back in the coal pits. He was the only former West Virginia coal miner to finish classes. He had a job with Mined Mind for 14 months but was then fired. Over two-dozen former students have initiated a lawsuit charging Mined Minds with fraud.
According to the New York Times, “Mined Minds came into Appalachia espousing a certain dogma, fostered in the world of start-ups and TED Talks, and carried with missionary zeal into places in dire need of economic salvation.” But Amanda Laucher, one of the group’s founders excuses the group’s failure to live up to its promises because “Progress is difficult with the current atmosphere in Appalachia which is deeply interested in maintaining a ‘culture.’” She blames the opioid epidemic and region’s “poverty culture.”
In response to the lawsuit, Laucher complained, “The vast majority of Americans pay for their education. We are shocked and saddened that [the plaintiffs] would believe they deserve compensation in addition to retraining.”
Ms. Laucher was a tech consultant in Chicago before starting Mined Minds with her husband. Its great success story was her brother Marvin, a former miner who was working in the tech industry. The program was supposed to work this way. Students would enroll in a free 16-week coding boot camp where they would get paid $10 an hour and after completing classes become paid apprentices with the program’s for-profit software consultancy. Apprentices were supposed to work full-time for company clients teach the next cohort of students. Eventually apprentices would either get salaried jobs at the Mined Minds or move on to established tech firms.
The first lie was being paid to attend classes. It never happened. The second lie was that there was an actual curriculum. Students were given assignments and then worked individually. If they asked “instructors” for help they were usually told to “Google it.”
According to its website, “Mined Minds Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, with the mission of growing tech hubs in areas of economic need within rural Appalachia.” It advertises that “Whatever your software needs, a Mined Minds team can help you to achieve your software development goals. Partnering with us, you'll get leading edge technology solutions using agile development practices. With offices in Chicago and West Virginia, you get local convenience at offshore rates.”
The state of Pennsylvania ordered Mined Minds to cease operations for not having a license to run a school. But the problem is not just Mined Mines and for-profit companies selling the coding dream. “Off-shore rates” means that coding salaries will always be low. According to the website ZipRecruiter, “as of May 6, 2019, the average weekly pay for a Coder in the United States was $808 a week,” but it could be as low as $385. Eight hundred a week means about $20 an hour but $400 is about what a cashier makes at Walmart. The average wage adds up to about $40,000 a year, which keeps a coder supporting a family of four above the federal poverty line, but still struggling. In addition, the ZipRecruiter notes “there are not many opportunities for increased pay or advancement, even with several years of experience.” Another part of the problem is that in Banglore, India the average coder is paid about $200 a month and they can email in their work just as easily as someone living in West Virginia.
The situation will grow worse for low-end coding jobs as for-profit companies sell the coding dream and students starting in elementary school learn to code in school, online, and in summer camp.
How many coders does the world actually need?
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