More on Technical Education

Here's a full text version of my most recent piece published in the Denver Post. It's on my standard theme of career and technical education.

Skilled Labor and The Future of Education

Work-study. Work or study.

These words offer contrasting visions of how to elevate struggling schools. In recent weeks Newt Gingrich proposed putting poor kids to work cleaning their schools, and President Obama argued for compulsory education to eighteen. While each idea has merit, both were criticized for good reason.

Newt wasn’t wrong in arguing young people need marketable skills, and interning kids in maintenance jobs is reasonable. His problem was emphasizing vocational education only for poor and minority kids who need a “work ethic.” And janitorial work is not really “skilled labor,” so the prospects for a middle class career are limited. Does Newt really think the country lacks millions of janitors? As a historian, Newt should know better.

Obama’s idea of extending education wasn’t wrong either, though mandating attendance is an oversimplification and counterproductive. It neither solves the drop-out problem nor answers important questions. Why are kids dropping out, and for what purpose should they stay? Schools must promote a culture and mission that makes students want to stay, rather than force them against their will. As a community organizer, the President should know better.

In Colorado, that’s where an honest discussion of demographics and opportunities needs to become the focus. Skilled labor has long been the hallmark of the middle class. And, work-study is a time-honored but underused component of education. The problem of course with the American economy isn’t simply a lack of jobs – it’s also a lack of skilled workers. According to the Wall Street Journal, one reason employment numbers are stagnant is a drought of welders, electricians, miners, technicians, and engineers. And Colorado is the perfect place to reconstruct an education system based on skilled labor.

With Denver’s technology, military, energy, and mining industries, local opportunities abound for interning and business-education partnerships. Every industrialized nation in the world – except the United States – allows an opportunity for transition to careers by age sixteen. That’s a significant reason they outpace us in international assessments, especially at the senior high school level. However, with a commitment to higher education and skilled labor, Colorado could be the model for education reform in the United States.

Colorado could become the epicenter for producing highly skilled labor – an international source of miners, drillers, welders, engineers, and technicians. And, students may be interested in knowing they can earn six figures as a driller or miner. Years ago, I knew a young man who was an industrial grade painter. By age twenty, his professional certification put him in demand nationwide, and at twenty-two he was making twice my bachelor’s degree salary.

Granted, promoting technical education over bachelor degrees isn’t without controversy. Education blogger Clarice McCants criticizes arguments that too many kids go to college. McCants believes it implies poor kids should become plumbers – as Newt Gingrich quipped – while middle and upper class kids should be engineers, doctors, and businessmen. Such a view is, truly, the soft bigotry of low expectations.

Assuming “skilled labor” applies only to poor urban students is wrong. In fact, such thinking killed vocational education in the 80s. Poor minority kids were funneled into shop class while white kids took literature and physics. Yet, instead of fixing that disparity, we simply cut technical education and re-engineered society promoting college-for-all. However, even among the middle class population, plenty of kids shouldn’t be going for bachelor’s degrees because the economy neither needs nor supports them.

Granted, more middle-class suburban – and yes white – kids have advantages based on neighborhood, family situations, and early childhood education. That’s the key we’re not acknowledging – the incredible burden of catching up if a child enters kindergarten not knowing his letters or lagging other kids in vocabulary. Statistically, it’s difficult to catch up – and it can take generations. Once a family has one college educated parent, then it moves to two, then to a stay at home parent or one with flexibility and the funds to support effective pre-school, not just daycare/babysitting.

Clearly, it comes down to equal opportunities. And it comes from decreasing the stigma of associate degrees and skilled labor. Mike Rowe of Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs” is a strong proponent of technical education. However, he reminds us that these jobs need to be the kind people want. As long as we have Gingrich linking skilled labor only to “poor kids” who need a work ethic, and the President mindlessly mandating attendance, education reform will go nowhere.

Now that Colorado has been freed from the mandates of NCLB, state education leaders should begin crafting a sound education policy that promotes skilled labor and matches the needs of students and the marketplace.

Be Thoughtful of College Choice

Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn and a tech billionaire, offers some very sound advice on the "college-or-not" debate. Despite my regular assertions that most people should not go to college, Reid reminds us that anyone can and should go to college if he or she is thoughtful and purposeful about it.

I particularly enjoyed Reid's response to a question of whether an eighteen-year-old knows what he wants to do for the rest of his life. Students should simply not think that way and try to develop a thirty year plan. For, even if the student is the same person - and in terms of personality, initiative, and interests he probably will be - the world will have changed. Thus, students would simply want to secure knowledge and skills in a general area of which they have interest which would make them always marketable and adaptable in any age.

Thus, skills in writing, critical thinking, computation, and technology offer a pretty solid foundation. Beyond that, the market will decide who succeeds and who fails.

Soft Bigotry of "College-Not-For-All"

Clarice McCants of the Closing Gaps - Education Blog for Parents takes on the recent shift in education that argues too many kids are going to college. McCants wonders whether this idea - which may subtly imply that poor kids should become plumbers - as Newt Gingrich quipped - while middle and upper class kids should be engineers, doctors, and businessmen is nothing but soft bigotry, perpetuating a class system.

The area where I challenge this point of view is in assuming that the "College-is-not-for-all" be applied only to poor, minority, and urban schools. In fact, that is what killed vocational education and career prep in the 70s and 80s. The poor and black kids were funneled into shop class while the white kids took literature and physics.

So, instead of fixing that disparity, we cut voc ed across the board and decided to re-engineer society with the college-for-all mentality. But, among our middle class white population, there are still plenty of kids who shouldn't be going for bachelor's degrees. And the reason is that the economy neither needs it or can support it.

Only 29% of the US population has a bachelor's degree - and clearly that's all we really need in terms of productivity and sustained growth. It's simply wasted credentials, and that results from a logical fallacy - that a bachelor's equates with more wealth and well-being. For the business and public sector, more education equates with higher pay, though that is often a dubious distinction. The market often, and should, decide who rises to management. Not a pay scale based on college degrees.

Granted, more middle class suburban - and yes white - kids are going to have the leg up based on their early childhood education. That's the key we are not talking about - the incredible burden on catching up if a child enters kindergarten not knowing his letters and numbers and lagging other kids by a vocabulary of up to 1500 words. Statistically, it will be hard to catch up - and it can take generations. Once a family has one college educated parent, then it moves to two, then to a stay at home parent or one with flexibility and the funds to support effective pre-school, not just daycare/babysitting.

Clearly, it comes down to equal opportunities. And it comes from decreasing the stigma of associate degrees and skilled labor.

Or, at least, that's my two pennies.

Leno Promotes Welders

Jay Leno - car enthusiast - has a video promoting the career of welding as not only a lucrative and fulfilling job, but as the foundation of the country and our rich industrial history. When will school leaders and reformers do the same?

Engineering and Trades Up, Banking Down

In the past few weeks, I've encountered numerous stories about increased hiring by corporate industry giants such as Seimens Technology and GE. At the same time, Bank of America, HSBC, and UBS are all announcing large scale layoffs over the next couple years. So, perhaps last decade's trend of the best and brightest math and science minds going into finance for a quick score has crested, and we may see a return to engineering colleges and a new rise in innovation. Additionally, the stories at Seimens and GE indicate that they are seeking skilled labor as well. That will mean a rising need for technical workers. It's doubtful that politicians and education leaders will have enough foresight to prime the pump for this growth. But I'm hoping.

Bobby Flay & Bachelor Degrees

While watching the Food Network's show "Next Food Network Star" this week, I heard Bobby Flay casually make a very interesting comment. In discussing one of the finalists who is a high school dropout, Bobby said, "I stopped going to high school after my freshman year." Hmmmm. Yet another tremendously successful skilled service worker and entrepreneur who did not finish high school ... who did not go to college ... who did not need a bachelor's degree.

The story on Bobby is that he dropped out of high school after his freshman year - or at the age of seventeen, the details are unclear - and went straight to work. He began working in restaurants, supposedly working in a Baskin-Robbins and a pizza parlor. After that rough start, he began working at a restaurant in New York's Theater District, where his dad was a partner. Impressed with Bobby Flay, the owner paid for Bobby's tuition to the French Culinary Institute. From there Bobby began an impressive career in the culinary arts that has led to worldwide success and fame with ten restaurants bearing his name. He also secured a job on the fledgeling Food Network, clearly revealing his skill in front of the camera as well as behind the service counter.

Yet another American success story on a young man who did not fit our traditional education paradigm, but had great promise and success based on skills not measured by ACTs or state tests. I'd like to see more support in schools for people like Bobby Flay.

Pathways to Prosperity

The following is a piece of commentary I wrote for the Denver Post - It was published Sunday in the perspective section:

Education Pathways to Prosperity

After the recent cold snap – as my neighbor’s pipes froze and my furnace shorted out – I was reminded of just how little we appreciate and how much we undervalue skilled labor in this country. When the plumber told my neighbor he was booked until two AM, and when the pipe repair exceeded $300, I wondered why schools keep pushing the college-for-all mentality. The education system should promote the trades and skilled labor as much as it does academics and bachelor’s degrees, and education at all levels should become more experiential and skill-based.

This conclusion is supported by the recently released Harvard study that concluded not all kids should go to college – or at least not a four-year university in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. The aptly titled report “Pathways to Prosperity” recommends a new direction for education reform, based on the practical needs of students and the economy. Sadly, too many education leaders don’t share this view.

Politicians and education reformers never talk about producing more plumbers or IT technicians or dental hygienists or physical therapists, just more scientists and engineers. President Obama and Bill Gates preach incessantly about the need for the United States to produce degree holders to keep up with the technological demands of a global economy. And that is certainly a noble and necessary goal. Yet, for every engineer we produce, we need hundreds, if not thousands, of skilled technicians to manufacture and repair the innovations those engineers create. Clearly, current education reform based almost entirely on standardized test scores and college degrees is the wrong direction for Colorado and for the United States.

Of the millions of jobs that will be created in the next decade, 30% of them will not require a bachelor’s degree. Many positions such as paralegals, health care technicians, registered nurses, and tech support workers need only certificates and associate degrees. Currently only 28% of Americans have a bachelor degree, and many of them are looking for work. In a study of Florida college graduates, the earnings discrepancy between two-year programs and bachelor degrees is a revelation. Five years out of school, the average trade school or community college graduate makes $47,000 per year compared to bachelor degree holders who average $36,000. School administrators, counselors, and education reformers are being disingenuous if they fail to promote this information to students and parents. By not offering advice on students’ realistic prospects for college degrees and marketable skills, schools are setting up too many kids for failure.

Europe clearly outpaces the U.S. in this area, another key point of the Harvard study. Education critics regularly tout the performance of Finland in international test scores, but they do little to promote the Finnish system. As many as 70% of Finnish students enter career training following their sophomore year of high school. In fact, elementary schools in Finland teach skills such as carpentry alongside the multiplication tables. And Finnish students only take one standardized test in their school career – it’s at the end of high school to determine university qualification. Yet, despite emphasizing skill-based education, Finland remains on the cutting edge in technology and is home to five of the world’s top global technology corporations. Clearly, they produce sufficient scientists and engineers from their top thirty percent, and they also provide sufficient skilled labor for their economy.

Colorado needs to design educational standards and goals that move beyond basic academic skills learned at desks and measured by standardized tests. For every new magnet or charter school like the Denver School of Science and Technology, Colorado districts need to offer technical education like that found at Hamilton Career Technical Center near Cincinnati, Ohio. Hamilton is winning praise for its record of producing skilled health care technicians, electricians, and mechanics, and offering viable careers to non-academic students.

Like the report “Tough Choices, Tough Times” that was the buzz in education reform several years ago, “Pathways to Prosperity” should be required reading for every education reformer in Colorado, especially members of the legislature and education committees. If Colorado truly hopes to “Race to the Top” in creating a productive education system, we must commit to redesigning our education system to produce both higher-level degrees and productive skilled labor. Hopefully, reformers like Senator Michael Johnston will move beyond his recent focus on basic skills and college attendance and begin drafting his next bill promoting practical education reforms based on building marketable skills at all levels.

Not Quite Adults

Interesting new book called Not Quite Adults about the latest generation to reach adulthood - or perhaps reach a new definition of adulthood. The book's subtitle is "Why 20-Somethings are Choosing a Slower Path to Adulthood and Why It is Good for Everyone." The book focuses on young people who are delaying marriage, child-rearing, home-ownership, and even careers as they approach adulthood in a more calculating manner. It seems that, at least in the new economy, that boomerang children are not necessarily a problem, and that the image of the slacker living in the basement is far from reality.

Some interesting arguments made by the authors - which are really quite logical - have to do with the rigid paths society has set for defining success and careers and the negative perceptions we have about "involved parents" and "boomerang children." For example, the criticism of "helicopter parents" is misplaced in an era when un-involved disconnected parents do far more harm to their kids and society. As a teacher, I see the wisdom in that. Given a choice between a parent who cares too much or not enough, it seems like a no brainer. Additionally, the stereotype of the slacker kid living off of mom and dad while playing HALO in the basement is not the norm. Many, if not most kids who return home, are instead using the time to not only establish some financial security by paying down debt, but they are helping out mom and dad as well. In many ways, it can be good for a relationship with all parties seeing each other on a more mature level playing field.

Additionally, the authors address a topic dear to my heart - society's misplaced emphasis on bachelor degrees and a diminished appreciation for trades. Society has declared to young people that their only viable options are a high-paying bachelor degree job or "working the line at Arby's." Instead, we need to provide a more honest and realistic portrayal of alternative routes to careers. We have nearly destroyed career and technical education at a time when those areas are where the economy is growing the most and in most need of skilled workers. From health care technicians to electricians and plumbers, the economy is in need of exactly the sort of labor we are turning kids away from. And at a time when half the kids entering college won't finish, this is a nearly unforgivable error.

Wake up, America, and take a realistic look at the world and the young people emerging into adulthood.

Vocational Ed Gets the Ax in AZ

Apparently, a 2009 bill in the Arizona legislature cut $550 from the state's Department of Education. That included reducing funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) from $11 million down to $57,000 - a 99.9% reduction. This is truly sad, and it continues to reinforce how clueless Americans, and especially elected officials committed to low taxes/limited government, are when it comes to the actual needs of the education system and necessary reforms.

While schools and politicians continue to appease voters with increasing test scores and college admissions, ignoring college graduation rates and the needs of the workplace, the area that gets neglected is good, old-fashioned vocational education. This is the aspect of the system that needs the most focus and reform.