The above is the title of an article in today’s Daily Press, which is part one of a two-part series. The article lays out that many students – even graduates – are leaving high school unprepared for the workplace, forcing the companies to hire foreigners or forgo expansion plans.
Many recent high school graduates who apply for jobs at Colonna’s Shipyard in Norfolk can’t read a tape measure. They aren’t sure what to do with a wrench or a hammer. Their reading skills are weak, and many lack a good grasp of math and science.
[…]
As of early November, Colonna’s, which employs 390 people, had 73 openings.
Some of the reasons behind the problem:
- Many students aren’t exposed to the skilled trades as teens. (Is mandatory vocational training the answer?)
- Students are graduating without the math and science knowledge required by many businesses.
- Too many youths with the potential to work in the skilled trades are dropping out of school.
When more than 75% of the employers responding to a survey say that they had problems hiring employees, when 81% of businesses with positions not requiring a high school diploma can’t find qualified people to hire, we have a serious problem, folks.
And it’s not just Virginia. The problem is appearing nationwide, with potentially horrible results:
A report released this fall by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education notes that as baby boomers begin retiring nationwide, those replacing them will be less educated. It’s a shift that has the potential to lower personal incomes and decrease the country’s tax base over the next 15 years…
And this could be disastrous for the Virginia economy:
From 1980 to 2000, per capita personal income in Virginia grew by 47 percent. However, the public policy center calculated that the state’s personal income will grow by less than 1 percent over the next 14 years because of changing demographics and fewer people earning high school diplomas and college degrees.
There was a time when getting a good education was something that everyone strove for. It was the ticket out of the class to which you had been born. The emphasis on eduction was everywhere: home, school, church. I’m not sure when this all changed but it has, particularly here in Hampton Roads.
About 68 percent of Hampton Road students earned a high school diploma in 2005 compared with 77 percent of students statewide.
Those who do not take advantage of education do so at their own peril. We need to emphasize this at every opportunity.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
“Class size is not a statistically significant factor in performance.”
It is at younger ages especially K-6. You are right that it becomes less significant as students progress except for special education.
Jack are you an educator or do you have a background in education besides your kids’ attendance? This by no means is sarcastic…just curious.
One home my parents bought in the late 1960’s. (Having never moved, they did not get reamed by more closing costs and real-estate agents.) The second house was an inheritance when my mom’s parents died. The third was a vacation home (and Nova Scotia real estate is very inexpensive) they bought in their 60’s. Very extravagent.
As for Norfolk Academy, my parents felt strongly enough about giving their children a good education that they went into debt to send their children to N.A., the same way that many parents go into debt to send their children to college. The investment paid off, because I was able to get a good job and pay for college myself.
The reason I am not past the 15% tax bracket is that I have 5 little tax deductions, my wife does not work, we max out our 403(b) (I work for a non-profit organization), and we have a lot of charitable contributions to deduct.
So, what lies have I said?
As for you, you cannot find any constitutional justification for NCLB, you cannot say why you oppose school choice and vouchers, and you cannot answer a simple question about what a “well-rounded education” is, and why it cannot be obtained at a private school.
Instead, you resort to name-calling. Brilliant.
Now, can we get back to discussing how to improve the education of our children?
Kevin — I have been an educator (private H.S.), but I am not currently.
Even in private schools, children are rarely expelled for failing. (I repeated 8th grade at NA myself.)
Why do you think the overall funding for public schools would decrease? Then if there are fewer students, the resources per student would go up. In any case, it is quite clear that money is not the problem, or D.C. would have the best schools in the country. I agree with Vivian that parental involvement is key. I also think that giving parents choices will increase their involvement.
“There’s no accountability for private schools right? Just making sure…”
Of course there is accountability for pivate schools — if they do not perform, the parents take their children and their money elsewhere. It is that accountability that I want to put into the public schools via vouchers and school choice.
Vivian — one cannot donate money for equipment, etc., because then the schools in poor neighborhoods would be at a disadvantage.
I don’t think this is true. There are booster clubs at various schools that collect money for such things. In fact, one of the arguments for crosstown busing is that the schools in the wealthier neighborhoods have more stuff (parent-funded) than those in the poorer neighborhoods.
Could be locality-dependent.
I share MB’s suspicion about employers who claim that they cannot find qualified American workers. It may not be the case in this specific instance, but overall, we now have millions of underpaid, exploited foreign workers who are not more than indentured laborers. The employers own their worker visas, the workers have few benefits, and many live in substandard housing. At the same time, the American workers are unemployed or under-employed, and contribute a lot less in tax revenue to localities than they used to when they had well-paying jobs. When the American middle class makes a good living, they spend, which helps the local economies.
In addition, if there is something so terribly wrong with American schools, why do so many foreigners seek an American education? Sure, our schools would do better without teaching to a test, and we should equalize schools, but still, it is no accident that millions of us came to the U.S. to take advantage of its (public) educational opportunities.
Just a clarifcation, from Catholic High School in Virginia Beach:
$9,680 per child for Catholic families registered and active in a local parish.
$10,680 per child for non-Catholic families.
From their website