High school students’ expectations out of sync with Lowcountry’s work force needs
By Bill Settlemyer
President and CEO, Setcom Media Inc.
A few weeks ago, I attended the Industry Appreciation Week breakfast presented by Charleston County and its economic development staff. Held at Trident Technical College, the event was well attended by people from education, industry and government. Just surveying the people in the room, I had a strong sense of how much diversity and “bench strength” our region’s economy has gained over the last decade.
The keynote speaker was Trident Tech’s president, Mary Thornley. Her message ended on a note of optimism, but not until after she had presented some sobering facts about our state’s work force development challenges.
Great need, wrong path
No one disputes that our state, like many others, is facing serious gaps between the output of our schools and the work force needs of our growing economy. In her remarks, Dr. Thornley focused in particular on the disconnect between “where ninth-graders are headed” and “where the jobs are.” A S.C. Department of Education survey illustrates the problem:
28% of ninth-graders plan to enter a four-year college, yet only 20% of future jobs are expected to require a four-year degree.
Only 32% plan to enter an associate degree program or advanced training beyond high school, yet 65% of all jobs will require this level of training.
30% will drop out before completing high school and 10% will graduate but lack the skills needed for employment. This means that 40% of our potential future work force will have to compete for the 15% of all jobs that require only “minimum skills” for employment.
Read these numbers again. See the disconnect? Too many students seeking a four-year degree, far too few students seeking two-year degrees or other advanced training beyond high school, and a shocking 40% of our potential work force competing for the 15% of all future jobs requiring no more than “minimum” work skills.
EEDA to the rescue?
This disconnect has been reported for years. Until recently, there has not been much in the way of an answer. But in 2005, the state Legislature passed what may prove to be landmark legislation, the Education and Economic Development Act.
What does the EEDA do for education and work force development? Here are a few key paragraphs from a summary on the S.C. Chamber of Commerce’s Web site:
“The EEDA sets up a system—called Personal Pathways to Success—that combines high academic standards with career exploration and gives students the guidance and experience they need to take full advantage of real opportunities in the South Carolina economy.
“The Personal Pathways system maintains the state’s established high school graduation requirements—17 core academic courses plus seven electives—but requires every student declare a career major in one of the state’s 16 career clusters.
“In the Personal Pathways system, students learn about and begin their pursuit of careers by following a progression of activities and courses designed to focus on career awareness (K-5), exploration (middle school) and preparation (high school and postsecondary).
“In the eighth grade, students and their parents or guardians sit down with counselors to create individual graduation plans. IGPs specify students’ cluster choices, majors, postsecondary goals, high school courses, out-of-class learning experiences and more. Students and their parents revisit these choices at least once a year to make adjustments. The system is flexible: Students can change directions altogether, if they so choose.”
There’s much more to the EEDA, but I think the three paragraphs above do a good job of describing the core goals and methods mandated by the act.
Implementation will take resources, of course, and that means funding. This year the Legislature added some funding to the mandates passed last year, but it’s likely that more will be needed.
Who’s a minority now?
Our nation is becoming more diverse, and the fastest growing population segments are all minorities. South Carolina is following the same path, and our public school populations are headed in that direction too. Statistically, “whites” soon will be just another minority, albeit a minority with a great deal of power and resources.
Disadvantaged for a wide variety of reasons, America’s current minorities could well be described as “the great non-white hope” that underpins this nation’s prospects for remaining competitive in the global economy. (Special note to those who still don’t get it: The workers in China and India aren’t white either!).
Bottom line? If we fail to reach down and grab the bootstraps of those who are dropping out of public school or graduating “underprepared” for work or for education at two-year colleges and other post-K-12 programs, we are cheating ourselves out of a prosperous future for all, not just those left behind, because we absolutely will not have a work force that can keep us competitive in the global marketplace.
Years late, dollars short
It’s great news that in recent years our state legislators and governors from both parties have moved in the direction of passing legislation like the EEDA. But that’s only part of the story. Little can be accomplished with unfunded good intentions, and over the last five years state funding for two-year colleges like Trident Tech has fallen by $61 million while support for four-year colleges and universities has increased by $792 million.
Remember the statistic I cited earlier in this article? Only 32% of ninth-graders expect to attend two-year schools or other advanced training, yet 65% of the work force will need training at that level. That’s a huge gap.
I’m all for supporting our four-year colleges and universities, but if we don’t increase funding for our two-year technical and community colleges around the state, we are really fumbling the ball on one of the cornerstones of successful work force development.
In a recent column, I noted that chambers of commerce around the state are doing more to organize the state’s business leadership to support wise policy decisions by state government. This is one area that deserves a great deal of attention and better communication with members of the General Assembly so they understand exactly what’s at stake. Namely, the economic future of South Carolina.
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