|
Rex: Jobs depend on school reform
By Scott Miller
Staff
Google Inc.’s prolonged search for employees highlights a push to reform the state’s education system to produce a more prepared work force.
The company has hired about half of the 200 employees it needs to open a $600 million data center in Berkeley County next year, said spokesman Matt Dunne.
“There is no delay in our plans associated with our challenges in finding people to work for Google,” he said, noting that the company is interviewing applicants at a “fast and furious” pace. “Because of the type of company Google is, we have the opportunity to be very selective.”
The company saw enough in the local work force to locate to Charleston, but its search for quality workers highlights the desire of S.C. Education Superintendent Jim Rex to reform the education system to grow a work force that will attract new industry and more jobs.
“If we don’t have a qualified work force, there will be no economic development,” said Chris Fraser, chairman of The Education Foundation, a division of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce that advocates school reform. The group invited Rex to speak to business leaders at its annual education summit earlier this month.
In the last year, the Lowcountry has not suffered from a lack of economic growth. The Charleston Regional Development Alliance, a public-private partnership promoting economic development in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties, touts several expansions and relocations in 2007 that created 758 new jobs.
The state is trying to grow the technology industry but, aside from Google, many of the recent expansions, relocations and investments have led to increases in manufacturing jobs.
In statewide job gains this year, most occurred in leisure, hospitality and food service, with modest gains in professional services, education and health care, according to the S.C. Employment Security Commission.
Through May, the most recent month for which data were available, the commission reported job gains of 6,100 in leisure and hospitality; 5,000 in accommodation and food services; 3,500 in trade, transportation and utilities; 2,100 in professional and business services; and 1,100 in education and health services.
“Some are looking for low skills, and those are not (the jobs) we’re looking for,” Rex said.
The state’s best and brightest, meanwhile, are often forced to look outside the state for work. The higher the degree a college student receives, the more likely he or she is to leave the state, according to a graduate retention study by the S.C. Commission on Higher Education. Those earning bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degrees, for example, are more likely to look for work out of state than those earning two-year degrees.
Too many dropouts
South Carolina has a well-documented problem with high school dropout rates. The state’s numbers are consistently among the worst in the nation, though Rex noted that South Carolina has more stringent credit requirements for graduation than other states.
Still, schools don’t appear to be getting any better, according to school report card data released by the S.C. Department of Education.
The report cards track academic improvement at schools throughout the state. The 2007 report showed small increases in the number of schools rated “below average” or “unsatisfactory.”
Charleston County School District received a below-average rating; Berkeley County was average; and Dorchester County was unsatisfactory. None of the districts met “annual yearly progress” standards.
But Rex noted that is very difficult to do.
“Schools have to improve significantly each year or see their report card ratings decline,” he said.
The answer
“There’s not just one problem, so there can’t be just one solution,” Rex said.
Poverty is a major problem, he said, which is tied to jobs, opportunity, education and work force preparedness.
Rex wants immediate reform to education funding so schools receive a more equitable share of money. Details of that package will surface next year, when Rex intends to introduce a comprehensive plan to state legislators.
Another idea is to provide school choice to parents, so addresses don’t limit the public education a student receives, Rex said.
“We have a lot of kids in our state who, based on where they live, have no shot at the American dream,” he said. “We have some despicable, terrible—I could go on and on— disparities in our state. You could go to places and think you were in a third-world country.”
Another problem is relevancy. Many students don’t know how classes relate to the real world, and many don’t have a clue what they want to do after high school.
“I think you can argue some of our young people are in an extended adolescence called college. Then we have another group among our young people who are dropping out, who have low expectations for themselves,” Rex said.
Businesses can help, he said, by becoming more active in the classroom, offering internships or job shadowing programs.
The Education Foundation, Fraser said, serves as a connecting point where business meets academia. Through the nonprofit agency spawned by the Charleston area chamber, businesses can provide direction to education leaders, telling them exactly what their expectations are.
Scott Miller is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at smiller@setcommedia.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version