Apr

8

What Happens With Our Kids?

April 8, 2008 |

Graduation Cap and Diploma“Seventeen of the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent” (cnn.com) — at least that is what the America’s Promise Alliance says (bear in mind it was founded by Collin Powell, ex US Secretary of State and ex Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Republican administrations). Statistics always have some error in them, and interest groups bend them a little to prove their point. However, it is difficult to deny the fact that inner city kids, at least in some cities, are deciding not to get a diploma.

In my industry (Computer Software, IT and Telecommunications) we have a severe shortage of trained/educated workers. Challenge is, most of the job openings require a college degree, which in turn requires a High School diploma (or GED at least). There are many other industries in our nation that require educated people (educated in the fields where there is a need). Industries which growth have stalled because of the lack of competent labor.
In a service economy we need highly educated people. Manufacturing and agricultural jobs will not be enough to keep our economy moving (even if we force them to be competitive on a global scale). I am very worried that the pool of available talent shrinks every time a kid drops out of school. The ability of my nation to become a strong service economy shrinks when a kid chooses the streets vs. books.

I do not think this is an issue to solve with more money for public school teachers (like Democrats like to do) or more Charter School and vouchers (like Republicans like to do). These methods benefit those kids and families who choose to stay in school — and we have to find ways of helping them too. But in this article I am talking about those kids who leave school and their parents who do not care if their kids leave school — at least not enough.

It is just plain saddening.


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