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Business, reform thyself
by Susan Ohanian
Oh, no! Here they come again! Since the Taylor efficiency movement in 1912, the business community has emitted continuous noises about the "failure" of the public schools to serve their needs. Young men were not well-prepared to die in World War I trenches (1918); the schools were not preparing scientists to win the war against communism (1957); and the education system was an act of "unilateral disarmament" when manufacturers couldn't keep up with the Japanese (1983).
Today's catch-phrase is "schools must prepare students to compete in the global economy." Tim Volk of the Vermont Business Roundtable sonorously says, "We must begin a process for change in today's learning environments to create the economic and social environments of the future."
In spite of these cries that the wolves are coming, we became the world's pre-eminent military and economic power. Yet as our businesses are outsourcing jobs to Asia for pennies per hour, the cause of our economic decline cannot be laid at the foot of schools.
In this past legislative session, a myth became accepted among our business and legislative leaders. Grasping at straws in the face of dire demographics, "job force preparation" would save us. In Volk's words, "investment in the state's human capital is the state's primary economic development strategy." Certainly human capital will be on any group's list for economic development. However, it is the combination of business leadership, investments, transportation, energy costs, raw materials, innovation and human capital that makes the difference.
The Business Roundtable pronounces the drop-out rate alarming and neglects the fact that the drop-out rate is at historically low levels. They also do not mention that only two of the state's top 20 job openings require formal education. The rest are menial jobs.
We also see work force development people claim high-tech jobs are in Vermont but the work force is not. They point to the 75 open technology jobs as proof. Unfortunately, there are 8,000 graduates each year. These so-called high skill jobs are available for less than 1 percent of the population.
Business people should understand the law of supply and demand. If we publicly educate a work force for jobs that do not exist, then this simply drives down wages and the work force out. Such publicly paid work force training may be a good hand-out for businesses, but it is a social and economic catastrophe.
The business community is simply not stepping up to the plate and providing high-quality jobs. Many reports show the main reason young adults leave the state is a lack of good jobs. It is time business people took responsibility and quit looking for the education system or tax breaks to bail them out.
Mr. Volk also claims a "significant shortage of skilled workers." Although neither state nor federal statistics support this claim, it would be wise of businesses to simply do what our international economic competitors do. Train their work force. Individual jobs are so specific and change so rapidly, specific job training is not a wise investment of public funds.
Maybe the most subtle and dangerous of the business community's proposals is the implicit change in the purpose of education. Mr. Volk would lead us to believe that job skill development is the main purpose. Schools should serve as a sorting machine shuttling some to college and others to trade schools.
The more important and overlooked fact is that schools serve many broad purposes in a democracy. They are to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, social skills, work ethic, citizenship, community responsibility, emotional health, physical health, arts and literature to name but a few. (Vermont's constitution says the purpose of education is to encourage virtue and prevent vice). In the recent national Gallup poll on education, a majority says the curriculum is already too narrow. Of those who think it is being narrowed, a full 93 percent say this is a bad thing.
It is time that both government and business approach education and training in a rational and comprehensive fashion. The purpose of schools is far more than is measured with standardized tests; work force development is only one of the many purposes of schools, and sensible economic development requires far more than simply training workers.
Mr. Volk is correct in noting an impending demographic crisis for Vermont. But our economic, social and educational needs are not well-served by narrow solutions.
Susan Ohanian of Charlotte is the author of "Why is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools." She is a senior fellow of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education.
— Susan Ohanian
Rutland Herald
2007-09-23
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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