Cetron and Davies point out that the 240 high growth jobs identified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Tomorrow's Jobs demand more education than a high school diploma: 80 require a college degree; 70 require some college; 84 require work equivalency, on the job training and/or a post secondary vocational education degree.
It is fairly obvious where the top jobs are going to be:
“…Among all occupations in the economy, healthcare occupations are expected to make up 7 of the 20 fastest growing occupations, the largest proportion of any occupational group These 7 healthcare occupations, in addition to exhibiting high growth rates, will add nearly 750,000 new jobs between 2006 and 2016.
Other occupational groups that have more than one occupation in the 20 fastest growing occupations are computer occupations, personal care and service occupations, community and social services occupations, and business and financial operations occupations.
High growth rates among occupations in the top 20 fastest growing occupations reflect projected rapid growth in the health care and social assistance industries and the professional, scientific, and technical services industries”… (Bureau of Labor Statistics Report: “Tomorrow’s Jobs”)Jobs predicted to have the highest growth between 2006 and 2016 are listed here at the BLS website by education needed in this chart of top jobs
U.S. schools will add 93,000 new teaching positions between 2004 and 2014. To fill the new positions and to replace teachers leaving the professions will require an additional 169,000 teachers nationwide.
According to Cetron and Davies, schools will train children and adults around the clock. Children’s school days will increase to seven hours. Adults will train in their off hours to sharpen skills and learn new ones.
Baby boomers, retiring from their first careers will be looking for new ones to fight off boredom and for many, to supplement meager savings.
Continuous learning will be not a luxury or limited to an ambitious few, it will be a necessary as knowledge increases at a speed undreamed of in the past.
Cetron and Davies have a startling statistic to illustrate the point:
“In electronics, fully half of what a student learns as a freshman is obsolete by his senior year.”
Education will move more and more to the Internet. Online undergraduate programs, post degree programs, online vocational training, programs for elementary and secondary students that offer students in diverse schools the same programs.
Google “schools” and step back. Thousands of institutions will come up – many offering online courses for professional improvement and college credit.
Cetron and Davies identify some of the implications of a “knowledge-based economy”:
“…a region’s growth prospects depend on its ability to generate and use innovation, giving cities an advantage over rural and suburban area. The innovation requirement is one reason upwardly mobile adults tend to move to the cities.
Skills are the most important factors in economic success today. Unfortunately, the people who need them most, the poor and unemployed, cannot afford schooling and therefore are the least able to obtain them. Helping people overcome this disadvantage is an important task for national governments”…
Training and education will expand from government and private classroom to employers. Large employers already offer training and education onsite and encourage employees to increase their skill base. Small business increasingly will realize that worker training is an investment, not an expense.
Some professionals, doctors, lawyers, for example, are already required to get yearly training. Teachers move up the pay scale as they receive additional training. This trend will extend to other work places.
Adult education has grown from 40% participation in 1995 to 46% in 2001. More women than men participate- 49% women to 43% men. The more education, the greater the predictor of participation in adult education: 22% of those who had not completed high school; 34% with high school or equivalency; 48% of those with some college and 66% with a bachelor’s degree or higher. (National Household Education Survey)
IN KENTUCKY:
According to a report prepared for the 2000 Legislature by a task force co-chaired by Gov. Paul Patton, Rep. Brent Yonts and Sen. Walter Blevins, 22% of all Americans perform at minimal literacy (around fifth grade reading level). 14% of Kentuckians perform at that level, well below the national average.
In raw numbers, 340,000 Kentuckians cope with minimal reading skills and another 650,000 Kentuckians function at the next lowest level of literacy. They can read and write at minimal levels, but they have difficulty applying what they read and write to other situations.
44% of Kentuckians struggle with
minimal literacy skills.
Nationally, college graduates make up 27.2% of the population. In Kentucky, 19.3% have college degrees. In 2005, Kentucky ranked 48th in number of college graduates.
In 2006, Kentucky ranked 48th in the number of adults over 25 with a high school diploma. Of every 100 Kentuckians, 79.6 finish high school. The national average is 84.1. Minnesota, at number one state for high school diplomas has a graduation rate of 90.1%.
But Kentucky is NOT last in every educational measure. According to the National Educational Association
Kentucky tied for 16th place with Illinois with 15.9 students per teacher. Best ratio – Vermont with 10.9-1. Worst – Utah with 23.6 - 1
Kentucky spent $7906 per student K-12, placing it 30th in the nation. Washington DC spent the most – 15,073 and Utah spent the least - $5032.
Kentucky ranks 34th in teacher pay $40,522 average. Washington DC is highest with $58,456 and South Dakota is law with teacher pay of $34,040
Kentucky ranks 35th in median income, with a state average of $35,595. The highest median income is in New Jersey at $52,487. The lowest is South Dakota at $34,937.
When the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA) was passed in June, 1990, hopes were high that Kentucky could break out of the circle of illiteracy, poverty and joblessness. Over eighteen years later, there have been statistical improvements. KERA’s goal of “every child can learn” was picked up in 2002 in the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal mandate.
Progress in improving literacy, increasing educational attainment and recruiting high paying jobs continues to be painfully slow. Cetron and Davies tell us that technology and competition go ever faster. Education in Kentucky seems to be unable to accelerate into the future. And decreases in funding at the state and national levels aren’t helping!
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