Bay City, Michigan 48706
Front Page 03/28/2024 10:29 About us
www.mybaycity.com January 14, 2018
(Prior Story)   Columns ArTicle 11124   (Next Story)


The Michigan Career Pathways Alliance of the Gov. Rick Snyder administration is a commendable, and vitally necessary, focus on student preparation for successful lives.

CAREER FOCUS: State On Track with Schools' Emphasis on Job Readiness

January 14, 2018       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

Printer Friendly Story View

Michigan's leaders are at last attempting to reverse two decades of educational and workforce decline by hyperfocus on career exploration and job readiness.

The Michigan Career Pathways Alliance of the Gov. Rick Snyder administration is a commendable, and vitally necessary, focus on student preparation for successful lives.

"Students need better access to career pathways and schools need more support to enhance programs if Michigan is going close the talent gap and continue building a more prosperous future," Gov. Rick Snyder said recently while unveiling a comprehensive series of actions and recommendations.

Where has nearly two decades of under-funding high school completion gotten the State of Michigan?

Research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation has shown that rural communities especially have been "hollowed out" by what some experts believe is a lack of opportunities for high school completion and inadequate preparation for the jobs of the 21st Century.

Bay County, for example, has lost about 5,000 people from 110,000 population in the year 2000 to 105,000 in 2015. That's a 4.5 percent decrease. Arenac County lost 6.2 percent, from 16,374 in 2008 to 15,353 in 2014; another largely rural area, Tuscola County, dropped in total population 3.7 percent, from 56,066 in 2008 to 54,000 in 2014.

Perhaps attesting to the validity of the theory that family formation is lagging because there are fewer breadwinners are the statistics on the high school child population, ages 13-17: Tuscola down 18.9 percent 2008 to 2014; Arenac down 17.9 percent and Bay down 11.6 percent in the same period.

More research is needed to determine if lack of education is the major factor at the root of this decline, but anecdotal evidence would seem to apply in that regard. Another premise to be researched is the extent to which non-graduates, lacking the credentials for jobs, fail to form families and have children. The fact that school age populations have been steadily dropping indicates that may be true.

The Center for Michigan makes a pertinent point in a Bridge Magazine article entitled "Michigan's incredible shrinking workforce," noting: "Teenagers aren't working as much as their parents did, and many high school dropouts have left the labor pool." Many employers says they can't find enough job candidates, or those who apply are not qualified.

The article adds: "People without a high school diploma fare the worst: Just 51.7 percent of Michigan residents of prime working age who didn't graduate from high school were in the labor force in 2015, down more than 7 points from 2005." Teenagers with low levels of educational attainment could be a partial explanation for the big drops in participation among people without a high school diploma, it added.

Michigan's population has fallen from more than 10 million in 2007 to 9.9 million in 2015.

Non-graduates comprise about 20 percent of the 12th-grade cohort, or one in 5 students, statewide. With minimal opportunities to complete their schooling and qualify for advanced education or training, these people find themselves lacking the personal tools necessary to join the economic world. And, of course, that world is getting more and more competitive.

In our view one of the most pertinent recommendations of the state program is to bring education and business together: "Establish a formal entity and mechanism to build and maintain a collaborative partnership with local districts, employers, advocates and training centers to help match what is being taught with community needs."

A state study commission report also included recommendations to make Michigan a world leader in talent. Many of these recommendations, including increased funding for high school and at-risk students, a focus on competency-based learning, and more access to post-secondary learning, were adopted by the state Legislature during the budget process.

State School Supt. Brian Whiston said: "Career and college readiness is vitally important for our students, and for our communities and state as a whole."

A new local non-profit agency, School-to-Work Pathways (S-W-P), is launching a coordinated effort, in cooperation with local school districts and community agencies, STEM Apprenticeships, aiming to improve the skills of the workforce. A goal is to help 50-100 young people complete high school diplomas or the GED in the first year. Plans are to expand opportunities in the future.

S-W-P is surveying local employers to determine a consensus on workforce education needs and willingness to employ part-time apprentices as they complete their high school educations.

The program will prepare students for high-wage, high-skill high demand occupations such as Computer Network Engineering, Manufacturing Technology, Mechatronics, and Robotics Operations, among others, according to Dr. George Corser, assistant professor of Computer Science at Saginaw Valley State University.

###

Printer Friendly Story View
Prior Article

February 10, 2020
by: Rachel Reh
Family Winter Fun Fest is BACC Hot Spot for 2/10/2020
Next Article

February 2, 2020
by: Kathy Rupert-Mathews
MOVIE REVIEW: "Just Mercy" ... You Will Shed Tears, or at Least You Should
Agree? or Disagree?


Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

More from Dave Rogers

Send This Story to a Friend!       Letter to the editor       Link to this Story
Printer-Friendly Story View


--- Advertisments ---
     


0200 Nd: 03-24-2024 d 4 cpr 0






12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm

SPONSORED LINKS



12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm


Designed at OJ Advertising, Inc. (V3) (v3) Software by Mid-Michigan Computer Consultants
Bay City, Michigan USA
All Photographs and Content Copyright © 1998 - 2024 by OJA/MMCC. They may be used by permission only.
P3V3-0200 (1) 0   ID:Default   UserID:Default   Type:reader   R:x   PubID:mbC   NewspaperID:noPaperID
  pid:1560   pd:11-18-2012   nd:2024-03-24   ax:2024-03-28   Site:5   ArticleID:11124   MaxA: 999999   MaxAA: 999999
claudebot