My kids have worked their way thru K-12 and are in the midst
of their college experience. I’ve now seen what our modern education system is
like. And, to be honest, I’m not thrilled with the current opportunities and
expectations that are set on our K-12 students. Our system is not preparing
students for todays workforce, let alone for tomorrows workforce.
What do I mean by this? Well, our education system is still
largely based on standards set in the last century. We are not providing the
necessary exposure to the jobs of today, limiting the ability of high school
students to graduate with the ability to get entry level jobs in software
development, networking or cyber security. Yes, I’m focused on a specific set
of technology jobs, but I passionately feel that these are jobs where students
could enter the work force immediately graduating high school, if given the
appropriate training along with internships/apprenticeships while in high
school
To be quite honest, I’ve provided jobs to selected high
school students who have done the necessary work thru AP courses in high school
along with taking selected courses at our local community college.
What I find frustrating, is that there are no standards that
high schools create a path for these types of careers. Yet, we still force kids
to take 3-4 years of foreign language coursework. I have talked to my kids and
many of their friends – all of whom either took 3 or 4 years of Spanish. Our
school district is rated within the Top 10 in the state of Iowa, so, they have
great educational program opportunities for students. With that said, my kids,
and their friends will all freely admit that they can’t speak conversational
Spanish after their 3-4 years of coursework. Yet, they were all forced to take
a foreign language due to the entrance requirements of colleges.
We provide students with opportunities in shop – metal and
woodworking, automotive, and other trade programs. These programs are valuable
and allow students to get the training needed so that they can potentially get
jobs after graduating high school. Computer Science jobs are in demand and
there is no reason why students graduating from high school can’t fill these
well paying jobs if they could just get the necessary education.
Standards need to be set at either the national or state
level that force local school districts to revamp their courses to provide
educational and training opportunities for students to land entry level jobs in
software development and networking. I’d also take a run at saying
cyber-security based on what I’ve seen some high school kids achieve when given
the right resources. This isn’t an either-or conversation, we must provide a
path for students interested in pursuing these careers that doesn’t involve
post high school education.
With today’s technology, there is no reason we can’t provide
remote/virtual classrooms with the instructors from our local community
colleges. They have the programs in place, are knowledgeable in what they do
and our community colleges can provide this while the local school districts
either work to get their own programs in place or make the decision to
permanently rely on the community colleges to provide these services.
These are good paying jobs and would allow students to
graduate from high school and enter the workforce without incurring debt
associated with getting a 2 or 4 year degree – four year private colleges can
easily exceed $160k. Granted, almost nobody pays the full tuition burden due to
financial aid, but many still graduate with $100k in debt.
Some students will still want to continue on to get either a
2 year or 4 year degree. Bravo! We need these students as well. If they want to
take additional course work, they will still find jobs when they complete their
education. There is nothing wrong with that route and we should encourage those
who can make the investment to do so if it is what they want.
I hear some make arguments that their after-school clubs and
programs like Lego Robotics are available for students that are interested.
Come on! Yes, these are nice, but there are many students who are not able to
attend after school programs, and whose families don’t have the financial means
to support some of these programs that cost additional money. Also, these are
not consistent across all middle schools and high schools. It is critical that
every school district provide educational opportunities in software development
and networking – it is the 21st century and our students deserve to
graduate with skills that allow them to enter the workforce.
Not every student is going to want to go thru this type of a
program. And, they shouldn’t. But we should be presenting these types of
programs as acceptable options for students that are interested.
If you'd like more information on my background: LinkedIn Profile
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