#education #AcademicFraud #college #CollegeDebt
Only 37 percent of 12th-graders tested proficient or better in reading. Only 25 percent did so in math.
Yet, the high school graduation rate is better than 80 percent.
Columnist Walter E. Williams, who writes for Creators Syndicate, quoted these figures from the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ 2017 report, also known as The Nation’s Report Card. His column on the subject was also published April 25, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He also writes that not only do 80 percent of high school seniors graduate, 70 percent of white high school grads were admitted to college in 2016, as well as 58 percent of black high school grads. Here, he quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Colleges, then, have to provide remedial courses, dumb down their courses so ill-prepared students can get passing grades and/or set up majors with “little analytical demands so as to accommodate students with analytical deficits,” Williams writes.
Williams’ conclusion: there is academic fraud being committed at all educational levels.
“How necessary is college anyway?” Williams asks. “One estimate is that 1 in 3 college graduates have a job historically performed by those with a high school diploma,” he writes.
We’ve all heard the stories, particularly in recent times, of students coming out of college and hitting the job market with degree in hand, college debt on his or her back and slim prospects not only to earn an income appropriate for his or her education level, but even to find a job at all – at least one in a field to match his or her education.
There is a teacher shortage, however not every college graduate is fit or prepared to teach. Besides, many of them might think that teaching doesn’t pay well enough for them to cover payments on their college debt, let alone any other life expenses. (Some loan programs allow college debt to be written off if the student goes into teaching for a certain number of years).
The pressure is on most children from grade school to go to college and get that degree, so they can get that good job. The pressure is so intense that families – ultimately, the students – go into debt to pay for that education.
They then spend some of their most productive work years paying that debt off, and probably delaying things like buying a house or saving for retirement. In the extreme, these graduates move back home with mom and dad and stay for several years, thus delaying their parents’ progression toward retirement.
As Williams points out, the cycle is that many students get through high school ill prepared for college academically, yet go to college anyway. They really can’t afford college, yet they view it as an investment into a great career. Again, as Williams asks, “How necessary is college anyway?”
First, if a student isn’t prepared to cut it academically in college, it’s perfectly OK not to send him or her, especially if you are going to saddle that student with a massive debt upon graduation – presuming he or she can get TO graduation.
Then, if they wind up waiting tables or doing some menial job that doesn’t require a college degree, what was the point of the education, or the debt?
Fortunately, for a student like that, he can take his menial job, work as many hours as he needs to and, in some of his off hours, pursue one of the many ways to earn money without taking a second W-2 job. Many such vehicles can eventually provide an income that could surpass any income from not just the menial job, but also from a job that would be appropriate for one with a college degree.
But, to pursue this, the student has to be willing to check out such a vehicle. If you’d like to examine one of the best, message me.
Otherwise, one could struggle to get through high school, get into college and take a lot of “gut” courses or major in something that will not have much value on the open market – and pay dearly to do it.
No education is really wasted, but one must have eyes wide open about the economic potential — and cost — of what one wants to study. Try to enjoy school at all levels, if you can, then look for ways to support yourself, and perhaps help others do the same.
Peter
Tag Archives: Walter E. Williams
ROBOTS, OTHER COUNTRIES KILLING U.S. JOBS?
#robots #AmericanJobs #efficiencies #CreativeDestruction
Do you believe robots, or manufacturing in other countries, are killing American jobs?
A recent article in The Guardian carries the headline, “Robots will destroy our jobs – and we’re not ready for it.”
Economist Joseph Schumpeter describes technological change as “creative destruction.” Actually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the U.S. labor force in 1950 was 62 million. By 2000 it was 79 million and it’s projected to reach 192 million by 2050.
These bits of information come from an article by Walter E. Williams of Creators Syndicate. It was published Feb. 21, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Though the ‘creative destruction’ process works hardships on some people who lose their jobs and are forced to take lower-paying jobs, any attempt to impede the process would make us all worse off,” Williams writes.
It’s tough to understand the value of technological progress if you’ve been shown the curb from your job. Many people have lost relatively good-paying jobs, and been forced to take lower-paying jobs, if they were lucky enough to find a new job at all. The recession of 2008 has taken a toll on many.
The Williams article tells of the 62 million in the work force in 1950. Back then, progress was definitely slower. People could count on the jobs they had to be around for as long as they wanted to work. Some of those jobs were hard, either on the body, mind or both.
Back then, many workers were represented by unions, which helped impede some process innovations and efficiencies to keep more people working.
Today, fewer workers have that kind of representation, and the number keeps decreasing. Workers are essentially on their own to plan their careers.
As a result, in many cases, careers come to a premature end, and workers are left figuring out what to do next.
But just as technology has been, by and large, a good thing for the U.S. and the world, having workers determine their own destinies can also be a good thing, if you want to look at it differently.
It’s been said in several different ways that hardship creates opportunity. Though the opportunity may be difficult to see if circumstances have dealt you a difficult blow, they are out there for those willing to look for them.
If you have lost what appears to be a good job, and are not yet ready to retire, there are many ways out there to make money other than through a traditional W-2 job. To check out one of the best, message me. You might even see a great way to help your friends overcome difficult circumstances.
The U.S. has moved over the centuries from a primarily agricultural economy, to a primarily manufacturing economy, and is continuing to move into a more technologically based economy. You, as perhaps a temporarily displaced worker, can’t do anything to fight that. In fact, no governmental entity can do anything to fight that. If we try to impede innovation here, someone else somewhere will innovate, leaving the U.S. in the dust.
So the next time you try to blame robots, cheaper overseas labor or other advances on your circumstances, remember that you can’t stop those things. You can only look for ways to help yourself to a better life.
That may require a change of mind-set, or departing your comfort zone, but ANYONE can do it. If you don’t find a solution immediately, keep looking. You just might meet the person who will show you how YOU can change your life for the better.
Peter