| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 7:42 am |
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Tested at work, but not at school The health care reform legislation now moving to debate in the U.S. Senate contains a lot of changes — some good, some not so good, and some best described as highly imaginative.One thing that is not being changed, though, is the focus on the workplace as the center of gravity for medical insurance. The importance of the workplace to this system will, hopefully, ensure continued interest in the preparation of young people for their adult lives, including work. For without access to the workplace, few Americans will enjoy the benefits of this health care reform effort. The subject of preparing our youth appeared in two news stories that popped up within a space of 48 hours recently, one from each side of the continent. The first story was from Olympia, where the superintendent of public instruction announced a plan to delay any math and science test requirements for high school graduation for six or eight years or so, essentially abandoning them. The second story dealt with the tutoring industry that has arisen in New York City to give 3- and 4-year-olds an edge in taking the entrance exams that the elite kindergartens now require. Both stories are evidence of how good ideas can be transformed into absolute silliness. Still, they are also illustrations of very different approaches to educational preparedness and achievement. If you had to guess, which kids would you bet your money on? Would it be the ones who were being overprepared for the challenges of today’s world by constant testing or the ones immersed in an educational system of “whatever,” where standardized testing was being jettisoned? They are both extremes, and unattractive alternatives, but there is little doubt that the world, especially the workplace world of making a living, is full of challenges and daily tests. We may not like it, but that is the way it is, and we aren’t doing our kids any favors by failing to prepare them for it. In our economy, high employment levels require two things: economic growth that generates a demand for work; and individuals in the population who have the skills to perform that work and are available to do it. Recession-level unemployment takes care of the availability part of the equation, but skills are a potential problem. As the economy recovers, there is little doubt that it will generate a demand for work. How many people will end up employed because of that demand is another matter. Workers are not like commodities, interchangeable, like potatoes stored in 125-190 pound sacks ready to meet the demand when it shows up. Instead, each of us is different. And these differences become more important with each technological shift of the economy. Anyone who has ever looked for a job or who has ever tried to hire a worker knows that the labor market is not at all like the commodities market. In many ways, both the supply and demand sides of the job market are much more like the search for romance. Whether you are looking for either a job or a date, there are few meaningful standards and even fewer effective guidelines — despite the useless “tips,” an unending flood of books on the subject, and the incessant television ads for online matchmaking services. The structures of the romance market and its corresponding matchmaking industry are both based on determining characteristics that both sides of the market have in common. Whether this is an effective route to a successful personal relationship remains an open question. In the labor market, the structure is similar, but not identical. The commonality of a successful match there exists only when the supplier possesses identical skills and experience to those that the demander believes are required. In other words, if you can’t operate a milling machine, write programs in SQL, or don’t have the skills the employer needs at this time — your relationship is going nowhere. It doesn’t matter if you are a Taurus, like baseball and enjoy being caught in the rain; you won’t get past the machine that reads your resume. And that is the problem that some economists are seeing in the unemployment fallout from this recession. Each day that passes, our economy develops a demand for workers with higher proven — that is, tested skills. And each day our educational system, on average, falls farther behind, leaving fewer people with the ability to find a match in the workplace. How is that going to work out for us? James McCusker is a Bothell economist, educator and consultant. He also writes a monthly column for the Snohomish County Business Journal. |
- Sorry, Hawkeye; M*A*S*H gets bowled over
- Former Whidbey student shot
- County archive software paid for but waiting for set-up
- Ruling expected on Sultan beating statement
- ‘Roadkill’ caucus seeks a voice for centrist Democrats
- Police seek witnesses in two accidents
- PAWS calls out for critter care-givers
- Boeing has a busy test schedule
- Ex-Boeing engineer jailed for espionage
- Morning mystery: What happened to House Bill 3181?
- Lynnwood sets height limit on grass: 8 inches
(10) - State Senate votes to toss I-960's tax-raising hurdle (9)
- School levies in Snohomish County all passing, Marysville bond failing (7)
- Schools do well in levy elections (7)
- Cat wanders into police parking lot, is euthanized (6)
- Lynnwood makes law against too tall lawns (4)
- A tidy lawn could be law in Lynnwood (4)
- County archive software paid for but waiting for set-up (3)
- Two suspects sought in Everett shooting that injured two (3)
- Boeing now favored to win tanker, experts say (3)
- Jackson girls outlast Meadowdale owdale
- OBT raises barre in children’s program
- Junior firefighters
- School levies passing
- Mavericks topple Wolfpack
- Get a second look at Second City Feb. 13
- Sports Briefs
- Warriors advance 11 to regional meet
- Arlington's Cascade Valley Hospital celebrates expansion, national award and 100 years of service
- Business Licences Feb. 2010
- Technology tips for launching your own business
- Business Events Feb. 2010
- Tech Talk: No excuse today for going without a Web site
- State already raising fees and rates that restrict business growth
- Some legislators again targeting people’s initiative petition rights
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