Monday Moanin’: Education and training important for any job path

By Jim Tisdel, director of Corporate and Community Education, North Central Michigan College

There are more than 4,450 jobs available here in northwest Michigan that are going unfilled, according to Labor Insight-Burning Glass.

No, they are not all low-paying jobs, but they are jobs in which employers are looking for some level of continued education after high school, some experience, and a work ethic. In addition, more than 70 percent of these jobs, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Market Information-Michigan, do not required a four-year degree and do provide a very reasonable living wage.

So why do these jobs go unfilled? Awareness, information, desire, lack of seeing a job as the beginning of a career — any and all of these play a role.

Possibly the most overlooked thing for people to comprehend is that every job, no matter how simple or low paying, is a stepping stone to the next job, and more importantly a career. In sports it’s easy to see that if you want to play as a professional you begin in a youth league, then a school program, then a college program, then a minor league, and then if you get through all of that you might have a chance to play in the big league.

It’s similar in any career; you have to start in an entry level position and build up your talent, skills, and experience. That simple truth is often not understood.

How does this relate to the open, unfilled, jobs in our area? If you don’t know the game you’re not going to want to play. But this topic isn’t a game, it is the path to a good life and a sense of well-being. Planning, effort and dedication are needed to obtain a rewarding life — just like practice, practice, practice, is needed to obtain any quality level of sport, and for that fact, any career as well.

For years now, the idea that a person needs a four-year degree to get ahead and have a good life has been the most often told story to young people. This is just not true, as most levels of post high school education will bring individuals better opportunities. A technology certificate can bring a job that has high compensation — just as several other categories of certificates, certifications, apprenticeships, and associates degrees will as well. These degrees take months or just a couple of years to receive and come at a more reasonable cost.

So if there are all these jobs available in northwest Michigan, and 70 percent or more don’t require a four-year degree, why aren’t people knowledgeable of the paths to these opportunities?

Read the entire essay here: http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/business/education-and-training-important-for-any-job-path/article_a631d53a-8651-5047-a9f6-1f7c0aef6351.html

U.S. Dept. of Education’s own inspector again condemns DOE oversight of charter school grants
by janresseger
You may not be aware that the U.S. Department of Education—under President Barack Obama’s appointees, Arne Duncan and John King—has been awarding billions of dollars to promote the growth of charter schools across the states. Even less reported has been the failure by the U.S. Department of Education to ensure good stewardship of federal funds through careful administration of the federal Charter Schools Program.

Though the operation of the federal Charter Schools Program has been little reported, there have been warnings. A 2012 report from the Department of Education’s internal Office of Inspector General (1) exposed the department’s failure to ensure careful oversight of federal funds by the state departments of education who received grants, and (2) confirmed the department’s failure to regulate the charter school management organizations that have been charged with overseeing the operations of the schools supposedly under their purview.

Another—September 2016—report from the U.S. Department of Education’s own Office of Inspector General has uncovered the very same problems… read more of this post… https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/u-s-dept-of-educations-own-inspector-again-condemns-does-oversight-of-charter-school-grants/

Center for Ed Reform all in on privatizing
By Peter Greene
The Center for Education Reform, Jeanne Allen’s charter-and-choice advocacy group, is having a senior moment. Under the breathless headline, “Nation’s Most Senior Education Reform Group Relaunches,” CER has issued a press release about “its complete refocus on the changing landscape of American education, taking on the most difficult issues that no other national organization is currently pursuing.”

Wow! What plucky drive these folks have! This appears to be a followup to the manifesto they issued this summer. I waded through the whole thing here , but let me summarize even more succinctly:

Reformsters have gotten too wimpy and off-message, allowing themselves to be too often engaged by the dupes of the evil teachers’ unions, and so now we must have bold and decisive leadership that unashamedly embraces the value of turning education over to corporate control. We must learn a lesson from the fate of the Common Core, struck down in its prime because its defenders did not boldly resist the evil forces arrayed against it (and not at all because it sucked and couldn’t deliver any of what it promised).

But now, the CER has found new focus, new dedication, and, apparently, a new English-to-corporate gobbledeegook translator HERE: http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2016/09/center-for-ed-reform-all-in-on.html

…until next time, keep reading, sharing, discussing, learning!