I have a hunch this is true in a lot of states.
Tom
Texas needs more skilled workers than English majors
By DAVE MONTGOMERY
[email protected]
AUSTIN — The demand for skilled workers in Texas is outstripping the supply, raising the possibility that employers may reduce operations or move to states with a larger pool of skilled labor, State Comptroller Susan Combs says in a new report.
Combs said she will ask the 2009 Legislature for $25 million for training and scholarships to help Texas overcome the growing shortage.
"You’ve got employers saying, 'We will go to where the work force is,’ " Combs said in an interview to discuss the report, titled "Texas Works: Training and Education for All Texans."
The 147-page study attributes much of the shortage to state policies that focus on preparing students for four-year colleges and universities instead of alternative career paths in skilled and technical occupations. Funding for public two-year institutions has failed to keep pace with the need for vocational and technical training, the report says.
"Such state policies are shortsighted, both from the perspective of individual students and from that of Texas as a whole, which needs a productive, skilled work force with a variety of technical skills to compete successfully," the report said.
Increased job training
The report recommends a $25 million "Jobs and Education for Texans" fund for the 2010-11 biennium to create programs to train students for in-demand jobs.
The fund would also expand existing programs that help low-income students attend community and technical colleges.
Combs, who will outline the state’s revenue outlook early next month in advance of the legislative session, has joined other state officials in warning of a tight budget as a result of the economic downturn.
But she said she hopes "to make a case" for the proposed fund on the grounds that the expenditure will pay off through the creation of skilled jobs.
"This kind of training generates a return on that investment," she said.
What’s happening
Dwindling enrollment in vocational training has spawned a chain reaction in the workplace, the report said. Officials in the Gulf Coast petrochemical industry complain of a chronic shortage of welders. Unions and construction companies are also losing skilled workers through retirement and can’t recruit enough young people to replace them, the report said.
In 2007, Texas had 44,000 job openings for workers with post-secondary skilled or technical training, "but the state’s public institutions produced just 36,442 students with the skills needed for those jobs." By contrast, the report said, public universities produced an oversupply of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral graduates, awarding 104,000 degrees while the state added only 85,000 jobs requiring a college education.
Although the majority of jobs in Texas do not require a college degree, many state policies "are geared largely toward pushing all students into university programs," the report said. "These policies may inadvertently send the signal that the four-year degree is the only path to success."
Students who entered the ninth grade in 2007 are required to take four years each of language arts, social studies, math and science. Combs called for a more flexible policy that would allow an optional, noncollege career path for technical and skilled jobs. Because those options aren’t available, the report said, discouraged students drop out.
"Not everybody is going to be an English major at a four-year school," Combs said. The goal, she said, should reflect the words on the cover of the report: "a complete range of paths and choices that ensures there’s every chance for every Texan."
Educational adaptations
Pat Hardy, a member of the Texas Board of Education from Fort Worth, said she shares Combs’ concerns and believes that public schools should provide "work force readiness" as well as "college readiness."
The school board, she said, has moved toward addressing those issues.
Texas has 50 community-college districts, including the campuses in Tarrant County, that provide instruction for a broad range of career fields, including nuclear technicians, public health, funeral directors and computer specialists. Skilled and technical training is also available in state technical colleges and the three two-year campuses in the Lamar State University System.
Salaries range from $37,000 for biological technicians to nearly $89,000 for radiation therapists, the report said.
Not everybody is going to be an English major at a four-year school."
Susan Combs,
Texas state comptroller
Tom
Texas needs more skilled workers than English majors
By DAVE MONTGOMERY
[email protected]
AUSTIN — The demand for skilled workers in Texas is outstripping the supply, raising the possibility that employers may reduce operations or move to states with a larger pool of skilled labor, State Comptroller Susan Combs says in a new report.
Combs said she will ask the 2009 Legislature for $25 million for training and scholarships to help Texas overcome the growing shortage.
"You’ve got employers saying, 'We will go to where the work force is,’ " Combs said in an interview to discuss the report, titled "Texas Works: Training and Education for All Texans."
The 147-page study attributes much of the shortage to state policies that focus on preparing students for four-year colleges and universities instead of alternative career paths in skilled and technical occupations. Funding for public two-year institutions has failed to keep pace with the need for vocational and technical training, the report says.
"Such state policies are shortsighted, both from the perspective of individual students and from that of Texas as a whole, which needs a productive, skilled work force with a variety of technical skills to compete successfully," the report said.
Increased job training
The report recommends a $25 million "Jobs and Education for Texans" fund for the 2010-11 biennium to create programs to train students for in-demand jobs.
The fund would also expand existing programs that help low-income students attend community and technical colleges.
Combs, who will outline the state’s revenue outlook early next month in advance of the legislative session, has joined other state officials in warning of a tight budget as a result of the economic downturn.
But she said she hopes "to make a case" for the proposed fund on the grounds that the expenditure will pay off through the creation of skilled jobs.
"This kind of training generates a return on that investment," she said.
What’s happening
Dwindling enrollment in vocational training has spawned a chain reaction in the workplace, the report said. Officials in the Gulf Coast petrochemical industry complain of a chronic shortage of welders. Unions and construction companies are also losing skilled workers through retirement and can’t recruit enough young people to replace them, the report said.
In 2007, Texas had 44,000 job openings for workers with post-secondary skilled or technical training, "but the state’s public institutions produced just 36,442 students with the skills needed for those jobs." By contrast, the report said, public universities produced an oversupply of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral graduates, awarding 104,000 degrees while the state added only 85,000 jobs requiring a college education.
Although the majority of jobs in Texas do not require a college degree, many state policies "are geared largely toward pushing all students into university programs," the report said. "These policies may inadvertently send the signal that the four-year degree is the only path to success."
Students who entered the ninth grade in 2007 are required to take four years each of language arts, social studies, math and science. Combs called for a more flexible policy that would allow an optional, noncollege career path for technical and skilled jobs. Because those options aren’t available, the report said, discouraged students drop out.
"Not everybody is going to be an English major at a four-year school," Combs said. The goal, she said, should reflect the words on the cover of the report: "a complete range of paths and choices that ensures there’s every chance for every Texan."
Educational adaptations
Pat Hardy, a member of the Texas Board of Education from Fort Worth, said she shares Combs’ concerns and believes that public schools should provide "work force readiness" as well as "college readiness."
The school board, she said, has moved toward addressing those issues.
Texas has 50 community-college districts, including the campuses in Tarrant County, that provide instruction for a broad range of career fields, including nuclear technicians, public health, funeral directors and computer specialists. Skilled and technical training is also available in state technical colleges and the three two-year campuses in the Lamar State University System.
Salaries range from $37,000 for biological technicians to nearly $89,000 for radiation therapists, the report said.
Not everybody is going to be an English major at a four-year school."
Susan Combs,
Texas state comptroller
