School-to-Work
CEO Commentary
School-to-Work (STW) is a perversion of America’s Promise and the end of the American Dream. It goes far beyond the traditional vo-tech programs that have enabled interested students to graduate from high school and enter a trade. True STW, as outlined in the 1994 federal School-to-Work Act and the 2001 Pennsylvania Keystone Report, advocates the restructuring of education so that all K-12 students are trained for jobs that will meet local and national economic needs. And the related educational changes are often implemented without public discussion or state and local votes by elected officials.
To understand STW, the interrelated roles of business, government, and education must be understood.
Business
In order for STW to function, businesses must buy into the plan – philosophically and financially. Federal and state STW plans have included some worrisome ideas.
• Businesses must agree that the best worker is trained just enough to do a specific job, and when that job no longer exists workers will be retrained for another job. Educated, freethinking workers may not be considered desirable for most jobs.
• Although not emphasized at this time, a careful analysis of STW plans show that businesses will help subsidize the system by contributing to one-stop employment centers, worker retraining, and student workplace programs. Some early STW plans cite placing a mandatory charge on businesses based on the number of employees or a percentage of corporate profits.
• It seems that STW caters to the needs of large businesses that form government ties and have the funds to subsidize the program. By integrating government and big businesses, some believe that STW opposes the free enterprise economy on which America was founded.
Government
STW circumvents representative government, a cornerstone of America. Although the federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act was passed by Congress in 1994, implementation at the state and local levels has bypassed state legislatures and most school boards.
In Pennsylvania, the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) network was created by an Executive Order, not a legislative vote. The state and local WIBs, comprised of well-meaning appointed representatives of business, government, and education, can be powerful as they identify local employment needs and dictate their training needs to educators. But Pennsylvania legislators voted to approve WIBs only after the network was in place.
Local school boards do not usually discuss and vote on STW programs. Instead, STW enters the classroom quietly. Plans to begin STW activities as early as kindergarten are often embedded in the curriculum, along with career exploration and workplace experiences. School board discussion and community input on STW rarely occurs.
Education
STW is antithetical to the traditional goals of American education. In the past students were told, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Education provided a limitless horizon for those who applied themselves. Education made the American Dream possible.
STW transforms much of America’s education system into a training program. In fact, STW plans usually replace the word “education” with the word “training.” With STW, basic knowledge of required subjects are taught and tested. Today’s state and federal mandates require proficiency in only math, reading, and science. State assessments verify that the minimums have been met. This system of standards and assessments, developed in Pennsylvania and in other states across the country in the 1990’s, was codified in No Child Left Behind , the massive 2001 federal education law. While the goal of NCLB is noble – ALL American students will be proficient in math, reading, and science by 2014 – the state standards and assessments expect students to be “proficient” in only the basics of these subjects. As a result, the scope of education can be narrowed along with the expectations for many of America’s children who can learn far beyond the proficient level.
Under full implementation of STW, all 8th or 9th grade students select their career pathway so that their high school education becomes a training ground for their career choice, limiting course selection and requiring workplace experiences during school time. Students must also display proficiency in work-related attitudes and behaviors as well as vocational and SCANS standards for various occupations. Students who show proficiency in these skills and attitudes will receive Certificates of Mastery (CIM). High school graduates will therefore receive diplomas for learning the basics and CIMs for learning the skills and attitudes. It is interesting to note that STW plans often allow about 20% of high school students to enter a higher education pathway that will provide these students with a college-track education. This means that 80% of students will be expected to enter job-training pathways. And the funneling of students into career or college pathways occurs at the young age of 15 or 16.
With only 20% of high school graduates anticipated to attend 4-year degree, many colleges and universities will be forced to become training centers for selected careers or industries. Some individual small colleges and community colleges have already partnered with businesses as training and re-training centers. The vast opportunities available through today’s colleges and universities will be greatly diminished for the 80% of high school graduates who will enter the workforce upon high school graduation or after receiving one or two additional years of training.
The sky is no longer the limit in the STW system. High schools and many colleges and universities are reduced to training centers that turn out “certified” workers to meet regional workforce needs. They provide “Limited Learning for Lifelong Labor.”
STW is the wrong solution
A dire education problem has been chronicled for years. High school graduates have lacked math and reading skills necessary for even entry-level jobs. Businesses have valid complaints. But the complex school-to-work system spreading across America is misleading and not the real solution. STW is much more than an education correction; it is a restructuring of America’s economy, governance, and education.
The mandatory nature of STW is problematic. If some students need the promise of employment as motivation to stay in school and graduate, STW can be well used. Traditional vo-tech has often filled that role. But federal and state STW plans assert that ALL students must be part of STW.
School-to-work is often referred to as the European or German model. Look to Europe to see the educational results of such a system. The 2002 international PISA test of school children by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that Germany has almost the largest gap between highest and lowest achieving students, with most students scoring below the expected test average. News articles analyzing the test results point to the vastly different education provided to the few top students who are being educated and the many students being trained for jobs.
State Senator Michele Bachman of Minnesota has been an outspoken leader against STW. Her summary of STW is accurate: “Children are, in practice, human resources for a centrally planned economy. Taxpayers shoulder the burden of financing job training for businesses. Academics are substantially reduced; vocational education is mandated. Local control means local implementation of pre-determined results dictated by government workforce boards.” This failed economic/education system must be rejected.
America has been a world leader because of our form of government, free enterprise, and limitless educational opportunities. We have been the envy of the world. Although the mandatory, far-reaching nature of STW goes against the tenets of the American foundation, STW is bringing systemic changes to our schools and businesses without full public examination in legislatures, school boards, and communities.
Once again, America is at a crossroads. We must decide the future for our children. If we want them to be trained to fill a need in the economy, to be a cog in the economic wheel, STW is the answer. If we want education to provide a solid education and limitless opportunities so students can choose a career after high school graduation, not in 8 th or 9 th grade, STW is not the right path. Educators, business leaders, elected officials, and citizens must discuss these large issues and make decisions that will truly benefit America.
• PISA results can be found at www.oecd.org .
• Sen. Bachman’s article can be found at
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