I’ll make this wise comment. There are X number of jobs in America that require an education of sorts...either community college, trade schools, university-level, etc. Then there are Y number of jobs which require virtually no real education...from Wal-Mart to BP-gas stations. When you look at the X and Y columns...you will notice that they are about even....fifty percent either way.
We are basically producing today...the necessary trained and educated crowd for the X jobs. And by dumb luck, we are producing enough folks for the Y jobs.
So when Obama talks of some major shift in the American education sector and many more individuals going this route...where will the jobs be found? To be very truthful here, we aren’t exactly creating brand new jobs...as much as we are shifting 1,000 jobs in this field over to a 1,000 jobs in this field. I’ve been noticing this for the past ten years. If a guy is not exactly qualified for his new line of work...then he goes out and gets training or certifications. The system in place today...works.
So as I gaze at Obama’s plan...we are basically creating a new wave of educated and trained workers...for jobs that won’t exist at the pay-level that they expect. We’ll have really smart dudes standing there...working as a taxi-driver or a burger flipper...because the government couldn’t invite jobs. So you basically create this negativity that sweeps the nation in ten years...and everyone is asking how to fix the new problem.
And a final bit of analysis here...Germany is one of those countries who is producing far more of the university-level crowd than the job market can absorb. Its been that way for almost thirty years. You end up with a 4-year degree, and working for the insurance companies...simply filing papers and shuffling applications around. I knew of one German that eventually gave up on the system after three years of looking for real pay for a university degree background...and ended up in the US Air Force (his dad was American anyway). There are a couple hundred Germans who pack up each year and go to the US to be high school physics and chemistry teachers...simply because there is no opportunity in Germany.
Interesting analysis of the job market and education. Think in terms of opportunity cost as it applies to education. The underlying problem in this country is the monopolistic system of Public Ed + the strangle hold of the ‘Universities’ on determining who is qualified for what career. This system does not reflect reality, it fails at all levels and what we have is a bunch of disgruntled, ill educated citizens feelin that they are oppressed by da man....Barack & Michelle Obama are exhibits # 1!
I like your analysis!
I think when Obama or any other dem starts talking about education, the students and what happens to them are a tiny part of the equation. Hiring more (union) teachers, counselors, therapists, administrators and so forth is the goal- swell union memberships and toss cash to construction companies who build cheap throwaway buildings that need complete replacement within twenty years.
I looked into a local high school- what does a “curriculum coordinator” do? Nobody could really tell me, but they have four. Plus “grief counselors” who find enough to do to be put on a half-years salary.
If in return for Obama’s “two year service” he’ll give the “volunteers” a PhD complete with black robe, he does not care that they’ll pump subsidized ethanol for a living. It’s the cadre of union teachers and Stalinist professors he’s concerned about.