[Vision2020] Fwd: Reality of Poverty in Idaho

[Bruce and Jean Livingston]

Some of the ideas Jerry expresses here are going to be the topic of an MCA forum on Monday night, Nov. 27 at 7 pm, at the 1912 Building on Third Street.  The topic is how to improve professional technical education in Moscow.  

Dr. Weitz has been a prolific commentator on local education issues.  Many other important opinion leaders from a variety of education, business, legislative and community perspectives will be joining Jerry at the MCA forum on Monday evening.  Our goal is to work toward understanding current educational offerings and ways to improve them, either within the current financial constraints or by creatively finding new ways to avoid or eliminate some of those constraints through public and private partnerships.  We hope to see many of you there to discuss this important community issue.  

The list of local leaders scheduled to attend includes Representative Tom Trail, Representative Shirley Ringo, Dr. Jerry Weitz, Marsha Royer (Schweitzer vice president of human resources), Barry Ramsay (owner of D8 in Potlatch), Jeff Martin (CEO, Gritman Medical Center), Ken Medlin, Shirley Greene (chair of Rotary Club's vocational education committee), Dean Paul Rowland (UI College of Education), Dean Steve Daley-Laursen (UI College of Natural Resources), Dean Rob Lohrmeyer (Lewis-Clark State College Professional Technical Programs), Cindy Bechinski (Moscow School District curriculum director),  Bob Celebrezze (principal of Moscow High School), Carole Jones (principal of Moscow's alternative high school), and other administrators, teachers and school board members from Moscow School District.

These community leaders and others in attendance will participate in an in-depth discussion that seeks innovative solutions to the quandary of improving educational offerings within or by lessening current budgetary constraints.  The community discussion follows an initial presentation by three panelists, Mike Rush, the Idaho State Director of Professional Technical Education, Paul Kimmell, Executive Director of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, and Jim Gregson, Chair of the University of Idaho Dept. of Adult, Career and Technology Education.

Here is an article previewing the forum from the Friday edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

  Panel To Explore Tech Ed Options

  By Kate Baldwin, Daily News staff writer
  Friday, November 24, 2006 - Page Updated at 11:53:58 AM

  Debby LeBlanc remembers a time when Moscow High School had more professional 
  technical classes available through its marketing department as well as its 
  agriculture department.

  The business teacher said those programs were cut years ago, and the state's 
  newest changes to the education system now have her worried that her 
  business program might go someday too.

  "It's really nobody's fault," she said. "We're being forced into a road with 
  all academia."

  The recent changes in high school graduation requirements increase the 
  number of required math and science courses. When overall course 
  requirements increase, the number of student-chosen electives decrease.

  Along with those changes, the students' opportunities for electives are 
  limited by the need to take extra classes for remediation in order to pass 
  the ISAT, or the Idaho Standards Achievement Test.

  LeBlanc said people are trying to stop the loss of professional-technical 
  classes, but she doesn't know if that is possible.

  She said she is going to attend a forum on Monday about 
  professional-technical education to find out more.

  The Moscow Civic Association is hosting the event, "Education for a Flat 
  World: Creating Opportunities for Moscow Students and Business." It will 
  bring three panelists to talk about the issues that face professional 
  technical education programs in agriculture, mechanics and shop, business 
  and accounting, and computer applications, among others.

  "If people have an interest in making learning more relevant, interesting 
  and engaging to youth, I would encourage them to attend," said Jim Gregson, 
  a panelist and the chairman of the Department of Adult, Career and 
  Technology Education at the University of Idaho.

  Gregson agreed with LeBlanc that school districts have had to make very 
  difficult decisions as resources have become increasingly scarce.

  He suggested that the area universities, businesses and the schools could 
  merge their resources.

  Internships and job shadows are just a few ways to provide students the 
  hands-on experience and applied learning that are the hallmarks of 
  professional technical education, he said.

  Gregson said he hopes to find out the level of support across the community 
  for reviving and modernizing these programs. He also is interested to find 
  "in a pragmatic sense - how we can make one or more of these efforts 
   happen."

  Panelist and Moscow Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Paul Kimmell said 
  attendees of the event will be able to participate in the discussions.

  "What we're hoping to do is flush out some possible actions in the future," 
  he said.

  Kimmell said the Moscow School District is open to introducing new 
  programming but it remains "very constrained financially and 
  curriculum-wise."

  "They are challenged to make any room in their existing school schedule," he 
  said.

  The system is doing a good job now, Kimmell said, but that doesn't mean 
  there can't be more improvements.

  "We've got all the right people here," he said. "It's not going to happen 
  over night, that's why we have got to keep raising the issue and raising the 
  awareness."

  INFO BOX

  The Moscow Civic Association's Forum on Professional Technical Education

  * WHAT: A three-person panel will discuss enhancing professional technical 
  education in the area. The panel members are Mike Rush, Idaho state director 
  of professional technical education; Jim Gregson, chairman of the University 
  of Idaho's Department of Adult, Career and Technology Education; and Paul 
  Kimmell, executive director of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce.

  * WHEN: 7 p.m., Monday

  * WHERE: 1912 Center, Moscow


  Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, and by e-mail at 
  kbaldwin at dnews.com.

Bruce Livingston
MCA President
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jerry Weitz 
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 11:45 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fwd: Reality of Poverty in Idaho


   At 11:29 PM 11/24/06, Gerald Weitz wrote:


  Skills (Learning by doing) education:  A thumbnail perspective
   
  Changing American secondary education around the needs of the students in the present and the future requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to accept that the status quo is not working optimally.  Real change, made for the right reasons and toward the right mission, will yield dramatically better results and a bright future for all our young people, for our national economy, and our cultural well being.
   
  In a recent speech Bill Gates made a provocative case about American high schools. "American high schools are obsolete. By obsolete, I mean that our high schools, even when they are working exactly as designed, cannot teach our kids what they need to know today.  Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today's computers on a 50-year-old mainframe.  It's the wrong tool for the times."
   
   WSU's President Rawlins, in his recent State of the University speech, detailed the effects for the University in having to remediate math and communication skills that should have been accomplished by k-12.   Too many Colleges and Universities  grapple with the same dilemma. 
   
  Many students are currently disengaged and leaving, or have already left the traditional high school.  Idaho's graduation rate is 84% and MSD's, as reported, is 86%.  Many go to college only to drop out.  UI is focusing on retention as the University has had an almost 1100 student enrollment decline in the past two years. 
   
  Educational reform has been an enduring topic since the beginning of the republic. At the start of   the twentieth century our system was the best in the world and had the longest school year based on the 180-day agricultural model.  We are a country that believes in positive and forward change. Everyone gets a chance and the tools to succeed. 
   
  By mid century, with a strong influx of skilled labor from Europe, America was at the top.  In 1950, America represented 75% of the world's economic pie.  30% of our workforce in 1950 could join the middle class by working at a factory. Yet, danger loomed with the Soviets going nuclear, the fall of China to the communists, Europe requiring the Marshall Plan to avoid collapse, and the Korean War.  To beat the communists, America (starting with President Truman) invested in our colleges and universities at an unprecedented level.  America transferred its research, technology, and systems freely to the non-communist world.  The GI bill, instituted in 1944, and the tremendous growth of public colleges/universities served America well. Focus was not on k-12.  Thus other nations observed our k-12 system and vastly improved their own with higher expectations and standards.   
   
  Today, our research universities are unreservedly the best in the world. In a recent Economist feature reviewing the importance of education as a driver of prosperity, the American community college was ruled as a distinctly American world-class innovation.  America's economy is the most successful in the world, even with Katrina, the challenge of Iraq, and the national debt.   We are dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial, flexible, and innovative. In every field, U.S. firms are at or near the frontier of technological advance.  Unfortunately, our high schools are not the world's best.
   
  Despite 25 years of strong competition from Asia and Europe, our giant economy has remained resurgent.  U.S. unemployment is one of the lowest in the world.  The advantages of this onrush of technology are obvious.  But there are major social costs as well.  What is called a two-tiered labor market has evolved in which those at the bottom lack enough skills and education to compete, failing to get pay raises, health coverage and other benefits.  In the lower and middle-income quintiles stagnation or declines in incomes have become the norm.  The days of checking into the local factory and entering the middle class is in steep decline.  For example, GM and the UAW have recently agreed to start workers at $12/hour with diminished health benefits. Further, downward adjustments may still be required according to both GM and the UAW.  Non-skilled labor is not the future.  Adjustments in the minimum wage, while meritorious and fair, may be helpful for some, however, in many cases worsen the hiring levels of the non-skilled/inexperienced. (An unintended opposite effect).
   
  There has been a strong k-12 movement to catch up to our international peers in science, math and communication skills.  Standards and testing have been instituted.  Spending levels on education in the US are among the highest in the advanced economies.  Public sentiment in Idaho is not on the side of just adding more money into the system as evidenced by the defeat of prop. 1.  (Although Latah County bucked the trend).  
   
  Many commentators assert that Globalization will transform the world economy in the 21st century, leaving no national products, no national corporations, no national industries and no national economies.  To succeed in the global marketplace, countries will have to depend entirely on the skills of their inhabitants, and will have to deal with powerful external forces that could create an ever widening gulf between skilled, globally aware citizens and a growing unskilled out-of touch underclass.  The slogan "think globally, act locally" may prove to be the correct framework for our k-12's prosperity and our rural region's future.
   
  Learning by doing (skills) is not a new concept. During the Dark Ages the city states (Genoa, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Milan) of Italy forwarded education and skills.  Italy became very prosperous.  For example, eyeglasses became a defining industry for Venice during the dark ages.  Even today, the best eyeglass frames come from Italy. From Dark Age Italy, western philosophy of individual betterment through education and skills formed the basis of democratic capitalism, individual rights, higher education, trade, and property rights. 
   
  Resistance to change is not new.  For example, Isaac Newton pushed against the establishment by forwarding the concept that math ought to be taught to orphans. John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix, was literally discredited and run out of California for forwarding the idea that we're entering the computer age and non-traditional educational models must be employed for non-traditional students.    
   
  Recommendations:
   
  1)      Increase the number of days (not necessarily hours/day) instruction. Our major
  trading partners average 211 days.  MSD is about 170days.  Canada has a 200-day school year and consistently is in the top 4 in science, math and communication skills far outpacing U.S. counterparts.  Thus the obstacle of not having enough time can be overcome.   
   
  2)      Increase teacher training outside of instructional days (UI could be pivotal).  Thus having a qualified staff is obtainable. 
   
  3)      Institute skills curriculum for the non-college bound (Recall Virginia under former Mark Warner offered 50 certifications in 50 trades at Virginia's community colleges for the non-college bound. Virginia's graduation rate = 94.6%.  Idaho, by its size and population, must co-use local high schools as community colleges.  Ely Nevada High School serves as a high school/community college. Recall that community colleges evolved from local Boards of Education. The demand for workers with postsecondary degrees and certifications has outpaced the supply.  Jobs that require an associate's degree are growing the fastest and those requiring professional doctorates and Ph.D.'s are the second fastest.
   
  4)      Study the Finnish model:  Finland, with 5.3 million, has one of the best-educated workforces in the world.  In a land of snow and ice, 1/3rd of its landmass in the artic, 60,000 major lakes and zillions of B-52 sized mosquitoes, Finland has a remarkable economy. (from cell phones to high end  medical/dental equipment.)
  Finland consistently scores in the top 3 internationally in science and math.
  Ireland has one of the most educated workforces and it has an impressive high tech economy.  New Zealand has rebound from a low performer to a high performer in science and math.
   
  5)      Establish a system where every student should be led through a process of academic and career awareness exploration, and planning. Make sure our system re-engages/reconnects students that are about to drop out or have. Extending the school year would help. 
   
  6)      Be resurgent as the US economy.  Present a definitive plan to the patronage, build alliances with the UI, private schools, and the business community, then run a supplemental levy.  Prop one was too broad and non-specific.  The public is not at all convinced that adding money is the sole answer.  Make our system the best and accept no less.  Think Globally, Act Locally.  
   
   
  Gerald Weitz, D.D.S.
   
   
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