LM March 2024

Message From the Executive Director We Need to Ensure Our Students Have the Skills Employers Desire

Dr. Brent Clark

The reality is a degree is becoming less of a sticking point in getting hired. And, without question, it comes with a hefty price tag that has resulted in a student debt crisis. According to a survey of 800 employers last fall, 45 percent of companies plan to eliminate bachelor’s degree requirements for some positions in 2024. The paradigm is shifting. Employers are prioritizing key traits like critical thinking ability, interpersonal skills, a strong work ethic and adaptability and flexibility over a college degree, especially as Artificial Intelligence becomes more prominent in society. As school leaders, how are you teaching students these essential skills? Is it part of your curriculum? The good news is there are numerous examples of school districts across the state reimagining the high school experience and investing in top-of-the-line workforce readiness training programs. Significant investments have occurred in communities such as Litchfield, Mattoon, Collinsville, Effingham, Matteson, Chicago and Rockford. In January, I noticed Bremen High CHSD #228 recognized 451 students for earning an industry credential during the fall 2023 semester, a 57 percent increase from the year before. That is the type of success story that I wish could be featured on the Illinois Report Card. To close, college and career readiness does not have to be an either/or proposition. There is value in both approaches. As the nation’s top companies place more emphasis on skills over a college degree, our public education system needs to adjust with the paradigm shift.

Anyone who has worked in public education long enough has lived through multiple paradigm shifts. Some of us are old enough to remember the “A Nation at Risk” report from 1983, which ushered in a wave of local, state and federal reform efforts. We witnessed a massive shift in school safety after the horrific shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. The No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 put an increased focus on state assessments, annual academic progress and state report cards. An infusion of technology massively shifted the way teachers teach and students learn over the past two decades. Student discipline, teacher evaluation, wages and mental health have all also undergone transformations. If you listen to employers, public education in America could be in the midst of another paradigm shift. I recently read an interview with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about the work experience versus college experience debate. Dimon was quoted as saying: “Too much focus in education has been on graduating college…. It should be on jobs. I think schools should be measured on, did the kids get out and get a good job?” College can still be incredibly valuable, but a “college-for all” mindset can be a disservice to students. A student who graduated from high school with an industry credential and entered the workforce is just as successful as a student who graduated and enrolled in college.

3 LM March 2024