[Youth-list] HS Diploma Not Enough

Tue Jun 19 06:30:39 PDT 2007

  Here is a new idea for getting students qualified for employment while
still in high school:

http://www.act.org/workkeys/index.html
<http://www.act.org/workkeys/index.html> 

http://www.michigan.gov/mdcd/1,1607,7-122--24347--,00.html
<http://www.michigan.gov/mdcd/1,1607,7-122--24347--,00.html> 

Portable certificate of skills.

Linda Chaffin
Program Director
School for Ethical Education
440 Wheelers Farms Road
Milford, CT 06460
(203) 783-4436
www.ethicsed.org <http://www.ethicsed.org/> 

"Character education in the classroom supports students on a path to
becoming honorable and compassionate," Secretary Spellings said. "Lessons in
responsibility and respect are just as integral to a well-rounded education
as lessons in reading, math and science." 

-----Original Message-----
From: youth-list-bounces at lists.ctvoices.org
[mailto:youth-list-bounces at lists.ctvoices.org]On Behalf Of JMRab at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 5:28 AM
To: eceinfo at lists.cahs.org; youth-list at ctvoices.org
Cc: rob.keating at po.state.ct.us
Subject: [Youth-list] HS Diploma Not Enough

For more information on this incredibly important issue, please see the
following:

Tough Choices or Tough Times (2007)
http://skillscommission.org/executive.htm
<http://skillscommission.org/executive.htm> 
•America’s Perfect Storm (2007)
www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/AmericasPerfectStorm.pdf
<http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/AmericasPerfectStorm.pdf>  
•

 <http://www.courant.com/> courant.com	 	
   _____  

http://www.courant.com/hc-hsgrads0619.artjun19,0,3777923.story?coll=hc-big-h
eadlines-breaking
<http://www.courant.com/hc-hsgrads0619.artjun19,0,3777923.story?coll=hc-big-
headlines-breaking>  

H.S. Diploma? Not Enough. 

Employers Increasingly Want A Resume With Postsecondary Education 

By JANICE PODSADA
Courant Staff Writer

June 19 2007

When Malcolm Harrison graduated from Hartford's Weaver High School in 2005,
he had a plan: Get a full-time job, buy a car, rent a place of his own.

"I figured I'd get some money in my pocket and get situated," said Harrison,
19.

But things didn't work out as he hoped. Harrison, who still lives at home,
has worked five months out of the past 12 - three as a seasonal employee at
J.C. Penney and two as a part-time employee at a Geisler's Supermarket.

The high school diploma that Harrison believed would land him a job with a
big, well-known company such as RadioShack, Wal-Mart, AutoZone, Home Depot
or UPS hasn't proved to be the entry ticket he had hoped for. He said he
filled out applications but never got a call back.

Even 20 years ago, a high school degree was credential enough to obtain an
entry-level clerical or manufacturing job with one of the nation's large
regional or national firms. But in the intervening years, both corporate
America and the kind of jobs available have become more selective and
sophisticated.

Fewer companies put out the welcome mat any more for fresh-faced high school
graduates, and those that do tend to be in the retail or services sectors,
where starting pay can be low and part-time work the norm.

This spring, more than 43,000 Connecticut students will receive their high
school diplomas. Almost 80 percent say they plan to attend trade school or
college. For the 20 percent who plan to enter the workforce immediately -
more than 9,000- the outlook is mixed.

In May, the national unemployment rate for high school graduates age 25 and
older was 4.5 percent vs. 2 percent for college graduates, according to the
U.S. Department of Labor. For those with less than a high school degree, age
25 and older, the unemployment rate was almost 7 percent. The overall
national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent.

College A Requisite

The value of a high school diploma has fallen considerably, said Francoise
Carre, a labor economics expert and the director of research at the
University of Massachusetts' Center for Social Policy in Boston.

"College is now taken as a credential for adaptability to learn and update
your skills," Carre said.

That outlook has been adopted by many white-collar employers, including the
insurance and banking industries. Those businesses had traditionally
welcomed high school graduates, but now they're more likely to hire an
applicant with a two- or four-year college degree. Even manufacturers with
production and assembly line jobs prefer workers with an associate's degree,
Carre said.

And labor unions, once custodians of good-paying jobs that didn't require a
college degree, have fewer offerings for high school graduates.

"The job prospects are diminished for young people who don't go to college,"
said Larry Dorman, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees Council 4, which represents more than 35,000
Connecticut workers. "The quality of jobs available has clearly deteriorated
over the last few decades. There are a lot of reasons for that -
outsourcing, privatization and union-busting.

"These are very difficult economic times, and they're going to be even more
difficult for young people without some sort of college education."

Against The Odds

America ought to be a place where people can get a decent job even if they
don't have a college degree, Dorman said. And against the odds, some high
school graduates have managed to do that.

"High school wasn't a good fit for me. I was kind of a wild child," said
Missy Franklin, 28, who manages the Starbucks at the Westin Copley Place
Hotel in Boston. "I wanted to see more of the world." Ten years after
graduating from high school, Franklin earns more than $42,000 a year.

"Honestly, a lot of my friends have come out of college and asked me for a
job," said Franklin, who started as a barista with the company in 1998.

Starbucks Corp. hires people with a high school degree or general
equivalency degree, said Jennifer Guebert, spokeswoman for Starbucks New
England.

Franklin said she received regular promotions, took advantage of the
company's training programs and now helps hire new employees.

"I'm in the interview process with a high school graduate right now,"
Franklin said, "and if his references check out, I'm planning to hire him."

Planning Early On

Some Connecticut students, such as Adam Travers, 18, began planning their
post-high school careers in middle school. At 14, Travers applied for
entrance to one of the state's 17 technical high schools, which offer
training in 38 trades or technologies. About 40 percent of graduates enter
college, an apprenticeship or trade school, said Thomas Murphy, a spokesman
for the technical highs.

Travers, who graduated Monday from Vinal Technical High School in Middletown
with a diploma and certificate in manufacturing technology, will start work
in two weeks. Standard Metals Inc. in Hartford hired him to assist the
manager of the company's smaller tool room.

"I'll be trained to manufacture parts and to be able to quote a price for a
part," Travers said. He expects to earn about $12 an hour to start.

"He'll learn on the fly," said Ken Rich, the company's general manager. An
experienced machinist can earn from $20 to $25 an hour, Rich said.

The state's technical high school system, which serves about 10,000
students, offers an academic program and certificate programs in plumbing,
heating and air conditioning, welding, the culinary arts and other trades.
But its growing popularity means it can't accommodate all those who want to
attend. While 6,515 applicants applied to the program last year, only 3,700
met the entrance requirements, Murphy said.

The program has room for about 2,900 freshman, who enter in ninth grade.
"We're right at capacity," Murphy said.

Some Options Remain

For those seeking an entry-level position, The Hartford Financial Services
Group's service operations and property & casualty claims organization
offers entry-level customer service and inside sales agent positions that
don't necessarily require a college degree, said Lauran Williamson, a
company spokeswoman. The company also offers an auto physical damage
processor trainee position.

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, one of the state's largest employers,
offers entry-level jobs in its retail, food service and security divisions.
Those jobs typically start at $8.86 an hour. Applicants must possess a high
school degree or GED. Applicants for jobs as card dealers aren't required to
have a high school degree, said Sam Agnello, a senior recruiter for the
company, but, they must successfully pass a math aptitude test to be
eligible for an interview and placement in dealers school, a course lasting
seven to 12 weeks.

Full-time dealers can earn up to about $17 hour, depending on their skills
and customer tips, Agnello said.

Jiffy Lube offers entry-level positions for high school graduates as
lubrication technicians, cashiers and customer service advisers.

It also trains new hires to perform preventive auto maintenance, said Kurt
Pederson of Jiffy Lube franchise Constitution Lube Inc., which has 12
service centers in Connecticut.

The retail and service industries are still places where people learn
through practice, Carre said. "The degree matters, but it's mostly that
these are industries where people demonstrate by doing," Carre said.

The food, health and retail sectors have a long tradition of hiring people
with high school degrees. But they, too, are undergoing change.

With more than 9,100 employees in Connecticut, Wal-Mart employs students and
people with or without high school or college degrees, said Steven Restivo,
a company spokesman.

"More than three-fourths of store managers started at Wal-Mart in hourly
positions," Restivo said. The average, full-time hourly wage is $10.50. An
employee who works 35 hours per week is considered full time, he said.

Stop & Shop Supermarket, with 83 stores in Connecticut, hires people who are
still in high school, said Robert Keane, a company spokesman. "Our business
works on a part-time basis," he said. Only about 20 percent of its workforce
consists of full-time employees.

"We do reward hard work - moving up in the company is certainly possible,"
Keane said.

A Difficult Transition

But many members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which
represents 13,500 Stop & Shop workers in Connecticut, say it has become
increasingly difficult to make the transition from part-time to full-time
employment.

"The rates of part-time we see in retail are 70 [percent] or 90 percent,"
Carre said.

And the path to promotion is less sure. Retailers are increasingly
recruiting managers with college degrees from outside the company instead of
promoting from within.

"There is a real difference between jobs you can hope to stay in and raise a
family and pay the mortgage, and the jobs high school graduates can expect
to see in the short term - the `parking jobs' - jobs where folks park for a
little while and then they move on," said Paul Filson, director of the state
council of the Service Employees International Union.

"There are a few jobs that high school grads can get into - janitors can
make anywhere from $10 to $15 an hour, depending on the contract. Health
care jobs are in demand, but once some folks start working in a nursing
home, they often go back to school to upgrade," Filson said.

"In any sector you need credentials. You need an actual associate degree.
That's pretty much the general picture," Carre said.

After a frustrating job-hunting experience, Harrison said he plans to attend
Manchester Community College this fall. "A high school degree doesn't do
anything."

"I want to be a police officer," he said, and he plans to study criminal
justice. In the meantime, Harrison hopes to obtain a position as a security
guard.

Harrison's cousin, Jahmar Davis, 18, just graduated from Windsor High
School. Davis said he's seen Harrison and other people armed with only a
high school diploma struggle to find a job. As a result, Davis said he plans
to start classes at Manchester Community College in the fall. Harrison
endorsed his plans.

"I would say go to college right out of high school," Harrison said, "then
you'll get out of college young and fresh."

Contact Janice Podsada at jpodsada at courant.com. 

Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant <http://www.courant.com/>  

   _____  

Janice M. Gruendel, Ph.D.
Governor's Senior Advisor on Early Childhood
Co-Chair, CT Early Childhood Education Cabinet
Senior Youth Consultant
Office for Workforce Competitiveness
Home office: 203-481-9940
Blackberry: 203-824-4766
Mail to: 28 Juniper Point
Branford, CT 06405

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself. But each of us can work
to change a small portion of events and in the total of those acts will be
written the history of this generation." Robert Kennedy

   _____  

See what's free at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503> . 

Wright Investors' Service
203-783-4400 1-800-232-0013

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ctvoices.org/pipermail/youth-list-ctvoices.org/attachments/20070619/f3fb7a87/attachment.htm 