Are We Doing Our Job?

In 1973 there were 91 million people in the workforce.  Of those 91 million people, 32% were high school dropouts and 40% were high school graduates.  Over 70% of the workforce in 1973 had only a high school diploma or less.

By 2018, the workforce will be 166 million and 10% will be high school dropouts and 28% will be high school graduates.

By 2018, 62% of the jobs will require at least some college.

To put that another way, of the 162 million jobs available in 2018, 103 million of them will require education beyond high school.

Some may argue that a high school diploma or less would still get you a job.  But of those jobs available with a high school diploma or less, only 68% are full-time, full-year jobs.

Who is the workforce in 2018?  This year's 5th graders are the graduating class of 2018.  The high school graduating class of 2018 needs to understand that they will need an education beyond high school to be competitive and to be successful.

Put another way, in 1970 60% of high school graduates and 46% of high school dropouts could look forward to living a middle class lifestyle.  In 2007, only 45% of high school graduates and 33% of high school dropouts could look forward to living a middle class lifestyle.  The percentages in the years to come of people with a high school diploma or less who will live a middle class lifestyle will continue to decline.

Are we preparing the students in our school district to be competitive and successful?

(This information came from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University.)