Educators, Businesses Need to Collaborate on Job Skills

This article originally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Four minutes separate Oakland Technical High School from Children's Hospital. In the bustling Temescal District, high school students and hospital employees head out for lunch. As they brush past each other on Telegraph Avenue, in front of help-wanted signs and dilapidated storefronts, it may not occur to them, but together they could be a solution to a mutual problem: matching workers to available jobs.

Beyond the arguments typically dominating the education reform debate is the simple fact that students are not being set up to participate in today's changing economy. The 9 million jobs that have disappeared since the 2007-09 recession have given rise to a do-it-yourself economy that encourages entrepreneurship but also casts doubt on the value of a high school diploma. While 83 percent of Oakland Tech seniors graduated in 2012, less than half of all Oakland graduates enroll in college at a time when youth unemployment is already at a historical national high.

Rather than providing students skills that have real currency in today's labor market and preparing them for gainful employment, accountability provisions in the federal No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top funding program have focused on increasing short-term gains that measure success or failure of schools. With a hyper focus on basic reading and math skills that has yet to lead to high academic performance, isn't it time to purge these reforms? ...

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