Entry- and midlevel jobs at companies like IBM, Microsoft, Verison, and Cisco require high school diplomas, but not quite bachelor's. According to TIME Magazine writer Rana Foroohar in These Schools Mean Business, 70% of college students at four-year colleges don't finish their degrees, which leaves big name companies with, "hundreds of unfilled slots for middle-level workers."What do these corporations to do solve this problem? They create Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, or P-Tech schools. One was launched this past September in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where the students, "will graduate with not only a high school diploma but an associate's degree," says Foroohar. Each P-Tech student receives an IBM mentor starting on their first day of this open-admission public school.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to set up five STEM schools, in which the core curriculum focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math, that are to be partnered with the four companies listed above in order to produce a more 'job-ready' graduate population.
Is this going to help Chicago Public School students graduate and get jobs? According to Yasmin Rammohan of Chicago Tonight in 2011, 40% of CPS students drop out. However, many Crown Heights 9th and 10th graders have already met the City College admission requirements, and are likely to complete the associate's program two years earlier than expected, says Foroohar.
So yes, P-Tech and STEM schools are likely to give more college graduates midlevel jobs right after graduation. But the only jobs these graduates have available to them is at companies such as IBM, where the companies' intention is to keep them for as long as possible. There is much less room for students at these high schools to be creative and express themselves via the arts and exploring other personal interests.
I'm curious as to how much the graduates of these schools will enjoy their jobs after ten years at a company like Microsoft, when they've been raised like cattle to be perfect job candidates for companies desperate for middle-class workers and have the training and education for nothing else.
This morning I actually read the same article and I had similar doubts. Although the STEM schools have created a unique solution, I worry that because the STEM schools lead its students down such a direct (in this case science-oriented) path, the STEM school is spoiling the purpose of a high school education: an exploration. In my mind, high schools should present it's students to a wide array subjects so that student's can discover independently what areas spark their interest. I believe college is then the time to further those passions. The problem with these STEM schools is that the passion chosen--before you know if the subject is (or is not) your passion.
ReplyDeleteClaire,
ReplyDeleteA thoughtful post! I've been following this issue, too. It seems to me to parallel the military schools (such as those in Chgo.). I'm worried that public schools are abdicating their job to educate broadly and allowing outside companies to dictate curriculum Here I only wish you had analyzed the text you linked to.