The mid-20th century marked a golden age where a high school diploma in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago or Youngstown was a ticket to a manufacturing job with a living wage, first-class benefits, a house and college educations for the children.
As Thomas Friedman says in his January 25 NYT column: ”In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is over.”
From now on “the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves about above average,” Friedman writes. Click here for the full article.
As governments continue to hack away at public education budgets, Friedman’s article highlights yet another glaring example of the disconnect between our education investment needs and our education investment practices.
#1 by Wendy M. on January 29, 2012 - 10:39 am
Thomas Friedman is right. I question how well community colleges in particular are responding to training and retraining needs.