I was with some people in

Submitted by Jim Kilkenny (not verified) on May 4, 2007 - 07:19.

I was with some people in Iowa a number of years ago. They were saying then that the walls between business and the corporate world and education were down and we needed each other. Students in alternative schools and high schools were not focused on post-secondary transitions, and really college was being looked down on for the majority of the students.

Today we speak of business taking over. What did we do? What do we as educators continue to do?

Today we look at more and more disruptions in our classroom from tests and surveys and other means to data base and profile our students. Who sees it and what is it for? We say that education matters. Does it? I say through middle school matters, but we no longer offer college preparation and technology education in any meaningfull way, so how does secondary school matter to students? It matters to businesses that want to go cheap on pretraining for employment in current jobs at current salary and wages. Problem is we used to teach for what may be ten twenty years in the future. We abdicate to vouchers and charters. We are fearfull that we are expendable and at the same time relish our expendability by constantly considering retirement.
Face it, given the state of everything in our country and the world, the majority of jobs are not going to come from current corporations. Those groups are going to face backlashes for giving up on the very citizens that made them rich and famous. How famous will BP be when there is no oil in the ground? What’s with the notion that gas prices are up to 3+ to 4 dollars a gallon when there is a glut of fuel oil? Oh, yeah, the refineries aren’t up to speed. Haven’t been for the past decade. Sounds like shoddy workmanship. Who has a better idea? Get going I can feel an oil company going out of business.
Just seems something we used to have, skepticism has faded, and we are too willing to buy some other person’s story as fact. Is my story fact? Find out look see, touch feel, listen hear, smell nose around, and get a taste of the future for yourself.
If dead end career education fits our needs, go for it.

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