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Show Experts say scarce college technology grads maynot fill skills gap left by retiring boomers BY FREDREKA SCHOUTEN GANNETT NEWSSERVICE, WASHINGTON Educa- tion Secretary Rod Paige ap- peared somber as federal officials unveiled dismal test results this year: Despite a decade of school reforms, less than one-third of America’s fourthgraders testedcould readproficiently at gradelevel. “These results are not good enough,” Paige declared. “Not in America. Otherrecenteducation news seems equally grim: An inter- national math and science study showed our “We graduatefewer andfewer engineers every year. We graduate fewer high school kids who understand any science and math. I don’t see how that can be anything other than a ticking time bomb.” 1999 International mean : 521 ) 1995 International mean : 519 eighth- graders rank somewhere near Latvia on their math perfor- CRAIG BARRETT Intel Corp. president and CEO mance, behind their peers in ing college freshmenare so far behind that they must take remedial courses. And a report released earlier this year by a ‘ blue ribbon panel described our weak science and math preparation as a leading national security problem. But if our education system is so dismal, how did the United States achieve unprecedented skills needed in this information economy will make it muchharder for workers with-earn a living. High school graduates, on average, earned $506 a week in 2000, down from $529 in 1980, governmentfigures show even with the numbers adjusted for inflation. And experts say the skills gap could grow even worse economic prosperity during the past decade? For starters, experts say, when millions of baby boomers think scale, Singapore eighthgraders lead the world in math cans with atleast somecolleve education will be older than 59 performance in recent tests, and produce a very good engineer because he'll be competing against four of ours.” In addition, the U.S. economy is more nimble than olreaucracy-laden systems. in nany Asian and European countries, where economists say heavy regulation thwarts innovation and productivity. But education policy experts and business executives insist those competitive advantages will notlast long. “You can't have the leasteducated work force and have the highest standard ofliving,” said Intel Corp. President and CEOCraig Barrett. “We graduate fewer and fewer engineers every year. We graduate fewer high school kids who understand any:science and math. “I don’t see how that can be anything other than a ticking time bomb.” Already, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Finland and Russia boast higher percentages of young adults with science and engineering degrees. And for the first time, four other countries — Britain, Finland, the Netherlands and New Zealan have si America’s college graduation ra te. At the sametime, the nature of work is changing. Just ask Tracy Koon, now director ofcorporate affairs for computer-chip giant Intel. Whenshe joined the company 18 years ago, even high school dropouts could find work there as entry-level factory operators. “They were repetitive jobs that required facility with your hands more than anything else,” Koon said. Thatjobtitle does not even exist anymore at Intel. Today's new entry-level post: a technician with a twoyear degree in applied science and the mathematical skills to monitor chip-making equipment that costs millions of Forecasters say technical retire. By 2020, 46 million Ameri- poised for retirement, Carnevale predicted.Ifcurrent patterns hold, another 49 million adults with some college will take their place —a gain of 3 million. But the jobs requiring college-educated workers will 1999 International mean : 521 1995International meah : 518 grow by about 15 million — creating a shortfallofatleast 12 million workers over the next two decades,hesaid. “We're seeing the very beginning of employers starting to panic about their ability to find skilled workers,” Carnevale'said. To close the gap, U.S. companies increasingly turn to talentfrom abroad. The information sector has just 5 million work- ers, but generated about onethird of the nation’s economic growth in thelate 1990s,said B. Lindsay Lowell of the Pew Hispanic Center. And a whopping 20 percent of those workers were foreign born. Industry demandforforeign talentis so great that Congress has increased dramatically the number of temporary employ- ment visas that immigration officials can grant foreigners with specialized skills. The numberof these visas shot up to 195,000 last year, from just 48,600 in 1992. Manyofthe dire predictions about the future ofU.S. science and math education find their roots in the influential Third International Mathematics and Science Study, which showed US. 12th-graders ranking near the bottom of a 23-nation comparison. But somescholars, such as Iris Rotberg, a research professor of education policy .at George Washington University, said the comparison is flawed, in part, because students taking the tests in countries outside the United States ranked among their nations’ million to give $7,500-a-year sti- pends to math and science majors who agree to teach those subjects for least two years. “This is a national security issue,” said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., who pushed for the funds. “Our test scores are just not good enough to maintain our pre-eminent place in the world marketplace.” ReSeeoSeaeAeae S we PLATINUM" Sp e SP ONE“Exclusively TIME ONLYSALE f ours” ~ One vacuum > cleaneris iS proven to stand 4 ae between deadly RS ¥ fine particles your Ae andlungs Compare at $199.95, save 35% model #30-092.075 £129.99 Sy er FILTER - POWER NOZZLE- ELECTRIC HOSE = BIGGEST SAVINGS ON MIELE, EVER! 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Se By contrast, the pool of U.S. students tested came from the general population of high schoolseniors. ‘The report's implications — along with industry's growing reliance on foreign labor — is helping drive U.S. education 2001 WorkdwideAwardforExcellence from CompTIA & Novell Very natural appearance 7'” feet tall, 69 inches wide, 1567 tips : a‘Gs 2 but the country has fewer people than Louisiana. “We're four times as big as anybody,” said Anthony Carnevale, an economist with the Educational Testing Service, who has studied the link between the economy and education. “In Britain, they better | out postsecondary degrees to EyAeYongSo other developed countries. Nearly one-third of incom- SMITH-CROWN CO. 20045 South 1100 East (801) Tie Clean burning and fragrant “soft pour” with zinc wick |
