Corporations complain that Americans aren't skilled, amongst other reasons...

[Deja Q]

So why hasn't any stimulus money gone to re-educate us and make us competitive again? 21st century global competitiveness, right?

President Obama has stressed rather a lot of things, but if we want the American economy, which he has said is interlinked with the global economy, to succeed, what needs to be done to make us viable again?

Other countries' governments pay for education as well.

I will be more than happy to be patient, but isn't there a single, defined outline? Not just... political rhetoric, please forgive me?

[SoCalNative]

1. Don't you know that an educated populace is a dangerous populace?

Can't have the people who work for you being too edumacated!

[Deja Q]

3. Yet it's been said people in other countries are getting educated for really great prices...

Subsidized by their governments...

I know that, in China, Microsoft sells legal copies of Windows and Office for... $3. So I'm inclined to take at face value any comment suggesting that someone in another country could get higher education and a solid degree for only $500.

If education is such a bad thing...

I cannot accept your viewpoint.

[OhioChick]

15. I've worked with H-1B's from many countries

Over the course of my 15+ year career. The most recent person was a lady from India. We got to talking about education and she said that she couldn't believe the tuition of American colleges. She said that back in India, she paid $300.00 (Yes, that's three hundred dollars) total for her degree with books and supplies included.

[sandnsea]

2. It did

Pay better attention. Go read the stimulus if you really want to know.

[Deja Q]

4. Why not provide an incentive, show me the official link?

I'm serious enough to go read it. Time is money, you must know where it is because you must've read it.

[sandnsea]

5. Oh my gosh. Where could it be. Oh yeah, whitehouse.gov!!! n/t

[Deja Q]

8. No, the full link.

I guessed "whitehouse.gov", but unless it's on the front page in big blue letters... I've got time to read it, but I don't have time to find it.

Prove you're serious and show me the full, direct, one-click link. I'll prove my own seriousness and read every last word.

Thank you.

[Make7]

14. Full link:

http://fdsys.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr1ENR/pdf/BILLS-111hr1ENR.pdf
 

[Make7]

7. Let me Google that for you...

http://www.letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=the+final+stimulus+bill
 

[Deja Q]

9. Thanks, but sandnsea was conversing with me - thanks all the same.

[glowing]

6. bullshit, they just refuse to pay the wages American's with skills require

to pay back their mighty student loans or the healthcare ins. plans and benefits that they require. Its all a bunch of b.s... when 80% of the graduates from college are NOT working in their degreed professions, then its the corporations that are refusing to hire the many degreed, trained, and qualified Americans. There are youtube videos of HR firm meetings that teach how to NOT hire Americans.. that then allows them to use H-1b visa persons.

[OhioChick]

10. Bingo! n/t

[Deja Q]

11. Great post, thank you. And more:

The Education Scam

[FormerDittoHead]

16. We have a winner!

I've heard this one myself about us not being 'skilled'...

I recall studying managerial accounting (for internal use) in college in the nineties. Example after example of problems we were learning dealt with MANUFACTURING. EVEN THEN it was accepted that the texts were outdated because there was no manufacturing growth in the US. We were told that future texts would have more service business oriented problems....

[droidamus2]

12. Right,

It is not the Americans aren't skilled its that they actually expect to get paid a living wage for their work. Its not about skills it is about how much management has to pay for labor. Notice I said 'labor' not people because many managers do their best to not see their workers as people but simply as a cost. There are a lot of companies that don't make any attempt to keep their workers up to date on what they need to know to perform their jobs. I worked for a company that went from an in-house programming staff to a pre-packaged software system and rather than train the existing staff, some who had been with the company well over 10 years (including me), they hired a bunch of young kids for cheap and laid off most of the programmers and a lot of the hardware people. Yes, it was cheaper to hire the young kids but they had highly experienced people that could have been a real asset in bringing the new system on line that were basically ignored or forced out of the company.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. Because apparently stripping is recession-proof? n/t

[Igel]

17. I saw a really nifty diagram a few months ago.

It looked at employers' needs and graduation rates for HS, vocational schools, community college, 4-year colleges, and advanced degrees.

We overproduced for 4-year degrees, but not by a great deal. We were doing ok for advanced degrees--in terms of numbers, even if the fields covered didn't match up quite right. Too many humanities and social science majors and not enough of the right engineering and science majors.

When it came to jobs requiring vocational training for a 2-year degree we vastly underproduced graduates. There was a large demand, when the chart was made, for skilled workers.

When it came to jobs requiring a HS diploma, we had far too many applicants. An oversupply of unskilled workers. We also "overproduced" people without a HS degree for the jobs that employers claimed didn't require one, but I seem to lack a way of distinguishing HS-diplomaed unskilled workers from HS-dropout unskilled workers.

Now, community college isn't just horribly expensive; neither are most vocational programs, and if they're accredited you get to write off part of the expenses when you do your taxes. Yet the jobs lack prestige. And what can be said for the people who count on having a job not requiring a HS diploma yet quit school?