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Friday, June 15, 2012

What if the "Skilled Worker Shortage" is a Myth? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

What if the "Skilled Worker Shortage" is a Myth? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

What if the "Skilled Worker Shortage" is a Myth?



Follow me on Twitter at @AnthonyCody
One of the fundamental precepts of the school "reform" movement is that the students of today are not ready for college or the workplace. This then is one of the reasons the US has lost its competitive edge, and even is to blame for unemployment rates, because our "job creators" have millions of jobs that are unfilled, and our graduates are simply unprepared for these positions. People like David Brooks call this a "structural issue."
Maybe not.
This week there are two separate reports, one from the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, and the other from a professor at the Wharton School of Business, that raise some big questions about the idea that we have a shortage of skilled workers.

Matthew O'Brien at The Atlantic reviewed a study by the Fed in Chicago, and notes that data tracking labor