Well, it’s Friday the thirteenth, and right now, when it comes to higher education, Michigan is pretty unlucky.
Unlucky, that is, in the fact that there is a dangerous and growing education gap between Michigan and the states we are competing with for jobs and businesses. And we are near the absolute bottom of all states when it comes to the percentage of young adults between 26 and 34 who have bachelor’s degrees. There’s a historical reason for this. Back in the day when American cars dominated the globe, you didn’t need an education to get a good job that guaranteed a middle-class lifestyle in Michigan. Those days are gone now, gone forever. But too many of us haven’t figured that out.
We know most of what we know about what’s wrong with higher education in Michigan – and what we need to do about it – thanks to the report issued a year ago by the Lt. Governor’s Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth.
To his credit, Lt. Gov. John Cherry didn’t want a report that was too bland. His report makes it clear that unless something changes, we may soon be competing mostly with rundown Appalachia, where they at least have coal mines.
Not only are we doing poorly at getting people through college, somewhere between a quarter and a third of students never even finish high school. That means they have no hope of a decent, well-paying life in the future, not legally, anyway.
The report has been out for a year. How are we doing with fixing education in Michigan? Cherry is fairly upbeat, which is nice. Except I think he is way too upbeat. Problem is, he and Governor Jennifer Granholm are running for re-election. They have to try to put a good face on things.
In truth, the progress is all too gradual, and in many school districts, non-existent. The Cherry Commission report may be the single best thing this administration has done. But it can’t sit on the shelf.
Every farmer knows that if you don’t water the seedlings, you won’t have a crop. If we don’t give our young people an education, we won’t have an economy. Whenever our country is attacked, we always launch a crash program to build up a war machine.
This struggle is more important. Incidentally, the front-line casualties are the thousands who are emerging from schools these days with essentially no employable skills.
Someone is going to have to support them somehow. When it comes to fixing the schools, we really have no time to waste.
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