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Education Slowdown Threatens U.S. .
The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 25, 2012 | DAVID WESSEL And STEPHANIE BANCHERO

Posted on 04/25/2012 8:12:36 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

Throughout American history, almost every generation has had substantially more education than that of its parents.

That is no longer true.

When baby boomers born in 1955 reached age 30, they had about two years more schooling than their parents, according to Harvard University economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz, who have calculated the average years of schooling for native-born Americans back to 1876.

In contrast, when Americans born in 1980 turned 30 in 2010, they averaged about eight months more schooling than their parents.

This development already has broad ramifications across the U.S. job market: Those with only a high-school diploma had an 8% unemployment rate in March, roughly double that of college graduates, who had a 4.2% unemployment rate. Workers with bachelor's degrees earn 45% more in wages on average than those of demographically similar high-school graduates. And in today's highly automated factories, many manufacturers demand the equivalent of a community-college degree, even for entry level workers.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
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1 posted on 04/25/2012 8:12:39 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

In contrast, when Americans born in 1980 turned 30 in 2010, they averaged about eight months more schooling than their parents.

Why does the writer use time in school as a measure of education? The two are unrelated.


2 posted on 04/25/2012 8:18:03 PM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: freedomfiter2

What about the quality of the educated individual? Are students of today better educated? I think not (generally).


3 posted on 04/25/2012 8:22:38 PM PDT by umgud (No Rats, No Rino's)
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To: freedomfiter2

Liberals destroy EVERYTHING they touch.

American education, was one of the first.

For some reason, our side has not deemed it important to take that back from liberals. So the damage continues every. Single. Day.

Full speed.


4 posted on 04/25/2012 8:24:34 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (Obama ate his own dog as a child in Indonesia??)
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To: freedomfiter2

That’s because you’re not thinking like a tenured school teacher or professor. I spent more time uneducating freshly minted electrical engineers than anything else. I would tell them your real education began when you hit the shop floor. I was amazed at how little knowledge the had of even basic electronics, or ac and dc theory for that matter.


5 posted on 04/25/2012 8:26:24 PM PDT by factoryrat (e are the producers, the creators. Grow it, mine it, build it.)
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To: freedomfiter2

Not only that, but if an ever-lengthening time spent in school is desirable, then the authors’ ideal, I guess, would be a generation of people who aren’t ready to enter the workforce until retirement age.

At some point, it has to slow down.


6 posted on 04/25/2012 8:28:38 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (See my FR homepage for a list of businesses that support WI Gov. Scott Walker)
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To: factoryrat
"I spent more time uneducating freshly minted electrical engineers than anything else. I would tell them your real education began when you hit the shop floor. I was amazed at how little knowledge the had of even basic electronics, or ac and dc theory for that matter."

The newer crops are learning even less, IMHO. There are some bright stars, but the increasing sense of entitlement, more than anything, makes my jaw drag on the floor.

The really galling thing is how they speak so loudly about how much they know about things when it is evident they know nothing. Works great for Power Point presentations but when it comes to actual knowledge and execution it leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, that ignorance is often covered up by work being assigned to those who know how to tell the time of day. And those folks are increasingly looking for Galt's Gulch.

7 posted on 04/25/2012 8:37:51 PM PDT by Tench_Coxe
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To: freedomfiter2

“Why does the writer use time in school as a measure of education?”

There is data available based on time in school. Tough to comprehend, I know.


8 posted on 04/25/2012 9:27:01 PM PDT by Rembrandt (.. AND the donkey you rode in on.)
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To: freedomfiter2

“Why does the writer use time in school as a measure of education? The two are unrelated.”

It amazes me that today’s students, with almost limitless resources and money available to them, are becoming tomorrow’s functionally illiterate adults. I work with a Chinese guy who can’t believe it either. He has a Masters from a US university. Where he grew up in China, they didn’t even have BOOKS for students or a LIBRARY.


9 posted on 04/25/2012 10:06:19 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: MinorityRepublican

It is a function of demographics and immigration. By 2019 half of the children 18 and under will be minorities as defined by the USG. Hispanics and blacks have the highest school drop out rates. Do the math.


10 posted on 04/25/2012 10:18:52 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Tench_Coxe

“The newer crops are learning even less, IMHO. There are some bright stars, but the increasing sense of entitlement, more than anything, makes my jaw drag on the floor.”

There actually ARE still smart and/or hard-working kids, but I think that they are fewer in proportion.

There won’t be enough IMO.


11 posted on 04/25/2012 10:24:11 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: Rembrandt

“There is data available based on time in school. Tough to comprehend, I know.”

When there are few inarguable datasets (in this case, time and milestones), then those MUST therefore be the ones that are meaningful - right? :)


12 posted on 04/25/2012 10:29:03 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: MinorityRepublican

It is not the years a student studies but what the student learns. Eight years of education in 1885 imparted more knowledge and reasoning/logic that a Doctorate today. I make this statement based upon a personal collection of school texts from the period.


13 posted on 04/26/2012 4:02:58 AM PDT by Lion Den Dan
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To: MinorityRepublican

My sons who are both highly intelligent have no use for the garbage being spouted as “education” in today’s institutions which exist for the aggrandizement and enrichment of the “professors”


14 posted on 04/26/2012 6:22:19 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: The Antiyuppie

“When there are few inarguable datasets (in this case, time and milestones), then those MUST therefore be the ones that are meaningful - right?”

There are NO inarguable datasets. Time and milestones are not datasets. Measurements, frequencies, etc. are datasets and those are always arguable - right? :)


15 posted on 04/26/2012 7:31:18 PM PDT by Rembrandt
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