Farley complained that “we don’t have trade schools anymore,” reports in avi zilber New York Post,
The Ford CEO’s grandfather was one of the company’s early employees, hired to work on the Model T. “We’re not investing in educating the next generation of people like my grandfather, who had nothing, who built a middle-class life and a future for his family,” Farley said.
Ford is spending $4 million on scholarships for auto technicians.
“Community college, career technology programs do a solid job in providing foundational training, but we often see that they become outdated when given how fast things are moving from a technology standpoint,” said Rich Garrity, board member of the National Association of Manufacturers.
He writes, “Today’s auto technicians work with computer software, advanced sensors, high-voltage systems and digital schematics.” “Servicing an electric vehicle Requires interpreting data flow, troubleshooting electronics, and following precise, multi-step instructions.” This is not the job of “grease monkeys.”
One of the nation’s top public universities, the University of California at San Diego, One in eight new students can’t do middle-school mathThey passed with increased grades: 25 percent of remedial math students earned straight A’s in high school math, and 20 percent passed calculus,
National test scores show that most students have weak reading and math skills. Pandisio writes, he cannot step back from a business-related job. They are not ready for this either.
Workers who have difficulty reading grade-level text cannot read complex technical manuals or clinical instructions. If they can’t handle middle-school math they can’t program high-tech machines or robotics, or operate the automated equipment found in modern factories and repair shops.
There are good jobs in America, writes Pondiscio. ,It lacks a K-12 system capable of preparing students to catch them up.”
Many years ago, when cars were much simpler, a high school shop teacher told me that few of his students had any chance of working as auto mechanics. “They can’t read the manual,” he said.
Companies are laying off white-collar workers, but there are also High Paying Opportunities in Skilled OccupationsMike Rowe tweeted. During a tour of a data center, he met young electricians who were “making over $200K per year. They get offers from the competition for ever-increasing salaries, because electricians are in great need, and their jobs are not threatened by robots or AI.”
Rowe is expanding its scholarship program for trade-school students.