Sacramento, CA – Un nuevo estudio del Centro sobre Educación y la Fuerza Laboral de la Universidad Georgetown (‘Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce’), en colaboración con JP Morgan Chase, muestra que los trabajadores sin un título de bachillerato todavía pueden conseguir un buen empleo, pero eventualmente necesitarán un grado de asociado o un certificado profesional para seguir adelante.

En California casi dos tercios de trabajadores no terminaron el bachillerato, de acuerdo a un revelador reporte recién dado a conocer – pero sólo 37 por ciento tiene un “buen trabajo”.

Los investigadores del Centro Georgetown en Educación y la Fuerza Laboral (‘Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce’) hicieron equipo con JP Morgan Chase para estudiar qué tipo de trabajos ayudan a desarrollar una clase media sólida, que se define como la que trabaja en empleos que pagan desde 35 mil dólares al año, con una media salarial de 55 mil.

Neil Ridley, Director Estatal de Iniciativa en el Centro Georgetown en Educación y la Fuerza Laboral (‘Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce’) y coautor del estudio, dice que desde 1991 un total de 34 estados, incluso California, han agregado trabajos buenos para empleados que no tienen terminado su grado de bachiller.

“Los buenos trabajos para empleados sin grado de bachiller han sido cada vez más para trabajadores con una educación más allá de ‘high school’; así que últimamente han sido sobre todo para trabajadores con grado de asociado.”

El estudio también encontró que California perdió 424 mil buenos trabajos en manufactura desde 1991, pero creó más que eso en servicios especializados como atención a la salud y en servicios financieros.

La investigación muestra que la lucha por agrandar la clase media depende de la habilidad de cada estado para armonizar las destrezas de la gente joven que está entrando a la fuerza laboral, con las crecientes necesidades de la industria.

Kathy Booth, investigadora asociada senior en WestEd, organización nacional sin fines de lucro y enfocada a los asuntos de educación, dice que ya no es suficiente trabajar duro y ser “bueno con las manos”; ahora todo mundo necesita poder dominar la tecnología.

“Ahora todo ese trabajo se hace por medio de programas de computadora. Así que no puedes tener alguien que sólo es bueno con el martillo o con la lija. De hecho tienen que poder programar digamos una computadora que corta formas complicadas en diversos materiales. Así que incluso cosas que pensamos que son ‘empleos de cuello azul’ realmente exigen que la gente tenga una educación más avanzada.”

Chauncy Lennon, titular de iniciativas laborales en JP Morgan Chase, dice que los bachilleratos deberían impulsar a sus estudiantes hacia campos que sean muy demandados y con sueldos altos desde sus edades tempranas.

“Los estudiantes podrían empezar a desarrollar las habilidades que necesitan a partir del 9º grado y podrían graduarse de “high-school” luego de haber hecho un programa de estudio relacionado con esas habilidades – y comprender qué caminos buenos existen para el mercado laboral o para algún tipo de opción post-secundaria en un colegio comunitario u otro tipo de capacitación.”

California ha estado invirtiendo cientos de millones de dólares en programas de aprendizaje, una estrategia de ganar-ganar diseñada para evitar que los estudiantes abandonen el colegio comunitario.

El reporte está en: GoodJobsData.org.


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Special state funding for mental health staff at Michigan public schools during the pandemic is ending this year, leaving schools scrambling to find ways to keep the professionals in the building.

The $240-million grant started in 2021, as students coped with challenges, from virtual learning and canceled sports to losing a loved one to COVID. Now, districts are seeking alternatives.

Diane Golzynski, deputy superintendent of business, health and library services for the Michigan Department of Education, said the options include a program known as the School Mental Health Apprenticeship Program to encourage people to choose mental health careers by giving them financial support.

"To pay folks who need to do their supervised practice internships in order to go into this field; it's to give them a small wage, so they can actually do that," Golzynski explained.

She pointed out districts can also apply for Medicaid matching funds for all their eligible work is eligible and use those dollars to keep mental health providers in schools.

Golzynski stressed the goal is to build a comprehensive school mental health system.

"We don't want to just put professionals in the schools, we want to put professionals in the schools that the schools need, because there's different types of professionals," Golzynski noted. "It might be a psychologist, it might be a counselor, it might a social worker, it might be a school nurse."

She emphasized her department is also working with the districts on how to best use their mental health staffers.

Critics might counter it is parents' responsibility to take care of their children's mental health needs. But Golzynski countered it is often in school where these issues are flagged or acknowledged.

"It's the schools partnering with the families to help support this child, so that the child can be the best learner possible," Golzynski asserted.

Golzynski added another school mental health funding program on the table offers a per-pupil allocation to each district.


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School districts around Washington and elsewhere may have celebrated School Lunch Hero Day on Friday, a salute to cafeteria workers - but food service employees are asking for more than just a pat on the back. They're asking for a wage that keeps up with inflation.

Washington State has about 6,500 school food service workers who make the average full-time equivalent of just over $54,000 a year.

Paul Buse-Bing is kitchen manager at Pine Lake Middle School in Sammamish.

"All the positions in the school district are important, and everybody works hard. But students who don't have a proper meal aren't getting nutritious food, then they're not capable of participating to their fullest extent in their school day. And so what we do is very important," he said.

This year, lawmakers denied a request from Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdahl to give paraeducators a $7/hour pay raise; in his re-election campaign he has said he intends to seek a more broad-based increase for classified workers next year.

Buse-Bing said as the cost of living has gone up, the relatively low wages are making it hard to find enough staff.

"We go through the school year a lot of times understaffed, and we don't have substitutes or other people to fill in when people get sick or go on vacation, and a lot has to do with the pay wage. Especially with the inflation," he added.

Many school districts say they are strapped for funding and need more state resources in order to
recruit and retain qualified workers.


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It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and there's some mixed news when it comes to how well South Dakota is compensating its teachers.

According to the National Education Association's annual Rankings and Estimates report, the national average teacher salary increased about 4% to nearly $70,000 a year between the 2021 and 2022 school years.

But adjusted for inflation, teachers still make 5% less than they did a decade ago.

President of the South Dakota Education Association Loren Paul noted that teachers there saw one of the highest salary increases across the country this year - a more than 5% jump.

"And the last three years, we've seen more than what is required by the state," said Paul. "So, hopefully we can continue that trend."

Despite the increase, South Dakota didn't shake its national salary rank of 49th, at just over $53,000.

The last time the South Dakota Legislature enacted a law to increase teacher pay was in 2016, when it raised the state's sales tax by $0.005.

South Dakota's highest ranking in the report of 27th was for its starting salary, which averages $43,000. Paul said that helps bring in new educators, but doesn't do much to retain them.

"Overall salary increases are tied to retention," said Paul, "and if you're losing them off the top faster than you can bring them in the bottom, raising the average is what's important, not just the starting salary."

He said teacher retention and shortages remain nationwide issues. North Dakota and Wyoming, which both rank higher, use state revenue from the fossil fuel industry to help pay teachers.