Again, A Failed Model

Twenty years ago, our K-12 system talked a lot about preparing students to be “college and career ready.” The thought back then was kids needed to have strong reading, writing, and problem-solving abilities no matter what path they were pursuing – college or a trade.

The sad news today is that our traditional public education system has failed at both – preparing kids for college or the workforce. Too many kids aren’t ready for either.

Two articles caught my eye recently that discuss this predicament. One was written by Robert Pondiscio and appeared in the New York Post back in November.

Pondiscio writes,

“Ford CEO Jim Farley turned heads this week when he revealed the company has 5,000 vacant mechanic positions – jobs that pay twice the salary of the average American – and yet he still can’t find enough qualified applicants.”

“The problem, he said, is ‘we don’t have trade schools anymore.’”

“He’s right about the opportunities, but wrong about trade schools.”

Pondiscio concludes his opinion piece by writing this:

“Whether students enter apprenticeships, community college, or straight into the workforce, they all need the same baseline skills: the ability to read technical material, understand measurement and precision, and work comfortably with increasingly digital tools.”

“Too many graduate high school without these basics.”

“To be clear, career and technical education (CTE) is a comparative bright spot in the K-12 landscape.”

“Students who take CTE courses have better employment outcomes, higher wages, and stronger long-term prospects.”

“Students and parents alike like CTE because it leads to real jobs; employers value it because it aligns education with the labor market.”

“But even the best CTE programs cannot compensate for weak academic preparation.”

“Workers who struggle to read grade-level text cannot read complicated technical manuals or diagnostic 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.”

“Right now they can’t.”

“As of 2024, only 27% of U.S. public school eighth graders reached proficiency in math on the Nation’s Report Card.”

“That is not a workforce-ready pipeline, it is a warning.”

“If three-quarters of today’s graduates can’t read or do math at a middle school level, the millions of jobs Farley is desperate to fill – in automotive technology, advanced manufacturing, construction, aviation maintenance, and beyond – will remain out of their reach forever.”

“America does not lack good jobs.”

“It lacks a K-12 system capable of preparing students to seize them.”

“Until that changes, companies like Ford will continue offering excellent wages for essential work – and continue struggling to find anyone academically or technically ready to do it.”

Just today, EducationWeek posted an article titled “Give Students Meaningful, Work-Oriented Leaarning, U.S. Executives Say.” Here are excerpts from several top executives addressing what schools need to do to better prepare our kids to enter the workforce:

“There’s no replacement for hands-on learning or the chance to obtain advice, training, and knowledge from those doing the work on a daily basis, whether they’re in the lab, the office, or out in the field.” – Bryan Quick, Director of Talent Acquisition at Abbott, a global health care company.

“Technical and vocational training, work-based learning, digital literacy up-skilling and financial education are all key to unlocking opportunity for younger workers.” – Brandee McHale, Head of Community Investing at Citi and President of the Citi Foundation.

“To close the growing gap in workplace readiness, we need to rethink high school offerings. Experiences that center around solving real-world problems encourage students to ask, ‘What is the problem and what do I need to know to solve it?’” – Laura Slover, Managing Director of Skills for the Future at ETS, a global education and talent solutions organization.

“Real-world experience is essential. Integrating AI into the classroom with guidance from educators is helping provide students with digital and creative problem-solving skills that will help them thrive in future careers.” – Deirdre Quarnstrom, Vice President of Education at Microsoft.

But if you’ve read ABPTL over the past several years, you will already know what’s coming, but here it is anyway:

Our current K-12 system, as it’s built today, can’t do any of what the U.S. executives above are advising at scale.

Our K-12 system doesn’t provide hands-on learning at scale.

Our K-12 system doesn’t provide work-based learning, digital literacy up-skilling, and financial education at scale.

Our K-12 system doesn’t help kids answer, “What is the problem and what do I need to know to solve it?” at scale.

And, regarding artificial intelligence, there are as many school districts banning it these days as there are districts trying to figure out how to use it to improve teaching and learning.

Earlier this week, I wrote about a failed system. Can anyone read what I shared above and not think that America possesses exactly that when it comes to achieving exemplary reading, writing, and problem-solving performance throughout our K-12 system?

Earlier today I thought that it would be easy to offer a daily example of why our K-12 system is failing so many kids and why it can’t be fixed fast enough. Maybe that’s what ABPTL should focus on for 2026?

Til tomorrow. SVB