Career Education Update from DC

Republican Senator Proposes Last Minute Alternative To Auto Bailout Plan.
On its front page, the New York Times (12/12, A1, Herszenhorn, Sanger) reports, "In a last-ditch effort to revive a government rescue for the American auto industry, Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, was trying late Thursday to persuade Senate Democrats to back an alternate plan that would require steep concessions by the United Auto Workers union and by creditors to General Motors and Chrysler. The majority leader, Senator Harry Reid (D) of Nevada, said on the Senate floor at 5:20 p.m. that a negotiated deal based on Mr. Corker's proposal was the only hope for a $14 billion in emergency short-term loans for G.M. and Chrysler, which are in danger of financial collapse." The Times continues, "The prospects of the Senate approving the same auto rescue plan that was passed by the House on Wednesday night evaporated earlier in the day when the Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, gave a floor speech in which he sharply criticized the measure."

The AP (12/12) adds, "Sen. Chris Dodd (D) of Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee chairman, was the point man in the talks for Democrats, who count labor unions among their strongest political allies. ... Pushing to convert skeptics in both parties, Democrats agreed to drop at least one unrelated provision that threatened to sink the measure, a congressional official said. They were eliminating a pay raise for federal judges after Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) of Missouri, who represents an automobile manufacturing state, announced she would oppose the carmaker aid unless that provision was removed." Another AP (12/12) article also reports aspects of the story.

Automaker Supply Companies Share Concern Over Bailout. The New York Times (12/12, B1, Vlasic, Wayne) reports in a front-page story of its Business Day section, "With Congress struggling to agree on a bailout for Detroit, the odds that General Motors and Chrysler will be insolvent by year's end are growing rapidly." As a result, "the hypotheticals about the domino effect of the companies' troubles through the vast network of auto supplier firms -- which employ more than twice as many workers as the carmakers -- are becoming real." Many of the carmakers' suppliers "are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy themselves, and do not have the luxury of extending credit much longer. ... When suppliers big and small start failing, the flow of parts to every automaker in the country will be disrupted because as suppliers typically sell their products to both American and foreign brands with plants in the United States."

Career and Technical Education
Business Leaders In Maine Back Technical Education.
Dover, New Hampshire's Daily Democrat (12/11, Todd) reported, "The quest for an entirely new, innovative model for career and technical education in Maine continues to move forward and Sanford's proposal received a boost from area business leaders." According to the article, "the Vocational Education Study Committee -- which includes members from the Sanford Regional Vocational Center partner schools -- submitted its proposal for a new secondary school model to the State Board of Education on Nov. 26." The suggestion "included letters of support for the school from several area businesses," which "confirmed the need for such a school in southern Maine." The Daily Democrat noted, "Members of the Sanford School Committee have been discussing a new model for career and technical education for more than two years, but there were no provisions in the current system to create something different." Last "spring, however, the state legislature passed a resolution to support a new model for secondary and post-secondary school and directed the State Board of Education to seek proposals and select a model."

Community Foundation To Award More Than $1 Million In Scholarships.
The Simi Valley (CA) Acorn (12/12) reports, "The Ventura County (CA) Community Foundation (VCCF) is accepting applications for scholarships to be awarded to Ventura County students in 2009." The "scholarships are available to students studying agriculture, arts, business, education or teaching, engineering, math and sciences, and health-related majors. For the second year in a row, VCCF will provide more than $1 million." The Simi Valley Acorn notes, "Areas of interest include forgivable loans from the Medical Education Fund to nursing students intending to practice in Ventura County, as well as the Career and Technical Education Scholarship for students proceeding directly into the workforce who need career training at local [CTE] schools." The foundation "will also provide $5,000 scholarships per year for up to four years to students who are awarded the James C. Basile Scholarship."



Business Leaders Ask Students To Receive Career Counseling.
KFYR-TV (12/11) North Dakota, an NBC affiliate, reported, "Business leaders are asking college students to receive proper career counseling before starting a job search." Although "many schools offer career help...some counselors say students aren't aware of all job opportunities in the state, or they make career assumptions based on what they see on television." Kevin Allan, the director of career and testing at the University of Mary, said, "I encourage a lot of my students to go out and do something for themselves in terms of informational interviews, job shadowing, not necessarily that they're getting the wrong information, but being able to see things first hand for themselves in talking to professionals in careers that interest them."

California District Unveils Plan For CTE Program.
The Downey (CA) Patriot (12/12, Veneracion) reports, "At the beginning of the 2007-08 school year, a mandate was given by the Downey Unified School District's board of education to director Phil Davis' department of support programs/career and [technical] education to fully articulate its new Career and Technology (CTE) program's mission and strategy." The plan, delivered last month, includes "twelve significant goals" and sets forth "a three-year to five-year strategic plan to integrate career-technical education paths at the secondary schools." The program's "features include alignment with the State Plan and Perkins IV requirements...and counseling, professional development, accountability and evaluation supports." According to officials, the plan is designed to "prepare students for technical careers or college level classes with both technical and academic skills that will help them to adapt as industry needs and their fields change."

Technology Elective Introduces Middle Schoolers To STEM, Manufacturing Tasks.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (12/11, Iglar) reported on "Technology in Motion, a course that enhances the budding technology education program in South Fayette Middle School." The elective was created by Frank Kruth, a technology education teacher, "to introduce fifth-graders to high-level science and math concepts and let them apply the ideas by designing, assembling and optimizing the performance of miniature airplanes, cars and sailboats." Kruth explained that "the course promotes critical thinking and lays the foundation for regular academic material by getting students to apply a combination of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts." Kruth added that such "technology education replaces yesterday's wood shop." Although "the students sometimes use traditional hand tools to craft a gift for mom, they also use laptops to program robotic arms, giving them a taste of modern-day manufacturing tasks."

Students Turning To YouTube For Free Tutoring.
The AP (12/12, Madkour) reports that many students "are turning to" YouTube "for free tutoring in math, science and other complicated subjects." One of the website's video tutorials "on calculus integrals has been watched almost 50,000 times in the past year. Others on angular velocity and harmonic motion have gotten more than 10,000 views each." According to experts, "the videos are appealing for several reasons." Students can watch "the videos when they're ready to study and fully awake. ... And they can watch the videos as many times as they need until they understand." The article takes particular note of the videos created "by the not-for-profit Khan Academy," created by hedge fund manager Salman Kahn, who "takes a laid-back approach, focuses on a single concept and keeps the videos to a digestible 10 minutes." Educators warn that such videos are limited in their ability to teach, but add that they "would like to see math faculty incorporate some videos in their teaching, or recommend clips that have been vetted."

Regulation


New Rule Relaxes Mandate Under Wildlife Law.
The New York Times (12/12, A22, Barringer) reports, "The Interior Department on Thursday announced a rule that has largely freed federal agencies from their obligation to consult independent wildlife biologists before they build dams or highways or permit construction of transmission towers, housing developments or other projects that might harm federally protected wildlife." The regulation "lets the Army Corps of Engineers or the Federal Highway Administration in many cases rely on their own personnel in deciding what impact a project would have on a fish, bird, plant, animal or insect protected under the Endangered Species Act." Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said that, "without this rule...his decision last summer to list the polar bear as threatened because of the loss of sea ice caused by the warming of the climate could be used to block projects far from the bear's Arctic habitat." According to legal experts, "the change seemed intended to ensure that the protection of species like the polar bear would not impede development of coal-fired power plants or other federal actions that increased emissions of heat-trapping gases."

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune (12/12, Tankersley) adds, "conservation groups sued to block the new rules, reigniting a fight over so-called midnight regulation that had seemed to die down a day earlier when the administration declined to impose looser air pollution rules that environmentalists had feared." According to Janette Brimmer, an attorney with Earthjustice, "the administration was 'using global warming as a stalking horse to undo species protections on a broad scale.'"

Public Policy
California Adopts Plan To Cut Greenhouse Gases.
The New York Times (12/12, A27, Barringer) reports, "California regulators on Thursday adopted the country's first comprehensive plan for curbing emissions of heat-trapping gases. The plan establishes the broad outlines of a system of trading pollution permits and allocates among various industry sectors -- transportation, smokestack industries, housing and others -- the responsibility for cutting emissions to 1990 levels in the next 12 years." Additionally, "the plan...commits the state to a goal that many industries in California have resisted: auctioning all the pollution permits created under the new plan, rather than giving some away to the industries that produce emissions." But, the Times notes, "the California Air Resources Board, the agency that voted unanimously to adopt the plan, stopped short of setting a timetable for reaching that goal."

The AP (12/12, Young) adds that the board "approved the plan despite warnings it will put costly new burdens on businesses at a time when the economy is in extreme crisis, with California forecasting a staggering budget gap of $41.8 billion through mid-2010. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he believes the regulations will spur the state's economy and serve as a model for the rest of the country." Bloomberg News (12/12, Galante) and USA Today's (12/11) "On Deadline" blog also covered the story.

Columnist Outlines Policy Tools To Help Businesses Fight Downturn.
In a McClatchy (12/11) column, Stephanie A. Burns wrote that the US business community is looking "to the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama" for the right "tools" to fight the "unprecedented global economic slowdown." Burns continued, "There is no doubt as to our mutual burden -- clean up the financial mess; create jobs; address societal health, energy and environmental needs; invest in our communities; retain our international competitiveness; and return value to those who invest in us." Among the "tools," first, it is needed "a tax system that rewards and encourages investment in new technologies and new industries such as alternative energy and alternative transportation." Second, the country "needs to provide the help needed to train workers to meet the employment demands of this century." Referring to Michigan's experience when "proud industries and companies close factories and shed workers," Burns noted, "these productive citizens need help to transition to the jobs of the future," and "pointed to "a tool to help achieve this goal. The Green Jobs Workforce Investment Fund became law in 2007." Third, she concluded, "we must invest in and promote career and technical education."

Workforce
Automation Helps OEMs Increase Output Without Adding Workforce.
American Machinist (12/11) reported that machine tool OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) "struggle to get parts out the door faster and without having to increase labor." That is one of the reasons they "rely heavily on automation." For instance, "Haas Automation Inc. estimates it will produce 15,000 machine tools in 2008, after building 12,500 machines in 2007 and 10,082 machines in 2006. While its output increases from year to year to meet customer demand, Haas has kept its pace without adding significantly to its workforce." Only through automation, "Haas has increased its production nearly 50 percent by boosting process efficiency." Notably, "the company has invested nearly $20 million in robotics and other forms of automation. Now, with its facility already heavily automated, Haas continues to add automated production cells at the rate of about one per month."

OEM Fills Demand For Skilled Machinists Through Apprentice Program. American Machinist (12/11) reported, "Despite its extensive use of automation, Haas still needs skilled machinists," filling that demand "through the Haas Master Apprentice Program (HMAP), a 30-month course of hands-on structured training that turns out skilled machinists who have the flexibility to handle a variety of CNC equipment." According to American Machinist, "the 5,200-hour master apprentice program is intense and challenging. It covers programming, flexible manufacturing systems, 5-sided machining, vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes, prototyping, hydraulic fixturing and robotics." The company "views its entire high-tech Haas machine shop as the lab for its apprentice program."

Also in the News


Report Finds Little Future For All-Electric Cars.
The Financial Times (12/12, Betts, Jung-a) reports that the French "government commissioned months ago one of France's leading energy experts...to draw up a report to analyze all the options for building cleaner and more efficient mass-market cars by 2030." Although completed several months ago, "the government has continued to sit on it and seems reluctant to ever publish it." Sources say the report "concludes that there is not much future in the much vaunted developed of all electric-powered cars. Instead, it suggests that the traditional combustion engine powered by petrol, diesel, ethanol or new biofuels still offers the most realistic prospect of developing cleaner vehicles." The report "also argues that new-generation hybrid cars combining conventional engines with electric propulsion could provide an interesting future alternative." However, the report's "misgivings over the future of the electric car may explain why the French government appears to have spiked the report."

Students, Parents Asked To Take Survey About Technology In Instruction.
The Keller (TX) Citizen (12/12, Engelland) reports, "For the second year in a row, Keller school district officials are asking parents and students to take an online survey about their use of technology and the importance they place on technology in instruction." The district is "participating in NetDay Speak Up, a national online research project, to gather ideas and opinions on improving education and promoting 21st century skills." School officials "can share results with teachers to help them understand how students spend their time and determine different ways to deliver instruction." The project "is facilitated by Project Tomorrow, a nonprofit technology education organization," which will share "the results of the survey...in March with Congress and with members of President Barack Obama's administration."

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