Posted by: The federal government budgeted $62.6 billion in regular discretionary appropriations and $96.8 billion in discretionary funding for the Education Department for fiscal year 2009. That is a significant amount of taxpayer dollars to educate children, but still only a small fraction of the total spent when you consider that state and local governments are the ones truly on the hook for the financing and execution of the education of their young residents.
Without proper funding, the skills and abilities of the next generation of employees will be lacking and economic regions across the country will be unable to adequately fill the jobs that are available. What’s worse, new, expanding or relocating companies will see that the area’s workforce is unable to meet their needs and look to establish a presence elsewhere, whether it be in the US or abroad.
But with the sheer amount of money and resources being spent, how can local governments be sure that they’re getting the return that they’re hoping to get from their investment in education? Is it truly enough to invest in more books, teachers and schools?
Unfortunately, regardless of the amount of money that’s spent on education infrastructure and the amount of time poured into lesson plans and curriculum, an education system is only going to be successful if the children want to learn. In fact, President Obama addressed students this week and relayed a message that rested on twin pillars of his vision: there is great hope and great potential in America; but the fulfillment of that hope is dependent on hard work and taking personal responsibility.
For many students, school is nothing more than a right of passage. A burden to carry for the beginning of their lives, cast off at the soonest possible moment. Many students miss the bigger picture and overlook the fact that their education is in fact preparing them with the skills and abilities they will need to enter the workforce and pursue their dreams. Often, students need to be reminded of this, and to be told that their education comes at no small cost. They need to be reminded to make it count.
There are specific times in a student’s education when decisions need to be made that can significantly impact the direction that they will go professionally. Programs designed to help students make the best decisions, and subsequently make their educations truly count, are useful and offer beneficial ways to get students on the right path and making the most of the costly education they receive. A great example of these kinds of programs can be seen right here at Monster, where we run a program called Making It Count.
Making It Count is comprised of educational, mandatory presentations to high school and college students across the country. These engaging presentations, which are provided for free to schools, are delivered by the 200+ trained and certified speakers in four separate platforms. Approximately 10,000 of these live, interactive programs are held per year, reaching over 2 million students. Each program offers a road map that is tailored to the age of the students and their educational level, each helping the students as they goes through a transitional period in their lives.
The platforms include:
- Making High School Count (for high school freshmen)
- Making Your College Search Count (for high school juniors)
- Making College & Career Count (for high school seniors)
- Monster College Advantage (for first-year college students)
The Making It Count program is designed to inspire and teach students how to maximize their education and the opportunities available to them upon graduation. By illustrating to students how their education will help to prepare them for their career ahead, programs like Making It Count help to focus students on their goals and ensure that they’re making the most of the investment that their local governments are making in their education.
If your education system is teaching skills without teaching why those skills are so important, your education system is not getting you a good return on your education dollar.
Have you seen increased success (higher college acceptance rates, higher employment rates, higher starting salaries) by implementing programs like Making It Count? Write us a comment and let us know.
Wed, Sep 23, 2009
Education