Tech Directions - December 2008 - (Page 6)

direct from washington Anne C. Lewis anneclewis@earthlink.net Greener Pathways Green is growing everywhere as if a new economy built on green jobs had sprung like spring grass after a rain. All of a sudden, the rhetoric of political campaigns and the forecasts of economists and workforce experts are converging to make the green economy as forceful a driver for change as the technology revolution of two decades ago. In addition to the Association for Career and Technical Education’s issue brief on how CTE can play a role in educating and preparing students for green jobs, a number of efforts have begun, mostly at the state level, to generate interest in investing in a green economy. Greener Pathways, for example, is a joint report of several groups that points out that middle-skill workers from traditional occupations will build and sustain the jobs opening up in a green economy. It is labor force workers with more than high school but less than a four-year degree who will be the mainstay of the new economy, the report says. To create such a workforce, policies need to use several key principles: • Get smarter about green jobs. Don’t let enthusiasm get ahead of careful thinking, and develop a focus that can be built on gradually. This means targeting speciﬁc sectors within the green jobs area, use good data on labor market opportunities and skill gaps, and measure and evaluate green jobs programs. • Sustain good jobs through green partnerships. To do this, employ energy standards as green job creation tools, promote green industry clusters, design green jobs initiatives to both save existing jobs and create new ones, link green economic and workforce development, construct green industry partnerships, and integrate green jobs initiatives into existing workforce systems. • Make sure green jobs pay off for workers and communities by requiring that community beneﬁts be maximized, building greener career pathways, and extending green ladders to help workers move out of poverty. The report stresses that more time should be spent embedding green skills training within current curricula and less energy should be spent on inventing new programs. Retroﬁtting our cities, for example, “requires not ‘green construction workers,’ but rather workers with traditional construction skills who also have up-to-date training on energy-efﬁcient construction.” Greener Pathways was produced by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, the Workforce Alliance, and the Apollo Alliance. In October, in the middle of the ﬁnancial meltdown, the Apollo Alliance launched a national economic strategy to make speciﬁc investments in a clean energy future. It called for investing $500 billion over 10 years in clean energy projects, beginning its campaign in six states (California, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington). The New Apollo Program lists very speciﬁc job creations in each state over the 10 years, ranging from nearly 500,000 new jobs in California to 44,000 permanent, new jobs in Oregon. The Apollo Alliance began its policy work four years ago with a report, New Energy for America, that proposed tax credits and investments to create millions of better jobs, while reducing dependence on foreign oil and cleaning the air. Through its coalitions in 10 states and four cities, it has helped to gain renewable energy standards, build retroﬁt programs, create clean energy funds, and support green-collar job training programs. It is supported by businesses, unions, community and environmental groups, and energy associations. Another group, the Blue Green Alliance, was started in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club. Focusing on six states (Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin), it promotes investments in clean energy and green chemistry for job expansion, including fuel-efﬁcient vehicles and green building. One of its programs is Green for All, an advocacy effort to create a green economy directly beneﬁting low-income communities. Exit Exams The phenomenon of high school exit exams has sort of crept up on students across the country, but it is no small policy. By 2012, when 26 states will have instituted high school exit exam requirements, about 74 percent of high school students will be affected. The Center on Education Policy has been documenting the growth of exit exams for seven years, and its 2008 report includes a section on the use of an even faster-growing development within the exit exam ﬁeld —the end-of-course exams. At least 14 states are using them or planning to use them. The Center’s interviews with state education ofﬁcials, however, revealed some fuzzy answers as to the use of the end-of-course exams, especially as a measure of employment readiness. Few of the state or local school ofﬁcials interviewed linked the endof-course exams to employment readiness. Among those, they spoke of the potential use of the exams rather than their current use. As one district ofﬁcial said: “As we evolve as a country and we lose some of the manufacturing jobs, there may be some job opportunities where you would have to demonstrate proﬁciency in mechanical drawing or architectural drawing or some level of chemistry without needing a full college diploma. I almost think that they would look towards associate degrees and commuAnne Lewis, one of the country’s most respected writers on education policy, works in the Washington, DC, area. 6 techdirections ◆ DECEMBER 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech Directions - December 2008

Tech Directions - December 2008 Contents Advertisers Index Technically Speaking Direct from Washington The Report Technology Today Technology’s Past Mastering Computers Digital Portfolios—Powerful Marketing Tool for Communication Students Choosing the Right CC Welding Unit—Student Success Depends on It Think Green—Increasing Awareness of Garbage and Recycling Think Green—Teach Students Smart Ways to Reduce Home Energy Use Go International! Build a Simplified Shortwave Receiver Mooresville Middle School Snags Web Site of the Month Gifts for Geeks More than Fun

Tech Directions - December 2008

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