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It is from this background of support for our public schools that I find myself concerned about the value, or rather lack thereof, for a Pennsylvania high school diploma today.
As an employer who still has room for good quality high school graduates, and I believe I speak for other employers as well, I no longer have any idea what a high school diploma really means. But I do know what I need in terms of basic skills in the high school graduates I hire, and I know what I'm not always getting.
For example, a secretary we hired, based in part on good recommendations from her high school teachers, did not know state abbreviations used by the Postal Service. She also had never learned the proper use of synonyms such as their/ there/they're, or to/too/two. Every letter she wrote had to be proofread by someone else in the office, a tremendous waste of time and resources.
We also need students who can multiply and divide by fractions, something we very rarely find among today's high school graduates. Yet this is the most basic math we use. Our employees must also understand the difference between metric and English weights and measures. Unfortunately, this is something we must spend time and money teaching most of our new hires.
In fact, we must spend much more time and money on remedial training for high school graduates compared with 20 years ago. At the same time, my travels to other countries, especially those once considered third world, increasingly alarm me when I see how much these nations have closed the gap in the education and training of their young people - the young people staffing my competitors.
We must return to the days when a high school diploma meant the holder was heading to college or to the workplace with a grasp of the basic skills needed to succeed at the next level. No doubt those basic skills have changed significantly over the past couple of decades, but our schools have not all kept up.
This is why we must have rigorous graduation requirements at all of our Pennsylvania high schools, and we must have consistent assessments to assure all of our high schools meet these requirements.
The proposed Keystone Exams would provide a meaningful assessment of graduating students' mastery of the basics in English, math and science at the conclusion of their high school courses in these subjects. Students not passing these tests would need to take remedial courses at school before receiving a diploma. This plan would allow local districts to develop their own graduation assessments, as long as they met the state requirements, helping preserve local control.
In 2007, roughly two of five Pennsylvania high school graduates did not meet state standards in reading, writing, or math, yet still received diplomas. Fully one-third of Pennsylvania high school graduates enrolling at community college or state-owned universities must now take at least one remedial course, at a cost to taxpayers of $26 million a year. What it is costing industries such as Bradford Energy to provide on the job remediation is beyond calculation.
What is clear is the need for solid, statewide graduation requirements. I believe we have a moral obligation to make sure our students are ready for post secondary education or the workforce. How can we as parents and community leaders of today do anything less? The future of our young people, our businesses, our communities, and our state depends on it.
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C. Alan Walker is president/CEO of Bradford Energy Co. of Bigler and associated coal and contracting firms. He was previously employed by E.I. DuPont. Born in 1944, he is a 1962 graduate of Clearfield High School and holds degrees from Penn State and Bucknell universities. He is a past chairman of the board of the Pennsylvania Coal Association. He has won numerous awards for service to Boy Scouts, business, education, the community. He is married to Judith Huffman Walker. They have two children, Derek Alan and Courtney Judith.
