SKILLED WORKERS NEEDED

Editor's Note: As we reach the end of this century, statistics show that workers with more than a high-school diploma but less than a four-year degree are in more demand than ever before. In a three-part series, the Southeast Missourian will address where we are in vocational-technical education.

Headlines from across the nation have vital information for parents and their work force-bound children.

In September, the Wall Street Journal ran an article subtitled "Job Paradox: Manufacturers Decry a Major Shortage of Workers While Rejecting Many as Too Unskilled."

In October, the Miami Herald subtitled an article with "High-tech jobs, shortcut schools -- B.A. won't buy careers of the future."

In November, a St. Louis Post Dispatch headline screamed "Machine Shops Can't Find People To Fill Many New Openings."

They all have the same, simple message: Get two years of technical training, get a good job.

According to a Stanford University study of job trends, four out of five careers for the Millennium Generation -- people graduating from high school around the year 2000 -- will be technical. They will do things like microcomputer servicing, laboratory research support and video production.

And the salaries will be competitive. Even today, a slightly skilled factory worker hired to operate equipment at the DANA Corporation -- an auto parts manufacturer in Cape Girardeau -- makes more money after one year than many starting elementary school teachers.

"We found there weren't many people around here with a full range of mechanical skills," said Pat Hagan, a plant trainer for DANA. "And recently Caterpillar didn't come here because of the shortage of trained people."

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education defines vocational-technical schools as educational programs offering courses to prepare students for jobs not requiring baccalaureate or advanced degrees. Vo-techs are available to most Missouri high-school students -- if there isn't one associated with their school, they're transported to another school for a few hours each day.

Still, students flock to area four-year universities for baccalaureate degrees. The majority drop out before graduation. Others graduate to find a job market oversaturated with people in their fields. For others, a four-year degree, master's degree or doctorate hold the key to a successful, well-paying career.

Area community and education leaders want parents to at least look at the vocational-technical option for their children. It's tough to convince mothers and fathers, they say, because nobody believes his child isn't university material.

There's also a stigma about vocational-technical schools that administrators can't seem to shake, said Gerald Jackson, director of vocational and adult education for Sikeston Public Schools.

"You don't mess with the American dream," he said. "And that's to get your kids through college to get a degree."

He said a common belief among parents and educators is that if a student can handle college-preparatory material in high school, he should take it. Jackson believes a technical education should be considered just as desirable.

"The only way I know to remove the stigma will be for vo-tech programs to be state-of-the-art," he said. "We have to prove to the public that the skills we teach are marketable."

Attitudes toward vocational and technical educations already are changing in some areas. At New Madrid County Central, 93 percent of students take some sort of vocational class during high school -- everything from applied physics to typing to computerized accounting.

Having all the high-school classes under one roof instead of sending the vo-tech students to another building helped the program, according to Bill Glaus, director of vocational and adult education at NMCC. Also, he began cutting some of the three-hour blocks common to vo-tech schools into hour-long classes.

"We could put 100 percent of our machine technology graduates to work," Glaus said. "And Trinity Barge Company in Caruthersville needs hundreds of welders. We just had a class go down there to tour the plant and listen to a job recruiter."

No matter what selling points for vo-tech are mentioned, when money talks, people listen. Harold Tilley, director of vocational and adult education for Cape Girardeau Public Schools, said it will be the higher salaries awarded people with two-year degrees that truly change society's attitude.

"When you start talking dollars and cents, people start listening to you," he said. "It's a fact that 80 percent of jobs require more than high-school but less than a four-year degree.

"I'm not saying a college degree isn't good, but it isn't for everyone."

TOMORROW: What Southeast Missouri has to offer in technical education.