The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) held a forum last month to discuss the need to prepare California’s future workforce and the critical role higher education will play in this need. As part of the forum, Hans Johnson, the associate Director of Research for PPIC presented his research which indicates that by 2025, 41 percent of the jobs in California will require a bachelor’s degree – but only 35 percent of California adults will have one based on prior patterns (and before recent budget cuts). His report showed that this gap poses a serious threat to the state’s economic future and to the quality of life of its residents. Closing the gap will require serious and sustained effort, even as the state navigates perilous economic and fiscal challenges.

The forum consisted of two panels, one of which focused on what California’s workforce needs will be in the future and the second brought together leaders from education, government, business, and the nonprofit sector to explore ways to help state residents succeed in California’s increasingly high-skilled economy.

The first panel comprised of Assembly member Warren Furutani, Chair, Assembly Select Committee on Career Technical Education and Workforce Development; Assembly member Michael Duvall, Member, Assembly Select Committee on Career Technical Education and Workforce Development; Loren Kaye, President, California Foundation for Commerce and Education; and Marshall (Mike) Smith, Senior Counselor, United States Department of Education. For the most part this panel focused on the issue of career technology as being an important factor in workforce preparation per remarks from Assembly member Furutani and Assembly member Duvall. Assembly member Furutani suggested that California should be looking at education in a reverse light, with the focus being on what are the needs of California’s economy and then create students to fill that need.

Additionally they also focused their attention on the high school exit exam and its impact on preparing students for college level courses. Mr. Kaye raised his concern over the legislature proposing to eliminate the exam, stating that he believed that it improved the way students were learning regardless of the fact that the CSU and CCC are not seeing an increase in students prepared for college level courses.

Lastly, the panel took time to discuss their opinion on the length of time it takes to achieve a college degree and high school diploma, presenting a unique idea of reducing the number years it takes to earn a college degree by one year. Or perhaps reducing the time it takes to graduate high schools, allowing students to focus on either a trade or college.

The second panel was composed of Mark Yudof the President of the University of California, Jack Scott the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and Roberta Achtenberg, Trustee for the California State University.

Trustee Achtenberg stressed the need for high school students to be prepared for both the workforce and college, which is becoming more and more the same thing. She noted that the CSU spends too much time and money dealing with remediation of high school students for math and English and by working to get them prepared will ultimately ensure the students success both in college and in their future career. Additionally, she noted that the state still needs to make financial aid a priority for our students so they have the support they need to complete college.

Chancellor Scott stated “that (the state) couldn’t have a Swedish level of services on Mississippi taxes,” and that higher education is going to need resources to close this gap that is expected in 2025. He noted that if we continue to strip education as we are doing so now, then we will pay a high price in 2025. President Yudof also noted that California needs to reinvest in higher education if it wants to prepare for 2025. Chancellor Scott expressed his concerns with the continuous cuts to higher education, and how that will translate into not being able to serve the students that the state expects each higher education segment to serve. He was quoted as saying “that at some point we can’t do more with less, the soup just becomes too thin.” Chancellor Scott went on to state that he believes California’s future is still bright, but that we need to keep investing in our intellectual capital in order to save ourselves. Trustee Achtenberg agreed with his statement and concluded that not investing in higher education would lead to a permanent state of depression for California.

The forum provided an overall prospective from many invested individuals and organizations on what needs to be done in order to meet this gap by 2025 and how the state, higher education and K-12 education can work together to make this happen. For more information on the study or for a full copy of the report please visit the PPIC website.