Wednesday, August 9, 2017

No, You CAN'T Tech That to the Bank

Remember that recent talk about Port Angeles becoming a tech town?

Ray Chirayath, treasurer for United Way of Clallam County, said the United Way recently found that more than 7,000 working-age people in the area lack even a GED, a general educational development certificate, or a higher degree.

He said the United Way is working to find ways to motivate people to earn their GEDs and increase their earning potential.

Uh, wow. Given the low population of Clallam County, and given that we're only talking about "working age" people, that 7,000 seems like a really high percentage of the overall population. And am I correct when I read this and think he's lumping a high school diploma in with "higher degrees"? I mean, why else would you zero right in on those without GEDs?

And in this day and age - year 2017 in the 21st century, the future! - is it really reasonable to tell people that all they need to do to "increase their earning potential" is to get a GED? How about telling them not to drop out of school in the first place? How about leveling with them that 99% of jobs that pay decently will likely require at least  a passing (literally) familiarity with college?

Without an honest to goodness, large-scale ramping up in quality of the local workforce - including getting more education - the only "technology" anyone from Clallam County will be working with will be a state of the art deep fat fryer...

 
And yes, by all means, check out Clallam County's drop out ranking...Clallam County is number two, and we all know what number two is...
 


23 comments:

  1. Wow! That really is a stunning number. It really does explain why the area is as it is. It really explains why we have the steady stream of events that make our heads spin, and creates fodder for comment here.

    "Stupid, and proud of it".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Way too late to the discourse party, Mr. Chirayath. And in Calllam County, the party's over. Desperation, poverty and apathy are a few of the adjectives which will continue to reign supreme. Because the area is run by idiots, for idiots. Even the retired don't give a crap about the kids.

    So just HOW do you propose to change the culture of ignorance?
    Even amongst the "degreed", it's just common core BS.

    Here's a hint: start by running the visionless controlling mob out of town.
    The existence of this blog stands for the sound notion that nothing will change until you get rid of the crooks and liars, and open up to smart people with ideas. Oh wait, this is Clallam County, where the perps run them out of town!

    In all fairness, education is indeed a vitally important subject. So why doesn't United Way instead study the effects of local white collar criminal corruption on a county struggling with unfunded education issues?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your idea of a study.

      It's just too bad that such a thing is an impossibility. It would be a valuable, revealing project, with results that would be applicable/of use elsewhere, I am sure.

      Delete
  3. GEDs...Come on! Still stuck in the mill mentality, only now there aren't any mills. Why is it that people here can't let go of the past? It's so self-destructive. Drop out, deal drugs, have kids (not necessarily in that order) and wait for a job at the mill.

    Only, to repeat, there aren't any mills here anymore. They closed, and so did your minds.

    Pathetic. GEDs? This isn't 1960 anymore, or even 1980. Get real.

    ReplyDelete
  4. United Way of Clallam County

    Let that phrase marinate a bit and savor the thought of Clallam County United ...

    Beyond that how would they know what the education level is in the county?

    It could be true and would certainly explain the chronically unemployed. At some point we all become forgetful or less competent in skills we do not use frequently.

    Some may have forgotten basic skills such as math and science. Others may have forgotten numbers, letters, and perhaps colors.

    Cognitive skills deteriorate and many are beyond reclamation. Those in such a state could become part of a living museum of what can happen.

    This museum would attract attention and visitors world-wide. Intellectual studies on the causes would change our thinking about responsibility and accountability.

    I am no Eisenstein but I believe setting up a 501c3 to solicit grants and donations is in order and could be lucrative. Our 501c3 will be called "Pennies for Sgr Schultz" with the exhibit hall will be the "LightUp the Lincoln".

    Please contact our board to make you tax deductible donation to our board today.

    Mathyou Rainman - president
    Scott Noggle - artisan.
    Colon MacLeer - blower of whistle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could we convince you to change that to "Blight Up the Lincoln"? If you can do that, I will donate, and in fact, give until it hurts.

      Delete
  5. Can we at least insist that Cherie Kidd get her GED before she leaves the city council?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can we be sure that Cherie Kidd can even spell G-E-D?

      Delete
  6. G E D
    Get
    Educated
    Dummy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G E D
      Gonna
      Elect
      Downie

      And we see the "results"...

      Delete
  7. Problem here is that, even those without GEDs who could conceivable fill entry level jobs, still cannot do so because they can't pass the drug tests. There are unfilled jobs because we don't have a hireable employee base.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sixty percent of Clallam residents aged 25-44 have had "some" college, according to the dataset for 2011-2015, published by the county in the state health rankings a few months ago. That puts Clallam 22nd in a field of 39 counties, and not far from the national average of 64%.

    So what's your point?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My point, and thanks for asking, is that the recent talk of Port Angeles somehow blossoming into a tech town (or tech hub, or tech anything) is easily identified as a laughable fantasy when paired with actual facts.

      I'm guessing most communities that draw tech people and/or businesses have a MUCH higher percentage of people who have gone to college, MUCH more to offer culturally, and (per the comment above yours) much LESS of a drug problem than does Port Angeles.

      And, if you think that ranking 22nd out of 39 counties isn't bad...Well, that's your opinion, but mathematically, it doesn't look good for Clallam County. There's win, place or show...And then there's just plain slow.

      Delete
    2. @Anon 7:31 You say: "That puts Clallam 22nd in a field of 39 counties, and not far from the national average of 64%.

      So what's your point?"

      Gee, I don't know! Everything is SO GREAT in Port Angeles, clearly there is no problem.

      Oh! I remember, it is the people who point out the problems, that are the problem. Yes, there is that effort to run anyone who doesn't play along with the "It's another GREAT DAY in Port Angeles" mantra, out of town.

      Have that picture of the three monkeys on your wall? "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil"?

      Delete
    3. The point is that you can take your statistics and shove it. Just take a good hard look around. It is simply demented to keep wishing, touting, and pretending that Clallam County, and specifically PA, can cater to tech. As but one example why, PA and its insiders (still employed, of course) allowed a few cronies to skim off the fiber optic grid project and leave it dark, forever. The city wireless is a joke, and cable internet is already maxed out.

      Your inference that education in Clallam isn't that bad a stumbling block is like saying that the money-laundering CRTC caters to aerospace. Gimme a break.

      The powers that be in Clallam have no interest in any industry that brings in outsiders. They are a band of hardened crooks with their dirty little fingers in every deal. Progress can only begin by stopping the crime spree. But you'll never do that, will you Clallam? No, you only tout "tech" as a set-up for more tax and grant money that you can skim and give to your consultant cronies. (Livin' the high-life these days Mr. Gase?). Because that's all you know, and all you want to know.

      Delete
  9. So do you think anyone of the 7,000 isn't already lying and saying they graduated high school? Employers are not checking your diploma, high schools are not verifying, this is silliness.

    A GED is only beneficial for admission to Junior college.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Everyday, Port Angeles demonstrates to the world what a great place it is.

    And we see that every day, as hundreds of people get off the Coho ferry, and head out of town as fast as possible.

    Because the locals are willing to accept such poor leadership, they end up with "Garbage in, garbage out". Voting in garbage results in garbage decisions, garbage policies, and a garbage community.

    Not many thoughtful people will put up with living in garbage. Or make plans to invest in a garbage community.

    We see the truth of this as thoughtful people move away after trying to help make Port Angeles a better place, and find out the locals don't want change. We see the truth of this everyday, on highway 101, as people drive away from Port Angeles at first chance.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A very on-topic headline appearing on KONP today: "A Port Angeles man was arrested after a moped chase through part of town."

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is the stunner, CK, the "cohort drop out rates" as reported to the feds. We're number two!!!

    https://data.wa.gov/Education/High-School-Dropout-Statistics-by-County-2012-2013/5bq2-8q2k/data

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow! Thanks for the info, and for the link. I've the link to the posting above, for easy access.

    It's pretty stunning. The only thing that is more stunning is that no one in authority in Clallam County seems to want to talk about it, or do anything about it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I would be interested in hearing whether there's any hope that Peninsula College could make a difference in this town. I wish I'd stumbled across this blog before I took a job there and uprooted my family for a cross-country move. No one in the area talks about the college. Ever. And no one on campus talks about the area except to devise ways to drive up enrollment. It seems like such a natural partner in so many things but there's no connection with the community on campus, and no connection to the campus within the community. I believe in the power of higher education to lift communities up, but Port Angeles is straining that belief...

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    Replies
    1. I'm sorry, too. This blog is, among other things, intended as a warning to people who might be considering moving to Port Angeles. I am so sorry.

      Sigh...

      Delete
    2. This subject might be worthy of its own thread. The juxtaposition of an accredited college sited in a town defined by its own virulent anti-intellectualism.

      Young adults from diverse backgrounds, trying hard to make a better life through education, and obviously seeking to improve themselves with worldly studies.

      Whereas PA, run by a self-appointed mob of natural resource extraction thugs, steadfast in their cognitive dissonance, and almost as scamming backwater as Louisiana, but without the French flair.

      Could there be a starcker contrast?

      Delete