Sad but true: Despite an unemployment rate of 8 percent, thousands of jobs are going unfilled in New York because there are not enough qualified workers to fill them.
This so-called skills gap is a major result of an educational system that is failing to provide many of our children the skills they need to succeed.
Consider this: more than 1 in 4 teenagers entering New York high schools this fall will likely not graduate on time. And perhaps even worse, 22 percent of New York residents 16 and older lack the literacy skills necessary to perform simple and everyday literacy activities. At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, by 2018, nearly two thirds of all jobs in New York will require postsecondary education - which means the skills gap is likely to grow even wider over the next decade.
As the President of the Melville Chamber of Commerce, I hear about these problems all the time. New York employers not only see deficiencies among new employees in reading, writing and math, they also see deficiencies in the increasingly important soft skills - collaboration, communication and the ability to think critically.
In 2010, at the height of the recession, 90 percent of 2,000 executives surveyed nationwide said these enhanced soft skills are important to support business expansion, but less than half of them rated their employees as above average in those skills.
As a result, the U.S. is losing its competitive edge in the global marketplace. We've already fallen from first in college completion rates to 14th out of 26 countries. And maintaining a middle-of-the-pack ranking is not how America's economy stays on top.
So, how do we close the skills gap and ensure a strong future workforce that will protect our competitive edge?
We must start educating our children earlier and we must do it better.
Research confirms that the basic architecture of the brain is developed during the first three to five years of life - a process that is critical to developing fundamental skills that later translate into higher brain function and academic skills.
According to one long-term study, children enrolled in a high quality early education program were 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school than similar children who did not participate. They also had a 36 percent increase in earnings as adults - which means greater spending power and contribution to the tax base that New York can use.
Findings from the study of another program found participants were 74 percent more likely to hold a skilled job by age 21 than their peers who did not attend -- and were then 2.5 times more likely by the same age to be enrolled in a four-year college or university.
Governor Cuomo has established regional economic development councils to work with him to strengthen our state's economy. Quality early learning programs should rise to the top, with particular emphasis on "quality," as a critical component of strategic economic development. Key to the solid outcomes for New York businesses and our economy is that children are participating in programs with essential features such as skilled teachers, small staff-to-child ratios, and small, age-appropriate class sizes.
The way to ensure consistent quality in early learning programs across the state is through implementation of the QUALITYstarsNY, the quality rating improvement system for early learning programs in New York. That system will allow parents to compare the early learning options available in their communities in an apples-to-apples way by ensuring that, the same measures of quality are being applied throughout the state.
It's quite simple: High quality early care and education is important in laying the foundation for a skilled workforce in the future. Support early education now, and we will reap the economic benefits in the future.
For more information please contact the Melville Chamber of Commerce at info@melvillechamber.org or call the Melville Chamber of Commerce office at 631- 777-6260 or visit the Chamber website at www.melvillechamber.org.
Best regards,
Michael DeLuise
President
Melville Chamber of Commerce
