The talks around education reform are placing a spotlight on America losing its competitive edge by the lack of human capital. 

There is this interesting book that I am reading called, “The 2010 Meltdown. Solving the Impending Job Crisis.”  The author, Edward Gordon, makes some interesting assertions in his book regarding human capital and finding talent in a global market. He purports that the businesses in the United States are not prepared for the next generation of technology-based products and services because of the lack of skilled workers.  And he highlights that businesses have started collaborating with schools and nonprofits to broaden the network of human capital development by investing in the early stages of education and business development programs.

The rise in high school dropout rates and decline in the number of people going to college is playing a role in an uneducated workforce equipped with the skills, knowledge and abilities to contribute to the American economy.

Less than 25% of students graduating from high school are going to college.  The dropout rate for high school remains study.  And, in impoverished communities, these numbers are nearly doubled.

Many philanthropists, such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, and Mark Zuckerberg are investing billions of dollars in education to boost the competitiveness of our youth and to give our youth a chance to succeed. They understand that they are helping to build a human capital pool for our economy that is ready for ingenuity and competitiveness for the global economy.

In addition, their investments in education are preventing poverty.  They have set the bar by saying that poverty does not equate to low academic achievement, low performance, and low expectations.  This value is giving synergy to an educational system that has persistently under-invested in quality education for poverty-stricken schools and has created low-skilled workers.

Taking from  Mr. Gordon’s wisdom, we have to build our talent pool by reinventing education to employment systems.