More Chinese Exchange Students? WHY?!

[Luis Gonzalez]

More Chinese Exchange Students? WHY?!
The Last Wire

The United States is facing a critical near-term shortage of STEM talent. AI, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and the power sector all require workers with highly specialized skills—but the domestic pipeline is failing to meet demand. Even with aggressive investments in education and workforce training, it will take years for American students to catch up. Meanwhile, industries cannot wait. Will carefully vetted international STEM students provide a practical solution?

Understanding the Domestic Talent Shortage

For decades, U.S. education has struggled to produce sufficient numbers of highly skilled STEM graduates:

• K–12 performance stagnation: National assessments show flat or declining math and reading scores over 25 years.
• Teacher workforce constraints: Compensation and career progression in public education lag behind private sector alternatives, discouraging top talent.
• COVID-era disruptions:
  
  • School closures caused 3–5 months of learning loss in math, 1–3 months in reading (McKinsey, 2021)
  • Low-income students were disproportionately affected, widening achievement gaps.

Higher education limitations: Even after college, the number of STEM graduates entering the workforce is insufficient, and attrition from rigorous programs further reduces supply.

Industries cannot wait 5–10 years for domestic remediation to produce sufficient graduates.

Continue reading at The Last Wire.

[Cyber Liberty]

Too many College students are eschewing STEM majors because High Schools failed to prepare them, or it's "too difficult."

[Luis Gonzalez]

Too many College students are eschewing STEM majors because High Schools failed to prepare them, or it's "too difficult."

To get degrees in Humanities.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Too many entry-level tech jobs are being filled with H1-B Visa's.

Too many seats in State universities are being given to illegal immigrants instead of to poor white male citizens and to poor black male citizens.

Plus, it's about the money.  Foreign students pay full tuition.  Higher education is a business.

[libertybele]

Too much time is spent preparing students to pass what is on the standardized tests instead of getting back to teaching students and giving them a well rounded education so that they are well prepared to pass the tests.

[berdie]

Too much time is spent preparing students to pass what is on the standardized tests instead of getting back to teaching students and giving them a well rounded education so that they are well prepared to pass the tests.

I agree. I have a couple of teachers in my family. They get angry that just "teaching the test" has been set for their goal...not teaching the 3 Rs. Or history, geography, civics, etc. It's a disappointment to them and detrimental for the students.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Mass introduced standardized testing in the 1990s after universities and businesses complained that too many high school "graduates" were functionally illiterate.  The State had to take over a couple of the worst underperforming school districts, which were primarily poor and minority.

Mass got rid of the MCAS requirement for high school graduation.  Now, public school teachers and administrators can go back to underserving poor and minority communities, and get back to day drinking.

There needs to be an empirical measures of student performance to hold teachers, administrators, unions, politicians, and parents accountable for public education system performance.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Mass introduced standardized testing in the 1990s after universities and businesses complained that too many high school "graduates" were functionally illiterate.  The State had to take over a couple of the worst underperforming school districts, which were primarily poor and minority.

Mass got rid of the MCAS requirement for high school graduation.  Now, public school teachers and administrators can go back to underserving poor and minority communities, and get back to day drinking.

There needs to be an empirical measures of student performance to hold teachers, administrators, unions, politicians, and parents accountable for public education system performance.

Day drinking is the heart and soul of public education in the US.

[Smokin Joe]

Let them steal plans for stuff that look good but will never work. It helped bring down the Soviet Union when they got plans for gas compressors that didn't work...

[Luis Gonzalez]

Let them steal plans for stuff that look good but will never work. It helped bring down the Soviet Union when they got plans for gas compressors that didn't work...

Old joke.

Q: What did Communists use to light the night with before candles?
A: Light bulbs.