Episode: 375

Episode Title: Are Students Going to Quit Too?

Across the country, teachers are thinking about quitting—but what if students are, too? Let’s talk about this concerning possibility, next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 375 show:

Hello and happy Friday on The Perna Syndicate! We’ve spent this week talking about the massive turnover and staffing challenges that the education system is dealing with. It’s about to blow up—and I want to call attention to another possible consequence of this crisis.

How long before students, unengaged in school and with no human connection there, realize that there are ways they can succeed without that diploma? The gig economy has a place for them. There’s always bitcoin. And no one will question their graduation status if they start their own business. 

Skills, rather than diplomas and degrees, are coming to the forefront in the hiring process. Amid our record talent shortage, employers are frantic for workers and are trying to entice them by any and all means: higher wages, sign-on bonuses, flexible work arrangements, and more. How long before they relax their requirements to hire workers with the ability to do the job, even if they don’t have a diploma?

This highly entrepreneurial generation is savvy enough to realize they can start making a living now—and worry about getting their GED later. If they don’t feel that human connection at school, they’re checking out, and not just mentally. 

This could happen in your community and in mine. Kids are kids—they don’t realize what it really means if they skip part of their education. We have got to forge a human connection with them so they see the relevance of school and how it will pay off for their future. And we’ve got to start now.

Next week on The Perna Syndicate, I’m sharing some short-term strategies we can start using immediately to help alleviate the education staffing crisis. Until then, take care!