There are other issues besides inflation, crime and abortion

Oregon leaders should explore policies to rethink public high schools, intervene with angry young men and prepare workers for the digital transformation

Campaigns this fall focused on homelessness, crime, inflation and access to reproductive health. Other concerning issues were left in the political shadows – high school dropouts, angry young males and a transforming workplace.

Addressing these issues in meaningful ways will have long-term impacts for individuals, communities and the national economy. This column offers suggestions for turning potential dropouts into engaged learners, preventing radicalized young men from becoming mass murderers and preparing workers for the digital transformation. Tomorrow, Mark Hester will examine three other under-emphasized issues that are important to Oregon.

Rethinking public high schools
Public education was discussed in campaigns as a culture war battlefield and an institution failing to do its job. Conservatives railed at critical race theory, transgender sports participation and parental rights to decide on curricula. Liberals focused on addressing inadequate teacher pay, inequitable school facilities and preventing the diversion of public funds to private religious schools.

In Oregon, debate centered on holding schools accountable for the $1 billion per year generated by the Student Success Act to expand preschool access and make targeted investments in K-12 schools, including smaller class sizes.

Lost in the rhetoric were declining public school enrollments, lagging proficiency test scores and alarming high school dropout rates. A recent study reported 47 percent of high school dropouts say attending class wasn’t worth their time. That suggests it’s time to rethink how high schools are structured and students learn.

For example, the XQ Institute champions redesigning high schools around engaged learning strategies, smart use of technology and involvement in community partnerships. The Institute is working with 23 communities across America (none in the Pacific Northwest) to test locally controlled models that put greater trust in experiential learning, caring relationships and student responsibility to lift up underperforming high schools.

The idea is to encourage community-centered innovation. What works for Cedar Rapids, Iowa, may not work for Woodburn, Oregon. The product of innovation is not a model high school; it’s on-the-ground experience to convince underachievers and potential dropouts that secondary education is relevant and worth their effort.

In4All, the successor organization to the Business-Education Compact in Oregon, has developed a student engagement model that starts in elementary school and continues through high school and aims at sparking interest in math and science among historically underserved student populations. The nonprofit promotes project-centered learning in middle school and is piloting programs in alternative high schools that center on career exploration and community projects.

Oregon education leaders should join and Oregon political leaders should encourage determined efforts to rethink public high schools, especially low-performing high schools. We don’t have to have the answers; we just need to be willing to look for them.

Intervening with troubled young men
Sensible gun regulation and red flag laws will help curb gun violence and suicides, while not triggering a war over the Second Amendment. But a more human-scale response is needed – identifying and intervening with troubled young men disconnected from love who can turn into violent killers.

Violent crimes aren’t limited to young men, but they represent a significant majority of mass shooters in the United States. Since 1966, over 40 percent of the 196 shooters who killed more than four people were between the ages of 18 and 29. A third of the shooters were between 30 and 45. Only five shooters were women.

This challenge extends beyond bolstering behavioral health systems. It requires an eyes-on approach for the tell-tale signs of alienation, isolation and radicalization, reinforced by hateful online disinformation.

These signs can show in high school but may not fully reveal until later in young adulthood. The part of the brain that controls impulses and plans and organizes behavior continues to develop into the mid-twenties. Brain evolution occurs as parental controls fall away and young men carve their own path of synthesizing information. Experiences at this stage of development can have hyper-influence and lead to violent behavior toward others and themselves.

Looking for warning signs, especially in a society that values personal freedom and privacy, can be problematic, but not impossible. Sharp changes in behavior and dress, disturbing social media posts and abrupt mood swings can be observed by family members and friends who pay attention. Interventions may be unpleasant or unwanted, but they can be the difference between a disturbed young man seeking life-saving therapy as opposed to a life-ending gun.

Here's a link to learn more about avenues of intervention.

Educating for the technological revolution
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t science fiction. It is a marketable commodity that already exists in e-commerce, education, navigation, robotics, human resources, healthcare, gaming, automobiles, social media, content creation and agriculture.

That shift will affect offices, factories, small businesses and professions. The fear of AI replacing workers may be overblown. But the reality of AI revolutionizing jobs and professions is not.

Digital transformation will touch every workplace and most occupations as businesses integrate technologies that drive fundamental change affecting production, business models and workplace cultures. Worker skills required will change fundamentally as well. Geographic isolation in some ways will be minimized and in other ways accentuated. We are witnessing a rapid tectonic shift in the future of work.

The solution will demand at least a K-14 education. STEM subject matter will be more essential for all students, not just those inclined toward math and science. Coding exemplifies a critical new skill for young people as they enter college and the job market. Coding teaches problem-solving skills, sparks creativity and prepares for a technology-centered workplace.

Continuing education for adults will be essential to maintain skill currency. This will be the job of community colleges, four-year universities and proprietary learning centers. Based on the experience of career colleges, federal and state oversight will be needed to prevent scams. Businesses that need workers with digital transformative skills need to play a constructive role in shaping and helping to finance continuing education.

Wise policy will recognize digital transformation has human consequences, some positive, some not. There will be new sources of stress, different kinds of rewards and, as always, winners and losers. With an existing worker shortage in America, we cannot afford any more economic “losers,” which will require sensitive, people-first policies and investments.

Gary Conkling has been a journalist, congressional aide and public affairs professional for more than 50 years. While public affairs director at Tektronix, he cofounded the Business-Education Compact in 1984 that created experiential learning opportunities for teachers and students.