CCSD Schools Weakest Link for Boeing Workers

"Our public schools are the weakest link when Boeing and other plants need to find educated and trainable workers."

According to the SC Aviation Association, our SC General Assembly has dropped the ball supporting efforts by Boeing to train local students. ". . .the S.C. Coordinating Council on Workforce Development, created by the General Assembly in 2016, had only one industry representative named in the 2017 annual report — Michelin. In contrast, the nine other members are public sector administrators, most without any direct industry experience."

If that sounds like politicians' rewarding their supporters, you're probably right.

Why hasn't Boeing gotten the same support as BMW upstate? "BMW, the first, in 1993, of a series of automotive assembly plants in South Carolina, has about 10,000 people at its Greer plant, is successful in providing accelerated, focused education for years in, for example, its BMW Scholars program. High school graduates work as apprentices on the factory floor while completing a two-year technical college program."

Why isn't that happening in the Tri-County area?  Well, the Council named above isn't encouraging it. Boeing does what it can under the circumstances. "Boeing works with high school students in South Carolina to encourage them to learn more about aerospace theory, science, design, assembly, flight and evaluation and to be eligible for training that could lead to a job at Boeing."

Time for CCSD to roll out its Boeing Scholars program.