*The Math and Science instructors include 13 job titles of post secondary instructors 11 in the areas of physical and life sciences, mathematics and computers(2004 (4,320 jobs) 2014 (5,490 jobs) and health occupations 2 jobs titles (2004 (4,630 jobs) 2014 (5,890 jobs).
Table was compiled from data from the following source.
Source: Wisconsin Projections 2004-2014
Office of Economic Advisors
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development July 2006

(2) The occupational titles showing large increases are the nine in Computer Specialists job titles jobs that are projected to increase 27.1% from 51,380 to 65,320 from 2004 to 2014.Many of these workers do not have 4-yr college degrees. This is also true of math and science Technician occupations that have Associate degrees or long-term experience in computer occupations.

Higher mathematics, except as an extremely important college entrance requirement, may be the most insignificant academic subject taken by students in elementary and secondary schools. Higher mathematics proficiency is not important for everyday living nor is it required for more than 90% of jobs. But high stakes mathematics testing and higher mathematics course requirements are being used to retain students in lower elementary grades and prevent students from graduation from 8^th Grade and high school. Why is testing math proficiency more important than any other academic subject, other than reading, at every level of K-12 education?

The reason is that mathematics is an academic subject for which tests can be easily prepared and scored quantitatively. Those who wish to expose public education as an academic failure can conveniently use mathematics test scores as evidence that public education is failing.The political, business and education leaders in the U.S. and Wisconsin, who are responsible for education policies, and inexcusably the media, ignore the actual employment statistics andprojections. Only selected statistics and anecdotal stories that support the spurious claims about the crisis in American K-12 education and future skill worker shortage are reported.

The great numbers of high paying jobs of the future that are claimed to require college graduation and high academic skills for all high school students are a hoax. The majority of the jobs of the future in Wisconsin and the United States are low or average paying jobs that require short term or moderate-term on the job training and do not require high-level academic skills in academic areas, particularly in higher mathematics.(See www.jobseducationwis.org  272 Wisconsin Projections of Employment 2004 to 2014: Education and Training
267 A Math & Science Employment in the United States 2004-2014, Top 30 Job Titles in Numbers of Workers Employed 2004 and Projected to 2014

Reality is 1. For the majority of the jobs in the world and the U.S., other than reading, writing, arithmetic, and developing a work ethic, there is not a direct relationship between education and jobs. 2. Education for education sake is good and is helpful in getting a job and doing it well. However there is a surplus of well-educated people for jobs that require higher levels of education and training. 3. A majority of jobs in the United States workforce require only short-term or moderate length on the job training or experience. About 21% of jobs might require a bachelor's degree or more. About 32% of workers in 2003 in the U.S. workforce 25 years and over had a Bachelor's degree or more*. 5. About 5% of jobs in the United States in the 2000s might require higher math and or science course work.

*Source: U.S. Census Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement 2003

Dennis Redovich has taught Chemistry at the college level(University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University and Milwaukee Area Technical College) and Mathematics and Chemistry at Whitefish Bay, Clinton and Wilmot Wisconsin high schools.

Dennis W. Redovich 414-421-1120 redovich@execpc.com
Center for the Study of Jobs & Education in Wisconsin and United States
www.jobseducationwis.org
6438 Sycamore St.
Greendale WI 53129

Published April 23, 2007