The leader of the Hall County School district told business leaders Tuesday that it's a misnomer to say education and workforce development are not related.
Superintendent Will Schofield was keynote speaker for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Industry of the Year Awards.
"Through this last 25-year era of no child left untested, one of the things that scares the everliving daylights out of me is the creativity indexes of our young people have plummeted," Schofield said.
Schofield said the industrial prowess of the U.S. isn't because of high standardized test scores.
"We've led the world in an unprecedented passion for 150 years, because we've been the world's innovators. We've been the dreamers. We've been the creators. We've been the pioneers," Schofield said.
And Schofield said a four-year college degree isn't necessarily a ticket to success. He said in the past ten years, 50 percent of people who earned such a degree are either unemployed or working a job that didn't require the degree.
In contrast, Schofield said people who attend a technical program, and receive certification, are outearning individuals with master's degrees in the social sciences.
Lanier Technical College, sponsor of the awards, has a graduate placement rate of 100 percent for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the past five years, according to its president, Dr. Ray Perren.
"I've even more excited to report that 99.6 of last year's graduates are working in the field in which they studied and prepared at Lanier Tech," Perren said. "This is the highest in-field placement rate in the state of Georgia."
Three of the innovators Schofield described; Count On Tools, Kipper Tool Company and Victory Processing, picked up top awards in small, medium and large size employer categories for 2017.
Bitzer U.S. won the Corporate Responsibility Award. Ceramic Tile Services picked up the chamber's Safety and Environmental Stewardship recognition.
ALBAform won a Workforce Excellence award, and ZF Gainesville received Workforce Development accolades.
