We know that nearly 600,000 people lost their jobs in January, increasing our national unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. Too often, however, we concentrate on the statistic and forget the faces of the people who make up the unemployed population. Yesterday, Michael Luo of the New York Times wrote a profile of the citizens of Manchester, Ohio who are still seeking solid ground after Manchester Tool Company closed its doors 10 months ago.

The lessons we learn from this small town shine a light on the broader economy. Only 15 percent of the hourly workers have found steady employment. Older workers, like John Foss, age 50, find it especially hard to transfer their skills to other sectors of the economy:

Mr. Foss, who started as a machinist at Manchester, applied for scores of jobs after his layoff, combing the newspaper and Internet and dropping in on employers to fill out applications. He has not heard back from anyone.

A job search he initially thought might take a few weeks has stretched into its 11th month. And his initial hopes of landing a job that paid close to the $18.12 an hour he used to make have faded. He now believes $8 to $12 an hour is more likely.

For those laid off workers who can afford schooling, the healthcare field has shown the most promise:

Cindy Starcher, 35, and Lorraine Norrod, 50, are among the small group of Manchester workers who decided to seek retraining in a new field. Their rationale is easy to understand: in Ohio, more than 280,000 manufacturing jobs have been shed since 2000.

The women carpool now to classes Monday through Thursday at Northcoast Medical Training Academy, studying to become medical assistants. Those jobs typically pay about $20,000 to $30,000 a year, they said, much less than what they used to make.

But as Ms. Norrod put it, “It pays more than being laid off.”

Ms. Starcher, who has two young children at home, said she settled on health care as a potential career after much deliberation, concluding the jobs would always be needed.

“There’s always going to be sick people,” she said. “It’s the one thing you can’t send overseas.”

The tales from Manchester, Ohio should guide policy makers as we look for ways to create jobs and help people find work. Education and training are key pieces to this puzzle. As we move forward we must connect people to growing sectors of the economy and give them the tools to make an easy transition.

President Obama was on this Hill this morning lobbying members of Congress on the stimulus bill. The House is voting on its version today and members expect to have legislation on the President’s desk by February 13. For the next couple days we are going to highlight some of the items that may be contained in the package. First up: education.

The House bill would include $150 billion of new federal spending for education — doubling the Dept. of Educations current budget. According to the New York Times:

The proposed emergency expenditures on nearly every realm of education, including school renovation, special education, Head Start and grants to needy college students, would amount to the largest increase in federal aid since Washington began to spend significantly on education after World War II.

Other proposals include:

• $79 billion to states to help them maintain services and avoid cuts to schools and pre-k programs
• $20 billion for school renovations
• $6 billion more for Pell Grants, increasing the budget for the aid program to $27 billion from $19 billion.

Critics of the bill are concerned about wasteful spending, but if the alternative is collapsing schools and a mass lay off of teachers, then we cannot let our education system crumble with the economy.

The scores from the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), a study that compares math and science achievement for fourth and eighth graders in over 35 countries, were released today. The results were mixed.

The good news first: In 2007, the math test scores of U.S. students in fourth and eight grades improved.

Fourth Grade Math

• U.S. fourth-graders scored 529, on average. - higher than the TIMSS scale average of 500.
• The average mathematics achievement of U.S. fourth-graders in 2007 was 11 score points higher than the average score in 1995
• The average mathematics score of U.S. fourth-graders was higher than those in 23 of the 35 other countries, lower than in 8 countries (all 8 were in Asia or Europe), and not measurably different from the average scores of students in the remaining 4 countries.

Eight Grade Math

• U.S. eighth-graders scored 508, on average, in mathematics, which was higher than the TIMSS scale average of 500.
• The average mathematics achievement of U.S. eighth-graders in 2007 was 16 score points higher than the average score in 1995
• The average mathematics score of U.S. eighth-graders was higher than those in 37 of the 47 other countries, lower than in 5 countries (all of them in Asia), and not measurably different from the average scores of students in the remaining 5 countries.

Now for the bad news: Since 1995, U.S. students have made no measurable gains in the science portion of the study. In a Washington Post article, Francis Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers associate says the results should cause alarm:

“We need to pay attention to the results. We’re just static, and other countries are improving,” said Francis Eberle, executive director of the Arlington-based National Science Teachers Association. “Whether it’s global warming, energy production or conservation or homeland security, people need to be able to understand enough to make decisions as a citizen.”

Watch to see if the TIMSS results create louder calls for better STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

Today is hump day, so that means it’s time once again to look at a social mobility success story. For this installment of “What Works Wednesdays” we will focus on the connection between fathers and child development. Research shows that fathers play a vital and irreplaceable role in their child’s wellbeing. It’s is no surprise that children with absent fathers are:

• Five times more likely to be poor
• 54 percent more likely to grow up poorer than their parents
• Have a greater chance of incarceration
• More likely to become pregnant as a teen
• More likely to drop out of school

Absent fathers put a strain not only on their immediate families, but on society at large. A recent study by the late Steven Nock and Christopher Einolf shows that fatherlessness cost society an alarming $99.8 billion in direct and indirect costs during fiscal year 2006.

On the flip side, if absent fathers create hardship, responsible dads create enormous benefits. That’s why a group of more than 450,000 dads have decided to volunteer in more than 800 schools as part of the Watch DOGS (Dads Of Great Students) initiative. These dads serve at least one day each year in a variety of school activities ranging from mentoring, to monitoring hallways and assisting in the lunchroom.

Last week, ABC’s World News Tonight featured this organization started by Jim Moore and Eric Snow, two Arkansas parents. These dads have not only seen a difference in their children, but in the many kids without active fathers. They are convinced:

the program helps many children who don’t have fathers at home.

“We know that when a child has an active male role model who is highly involved in their life, that those children are going to develop more fully — academically, emotionally and socially,” said Snow.

The National Educators Association also heralds the involvement of dad’s in schools. They note:

The more involved a father is with the student’s activities at school the greater the likelihood of the student’s success. The study actually indicated that when a father is involved with activities, the child is more likely to be a straight A student.

Responsible fatherhood and social mobility are inextricably linked.  Obviously, it is most beneficial when a child’s real dad is involved in their lives and their school, but often that is not the reality. Today, there are 25 million children in this country who live apart from their biological fathers.  Watch DOGS is just one example of a program that can help these kids.

Today, PPI released the first of a multi-part series of Memos to the Next President. These memos will cover a broad spectrum of the most important issues that the next president should make a top priority. The first memo by Doug Ross, superintendent of the University Preparatory Academy in Detroit, addresses the importance of charter schools in reducing the graduation gap.

There has been very little discussion of education during the presidential election. However, on the rare occasion that education is mentioned, it is usually in the context of making American students more competitive with their international peers. Ross notes that on international academic tests, the top-two thirds of American students easily compete with kids from other countries. However, the bottom third lags way behind:

That this bottom-achieving third consists largely of urban, low-income African- American and Latino kids raises this challenge beyond the economic. While we may not like to admit it, a mother’s race and income remain powerful predictors of a child’s academic performance. To put it simply, educating poor kids is the civil-rights issue of our time. (Emphasis mine)

Ross argues that while the results in many urban schools have been abysmal, there has been a significant amount of good news from a growing number of public charter schools. He cites four successful characteristics of these schools with greater autonomy.

1. These schools refuse to make excuses for poor performance. They take full responsibility for their students’ success despite their economic status, family background or poor preparation.
2. These schools believe that creating a culture of success “trumps everything.” They foster an environment where success is the norm.
3. Faculty members keep a close tab on the students and “know how each student is doing academically and socially at all times.”
4. The school is ready to do whatever is necessary to make sure every student succeeds.

Ross lends a credible voice to this discussion. University Prep, the public charter school he helped establish in Detroit has been in operation for the past eight years and has had incredible success rates. Though the student body is 100 percent minority and overwhelmingly poor, 93 percent of students graduated last year and 91 percent of those graduating seniors enrolled in college or technical school.

Today we look at another red state governor and potential vice presidential nominee as we continue to examine the most frequently speculated leaders atop Barack Obama’s VP short list.

Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS)

Now into her second term, Gov. Sebelius has been a champion for working families, children, education reform and affordable healthcare. She has continually called for Kansans to play an active role in creating better lives for themselves and their communities and has brought together many stakeholders from public and private sectors to create change in her state.

Sebelius has said that her greatest joy in life is not serving as a governor, but as a mother. It’s no surprise then that she has created an online toolkit for Kansas parents that gives families the information they need about monitoring the content children get from the mass media. Her parent’s toolkit links to resources that review movies, TV shows and video games for foul language, violence and sexual content. Parents can also use the toolkit to download free Internet filtering software and find instructions on how to use it. On the parent’s tools website, Sebelius writes:

I don’t believe moms and dads should be alone in their fight to raise children the right way, which is why I want to help Kansas parents by providing access to tools to protect their children from inappropriate materials. Then you can make the decisions about what you feel is right for your child, the same way Gary and I did when our boys were younger.

This April, Sebelius formed the Governor’s P-20 Education Council to help Kansas develop a seamless high-quality education system with appropriate benchmarks for success for all grade levels. Her council, which includes college and university professors and leaders, public school officials, children’s advocates and business leaders, is tasked with helping Kansas schools “see the big picture, and chart the path to success for every Kansas child.”

Her other executive initiatives include Kansas Mentors, a project that connects individuals to mentoring opportunities and serves as an umbrella organization for existing mentoring programs. Some have estimated that 50,000 children in Kansas are in need of a mentor. Kansas Mentors has partnered with its neighboring state of Nebraska for the Coaches’ Mentoring Challenge to reduce the “mentoring gap.” Led by Coaches Tom Osborne and Bill Snyder, each state is competing to see who can sign up the most new mentors this summer and fall.

Finally, Sebelius has been a key advocate for reducing medical costs and decreasing the number of uninsured people in her state. In her quest to achieve universal coverage for the people of Kansas she has called for reform that focuses on preventative care and personal responsibility for health and wellness. She has created a commission that brings together private employers, insurers, and health professionals to find ways to lower costs health care costs and increase access. She also established the Healthy Kansas initiative, through which she calls on Kansans to commit to good health by participating in some form of physical activity for 30 minutes five days a week, eat a nutritious diet and stop using tobacco products.