Restructuring Students for Restructured Work: The Economy, School Reform, and Non-college-bound Youths

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Abstract
The U.S. business community charges that the education, discipline, and motivation of non-college-bound students and young workers are poor because of defects in the public schools and the lack of proper family socialization. A direct outgrowth of these charges has been the greater involvement of business in schools and educational reform efforts and an increase in educational policies that emphasize children at risk. This article, however, contends that the fundamental changes in wages, jobs, and future opportunities in the labor market since 1980 have had negative effects on these youths' school outcomes and motivation and discipline as new workers and that the literature and the authors' case study suggest that these economic changes have played a major role in shaping the current ''educational crisis.''