Map to the Middle Class

Questions at work

The Map to the Middle Class is a project that will explore what it takes to get to the middle class in an evolving economy

The story of work is one of deepening economic polarization. Good jobs are disappearing for people with only a high-school diploma, while wage and employment gains increasingly accrue to people with higher education. In this series, we’ll explore how trends such as automation could reshape the types of jobs that are available. And we’ll find out how schools can help young people prepare for a landscape where middle-class life is increasingly out of reach.

But to do that, we need to hear from you.

Here’s how it works: You ask. We report. We share the answer.

You could ask questions such as: Is my job safe from automation? Is getting a four-year college degree worth the cost? Are good jobs for people without college degrees ever coming back?

So what questions do you have about school, training programs and the path to the middle class? Ask your question here

Hunter Blair and his fiancée, Ronnie Kinsman, pose in the field behind their home on June 2, 2018, in Onalaska, Washington. The pair graduated from Onalaska High School in 2017 and 2016 respectively, and say they intend to settle down in their hometown. “It’s beautiful country up here,” Kinsman said. “Why leave something that we love?”

How one tiny town is battling ‘rural brain drain’

Nearly all high-school graduates in Onalaska, Washington, head off to college — but many come back home after earning a degree

Higher Education

by Kaitlin Gillespie – October 24, 2018

Matthew Porter, a student at Craig High School, inspects a “collaborative” robot at Prent Corporation, in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Convincing students that learning blue-collar job skills will pay off

In Wisconsin, a school district faces a dilemma: Businesses are desperate for their students, but don’t always pay as well as they used to

Future of Learning

by Caroline Preston – October 23, 2018

Fifth graders Davonayshia Hollis, left, and Denaya Rippey, review a group entrepreneurial project for a parent-approved music device, developed in a mentorship program, Thursday May 19, 2016, at Brooklyn's P.S. 307 in New York. Startups and established tech companies are providing a crash course in entrepreneurship, sending engineers and designers into public schools to mentor students.

COLUMN: Not enough students have mentors, and we must change that

Internship programs that pair students with employers can help bridge the gap