Education Week carries a short item on the shortage of skilled manufacturing workers. It’s consistent with what we posted on yesterday regarding a new study of the skills gap in Washington. The EW story has this additional insight.

In Minnesota, 13 percent of all jobs are in manufacturing, and the average pay is about $56,000 a year. Yet, a manufacturing-skills gap persists, in part, because basic industrial-technology skills aren’t being taught enough in high schools, some employers say. Nationally, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers predicts by 2015, there could be a shortfall of 3 million skilled factory workers.

Partnerships including high schools, community colleges and employers are seen as one way to resolve the problem.

More discouraging for some, I suspect, will be the news that McDonald’s is looking for college graduates to begin as cashiers.