Ohio schools failing to prepare graduates for workforce, economists conclude 

Public-school graduates in Ohio have limited job options because their education hasn’t fully prepared them for the workforce, a new survey of economists finds. 

The survey, conducted by Scioto Analysis, paints a dismal picture of the state’s job prospects – finding the labor force shrank in the last few months of 2025 even as unemployment rates decreased. 

“Eighteen [economists] were asked whether they agreed that ‘misalignment between Ohio’s education and workforce training systems and employer skill demands is limiting statewide job growth,’” the Columbus-based nonprofit news outlet Ohio Capital Journal explained. “Eleven agreed, three disagreed and four were uncertain or had no opinion.” 

One of the economists, Bill Lafeyette from Regionomics, argued the misalignment isn’t unique to Ohio alone. “Based on my work with educational institutions, linkages between these institutions and business need to be enhanced,” he wrote. 

“It has always been important for graduates to leave school with the work-ready skills (communication, responsibility, integrity, leadership, teamwork, etc.) that can spell the difference between success and failure in a career. But now with the pace of technological change, schools need to keep up with the rapidly evolving needs of business, and graduates need to recognize that they must keep their skills current or run the risk of irrelevance.” 

‘Pretty low educational attainment’ 

Another survey respondent, David Brasington from the University of Cincinnati, lamented the lack of vocational and other specific training among graduates. 

“Ohio has pretty low educational attainment compared to other states,” he wrote in the survey’s comment section, “and even 40% of Ohio workers trained for manufacturing jobs tend not to get manufacturing jobs within a year, consistent with a mismatch of skills and demand for skills.” 

Ohio ranks 38th nationwide on the U.S. News and World Report’s list for educational attainment, “well into the bottom half of states,” the Capital Journal noted. 

Meanwhile, the public-school system in the Buckeye State came under recent scrutiny for financial fraud involving the Akron Public Schools district, where a former facilities director profited from traded-in equipment involving Facebook Marketplace, according to news reports. 

“We know from experience that the vast majority of public educators are honest and that few school districts have Roslyn- or New Orleans-level chicanery,” wrote educational analysts Jonathan Butcher and Robert Maranto. “But we also know that public school corruption is common, with perpetrators rarely held accountable.”