Division of Labor: The Gap Between Skills and Jobs (DCentric): “While much of the country struggles with job creation, DC is in the unique position of having more jobs than residents [...] Many of the available jobs in the District, the ones that attract people from around the country, require advanced degrees. This mismatch, or skills gap, means many of those born and raised within the District are increasingly being left out of its economic success.” According to the DC Department of Employment Services, professional, technical, or scientific or federal government positions make up nearly half of the area’s jobs; and 65% of November online job postings stipulated that applicants needed a minimum of a bachelors degree.

Donations staying closer to home this holiday season (Reuters): “The Occupy movement and escalating poverty rates are influencing donors this holiday season. Several recent surveys indicate that charities and nonprofits can expect giving to be more bountiful at the end of 2011, particularly compared to the last two years.” 63-year-old David Moskowitz of Illinois explained that “if I didn’t give a lot more to a local jobs-training program, I think that would be missing the point. “Philanthropic adviser Susan Winer also notes that, as donors funds become tighter, they are “wanting to know more than ever that they’re being smart and thoughtful in how and where they are giving.”

Charter schools unveil new ranking system (Washington Post: DC Schools Insider): “The District?s public charter schools take a major step toward greater accountability Tuesday with the introduction of a new rating system that ranks schools along three tiers of quality, and offers parents a broader assessment of school progress than annual standardized test results [...] It also features rates of test score growth showing how students at a school have advanced in a year’s time relative to their academic peers across the city.” However, the system will focus primarily on “student achievement, annual growth, gateway measurements and leading indicators” and not factor in finance or governance. Should it? Or should we focus on assessing achievement first?