Sacramento and California will have a shortage of highly educated workers by 2025, according to a presentation at a panel discussion Thursday between local school and college administrators, trade organization members and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi.

“All the studies indicate we have an incredible challenge facing us,” Garamendi said before an audience of about 40. “Bottom line is, we have to make a serious investment in education.”

Administrators from Sacramento State, Los Rios Community College District, and Sacramento City Unified School District came to the Alumni Center to talk about challenges local schools have in meeting the workforce demand.

Projections show by 2025, California’s businesses may need as many as 8 million college-educated workers, but may only have 5 million-a shortage of 3 million educated workers, according to a projection presented by Debbi Reed, director of research at the Public Policy Institute of California.

“We can’t import enough college workers from other states or other countries to meet this demand,” she said.

If the state cannot produce enough of these high-qualified workers, California’s economy will slow down, Reed said, as the jobs will go to other states.

Due to the rise in construction bond-spending, construction companies already face a workforce shortage, said Debra Chaplan, director of special projects at the State Building and Construction Trade Council.

“To complete all the infrastructure bond work now, 144,000 new construction workers will be needed,” she said.

One of the pressures President Alexander Gonzalez said Sac State is facing is producing more graduates and expanding post-graduate programs on campus.

Faculty Senate Chair Bruce Bikle said he would like to see a doctorate program for criminal justice in California. He said students have to go elsewhere and once they leave, it is difficult for them to come back to California.

The inability to recruit qualified faculty members and overcrowded classrooms were among other problems Bikle mentioned.

Lila Jacobs, president of the California Faculty Association, told Garamendi that many problems in the CSU system are a result of the lack of resources due to the misplacement of priorities.

“It is counter-productive to raise executive salaries while raising student tuition,” Jacobs said. “?We are on a course in this state to spend more money on prisons than on education.”

She questioned why the state would spend more money on people who are not contributing to society than on innovators and educators.

Jacobs said in order to encourage students to stay in school, teacher-student relationships need to be fostered. Classroom size needs to come down and working conditions for teachers need to improve.

Sac State was the eighth campus-stop during Garamendi’s “Listening Tour,” a statewide effort to discuss what measures can be taken to increase the education level of California residents.

Lacey Waymire can be reached at [email protected].