Education

Tim Taylor, President Colorado Succeeds (left), with the Honorable Margaret Spellings, U. S. Secretary of Education (right)

If Colorado businesses want a pipeline of skilled workers, then business leaders must become engaged in education reform. That was one of the key messages conveyed by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings at a roundtable discussion with a group of Colorado business leaders on July 30, 2007.

The roundtable was hosted by Colorado Succeeds, a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of business leaders committed to improving education for workforce development and economic growth. The organization was founded on the premise that the business community has the obligation, opportunity and capacity to improve the state's education system in order to prepare every student to succeed in a competitive international economic environment.

In almost every other state that has effectively improved their education system, the business community has been engaged to push for reforms. In the meantime, Colorado has been falling behind these other states in preparing students for post-secondary education or the workforce.

Colorado's educational pipeline is riddled with leaks. For every 100 ninth grade students, only 69 will graduate from high school four years later, 40 will immediately enter college, and only 19 will graduate with an associate's degree within three years or bachelor's degree within six years.

What's worse, the financial penalty for not graduating high school is more severe in the United States than in most other developed countries, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The earnings of a 25-65 year-old high school dropout in the U.S. are only 65 percent of the earnings of those with a high school diploma.

Colorado Succeeds is leveraging the collective strength of the business community and seeking change through actions initiated within a common set of business principles. In particular, the organization is focusing on workforce development solutions and improving school staffing for better student achievement.  

One approach to preparing students for the competitive workforce is a renewed emphasis on career and technical education (CTE) programs. Unlike vocational education of years past, today's CTE classes require students to work with their head as well as their hands. The goal is to prepare students who have the choice of attending college or entering the workforce after high school, so they can maximize their potential in either scenario.

CTE imparts important academic, technical, and workplace behavior skills that are both valued by employers and highlight the relevance of school to students. Learning within a career-oriented context helps students understand the significance of their studies. In addition, the vocational context engages students who might otherwise not be interested in school.

As business leaders who often depend on a technically-educated workforce, the Colorado Succeeds Board supports CTE programs. Secretary Spellings praised Colorado Succeeds efforts stating that CTE, "is a great place for business to get involved."

In addition, the business community has the expertise and experience to lead reforms in school staffing. Today's teacher collective bargaining agreements and state statutes governing the teaching force are vestiges of the industrial economic model that prevailed in the 1950s, when assembly-line workers and low-level managers were valued less for their knowledge and technical skills and more for their longevity and willingness to serve loyally in as a cog in a top-down enterprise. The bargaining agreements are a harmful anachronism in today's K-12 education system, when effective teachers demand to be treated as respected professionals, and forward thinking leaders work to transform schools into nimble organizations focused on student learning.

Collective bargaining contracts and relevant state laws are especially problematic on at least three fronts: 1) They restrict efforts to use compensation as a tool to recruit, reward, and retain the most essential and effective teachers. 2) They impede attempts to assign or remove teachers based on compatibility or performance. 3) They over-regulate school life with work rules that stifle creative problem solving without demonstrably improving teachers ability to serve students.

As the business voice for education, Colorado Succeeds is committed to improving the caliber of the state education system and the competitiveness of its students. The business community understands that a well-educated competitive workforce is the key to the continued economic growth and vitality of the state. Accordingly, business leaders must be committed to the success of our educational system.

Perhaps just as compelling as the civic responsibility to invest in education is the tremendous impact that our local education system has on the business environment. The quality of an education system directly affects a state's ability to attract new employees and new businesses; and employers benefit from the availability of high-quality education for their employee's children.

In order to accomplish its own goals and guarantee its financial stability, the business community must make a commitment to support meaningful education reform and provide its leadership and resources to those efforts. Simply put, great schools are good business.