Conferees hear call for action on education
Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008
Arkansas’ work force is not prepared to compete in the 21 st century’s global economy and, to catch up, students must take rigorous high school courses and graduate from college, Gov. Mike Beebe said Thursday.
Education and economic development are inextricably linked, Beebe told about 1, 400 education, civic and business leaders from all of the state’s 75 counties at the “Arkansas Works 2008: The Governor’s Summit on Education and Economic Development” that was held at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
The one-day conference also included addresses by Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty III, president of Kissinger McLarty Associates, president of Asbury Automotive Arkansas and former chief of staff in President Clinton’s administration; and former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, who also served as superintendent of the 700, 000-student Los Angeles Unified School District for almost seven years.
The event was co-hosted by Claiborne Deming, president and chief executive officer of Murphy Oil Corp.; Sen.-elect Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock; and Les Wyatt, president of the Arkansas State University System.
All the speakers sounded a call for action, many noting that the nation’s eighth-graders in 2006 ranked 25 th out of 30 countries in math achievement and 21 st in science achievement.
McLarty warned: “If we don’t have an educated middle class, then we probably won’t have a middle class.”
Romer, now chairman of the nonprofit Strong American Schools organization, stopped short of calling for a national educational program, which is what many of the high-achieving countries have.
But the former governor urged states — and particularly Arkansas — to voluntarily come together to agree on a common set of educational standards and rigorous student testing that will put the United States back in league with the world’s top-achieving countries.
Arkansas was long overdue for a frank discussion on the challenges posed by technology gains, Beebe told the crowd, but planners had no idea that the conference “would coincide with the unprecedented economic upheaval” that has occurred nationally and internationally.
“If anything, the events of the past month have underscored the urgent need for action,” he said. “The world is changing and while Arkansas has started changing, we must accelerate it. If we fall behind today, we risk falling behind forever.
“ The danger is real,” he continued, “but it is not inevitable. We can craft a different future, but we have to take action right now.”
Beebe urged conference participants to be the sparks that lead to improvement in their communities. He said more must be expected of students. More students must graduate from high school; at least one Arkansas student out of five does not. And in a world that values knowledge, ideas and technology, those high school dropouts face dire prospects.
“Goal No. 1 must be increasing high school graduates while insisting on a demanding curriculum that will produce critical thinkers who can develop new skills quickly,” he said.
Within the next 10 years, 62 percent of entry-level jobs will require skills of algebra, geometry and data interpretation. If students aren’t ready for that, “then we have to make them ready.”
Beebe also said that Arkansas is 49 th among the states in college completion rates — only 16 of every 100 high school graduates now earn a bachelor’s degree. The state is working to help with the financial costs of staying in college.
“Goal No. 2 is encourage, promote college attendance and graduation in your community,” he said, urging mentors from the business community to help students see the connection between education and their future success.
Romer impressed many in the crowd with his passion for improving education, which he narrowed down to a system of strong standards, rigorous curriculum, high quality teacher training programs, testing used to diagnose student needs, and managing the education system based on that student data.
He urged that 15 or so states — including Arkansas — voluntarily reach a consensus on education standards and present that to whoever becomes president.
In return the president and Congress might not only provide the funding to pay for the testing program and teacher training, but also give participating states an extension of the No Child Left Behind deadlines. The main one is the 2013-14 deadline for all students in all subgroups to score at their grade level on standardized tests.
“You are on point. You have the right ideas. You have the power within you to do it. Do you have the will ?” Romer told the Arkansas crowd. “Can Arkansas pull it together to really give opportunity and hope to your children ? I’m saying I think you can. I’m also saying that if you do it, I think you can help others in the United States follow that path.”
In 1950, one-third of jobs were in the manufacturing sector, McLarty said. That has dropped to 10 percent. The knowledge and skills needed for jobs has increased, and education has not kept up, he said.
McLarty said American workers are the best in the world, but like sending Mickey Mantle to the plate without a bat, they can’t do the job without the right education and training. He highlighted three areas for action: equity, improving instruction and promoting knowledge of other countries and foreign cultures.
“There is a persistent [achievement ] gap between whites and their black and Latino peers,” he said. “We know success... is possible. But the achievement levels are still too low and the gaps are far too high. My point is that our nation can’t keep wasting the enormous reservoir of potential that these young men and women represent. We must educate all of our kids if we are going to be a great state.”
Former Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey praised Romer during a break in the conference.
“I was sitting there on the edge of my chair and wishing that last night one of those two candidates [in the presidential debate ] had taken his prescription and said: “ This is what I am going to be supporting and this is what I’m going to do.”
Joel Anderson, chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said during the break that the conference reinforced for community leaders the fact that education is the means to economic development and that every part of the state needs to be working for improvements.
“To see people from all the other communities getting interested and committed helps you understand that you better get with it or you will be left behind,” Anderson said.
North Little Rock School District Superintendent Ken Kirspel said he appreciated Beebe’s emphasis on strengthening the ties between education and economic development.
“From the highest level, we have to work together,” Kirspel said. “I know education, but I don’t necessarily know business people. It’s just like [Claiborne Deming ] from El Dorado said. Once the people in El Dorado got together, they did some great things. When the people at the highest level say this is important, that makes it important to everybody else.”
Norm McNeill, director of the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development in Camden, was one of about dozen people from Ouachita County who attended the conference.
McNeill said his organization is trying to do at the local level the same kind of planning and collaboration envisioned statewide.
“We are just at the point of beginning the process of identifying the strategic goals that make sense for our community,” McNeill said of work that has to be based on an assessment of an area’s strengths and weaknesses.
“When you try to do an effective strategic plan, you look for partners to help with implementation, McNeill said. “ That is an underlying theme here, too. You have to pull together the various stakeholders who can work in partnership to drive toward the end results that make sense for your community.”
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