What Others Say About the Challenges
Journalists, educators, economists and others are part of a growing chorus calling on us to take note of the education and workforce challenges facing Minnesota and the nation. Read about what they are saying below:
I want to go to college! — a video by Dane Smith and Angie Eilers, Growth and Justice
"We know that nothing counts more than smart investment in education from birth all through life and especially for a ready workforce of young adults."Minnesota is 2nd in need for well-educated workforce by 2018, new report says, Sharon Schmickel, MinnPost, June 30, 2010
"While a generation of educated Minnesota workers is poised to retire during the next decade, the young people rising to replace them include greater proportions than the state has seen in many decades of recent immigrants and minorities. And students in those groups drop out of high school at alarming rates."It's Time to Tackle Minnesota's Achievement Gap, John Fitzgerald of MN2020, April 27, 2010
"The achievement gap is not new and Minnesota's reaction to fixing it has never been more than tepid. Let's assume that the answer for that response isn't racial in nature. That means the lack of response is due to financial considerations. In other words, our leaders tell us the solutions to the achievement gap cost too much money. This cannot continue."Segregated...Again, Minnesota Magazine interview with Myron Orfield, professor of law at the University of Minnesota, Spring 2010
“But it’s absolutely the wrong solution to hunker down within neighborhood boundaries. The idea that we can close the achievement gap without desegregating is simply wrong. The statistics are catastrophically bad.”Making the case for hiring teachers of color, quote by Sheila Wright, dean of education at Hamline University, MinnPost, March 17, 2010
"Teachers have to be 'open to the possibility of working differently' with students. They can't have 'perceptual blind spots,' or impose one system on all students, even if those students look like them."2020 Foresight, Twin Cities Business interview with Tom Gillaspy, Jan. 2010
"In the early ’50s, we were a below-average income state, a below-average education state. What we did as a state was push on education and we developed a world-class, world-renowned work force. We also created a place that people like to come to, even though it’s cold and out of the way. We were a state that worked. ...we’re not making the strides that we used to. But the good news is that, as a state, we know how to do this."Lori Sturdevant: Let's peer into the demographic crystal ball, Star Tribune editorial, Jan. 2, 2010
"The biggest challenge for Minnesota's future lies in the willingness of tax-averse, aging, health-minded voters and their elected officials to keep investing in education. 'Investment in the future has to be at the absolute core' of what a society considers essential if that society is going to prosper, Tom Gillaspy said."A goal worth studying, Dane Smith, Growth & Justice, Jan. 2010
"Let’s set an end-of-decade, breathtakingly bold goal of a 50 percent increase in the percentage of our young adults who have some sort of higher-education credential on their resumes."Stephen Smith speaking about Latino students in the American RadioWorks program, Rising by Degrees
"Research shows that most community college students make it if they can accomplish three things: if they figure out what they want to major in, if they pass all of the remedial classes they need to take, and if they successfully complete at least one semester worth of courses."Campus of dreams: Bill it, and they will come? Fedgazette article on college costs, Nov. 2009
"What remains unknown is whether college preferences will reset along traditional lines once the recession is over and job growth resumes, or if the higher education model is in for a more fundamental shake-up."Obama: dropping out of high school no longer an option, a video by ThreeSixty teen journalism program participants
ThreeSixty interviewed area teens and educators about their reactions to President Obama’s challenge to students to get serious about high school.Moving college into the 21st century, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Oct. 2009
"President Barack Obama has set a goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. To reach that goal, we need to bring 5 million more Americans into higher education and ensure that future generations will have the same opportunity for a college education and success in the work force."Leaving Minnesota? Paul Tosto on Gather.com, Oct. 2009
"If Minnesota becomes a continual net loser of people and can't depend on its high schools to produce enough new workers to offset the aging labor force, that's a serious problem that will dog Minnesota long after the recovery begins."Bill Gates at the National Conference of State Legislatures, July 2009
"The $100 billion in education stimulus money should do more than stimulate the economy. It should stimulate us to rethink the way we run our schools. We need to make achievement more measurable, and the system more accountable, so we can get dramatically higher numbers of Americans to and through college."The economic argument for closing MN's achievement gap, Paul Tosto on Gather.com, July 2009
"The people who you will increasingly depend upon in your old age to pay taxes, keep your Social Security solvent, build Minnesota's economy and maintain its quality of life are the least prepared to take on that future. That's why you should pay attention to the latest data showing high, persistent gaps between whites and black and Latino students in Minnesota."2009 Standardized Test Math Scores: Quality and Equity? Carlos Mariani Rosa, Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, June 2009
"No matter what measurement approaches we use, Minnesota continues to create unequal K-12 outcomes that follow racial and income lines. To build a strong Minnesota all students must acquire strong skills regardless of their race and income." The guiding principles that matter, Mariani Rosa says, include equity, capacity and resources, empowerment, relevancy and clarity.Red on the outside, white by whose standard? by Dr. Arne Vainio, News From Indian Country, June 2009
"I’m proud to see how many Native American graduates there are. But I’m also saddened to see how many there aren’t... . We have lost much over the years, but the only way we are going to move forward is by educating ourselves. Our future leaders need to be able to live in two worlds in order to truly help our people."
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—Mayor R.T. Rybak
