"In his inaugural address, Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry established as a top priority a goal to "make Lexington one of the nation's pre-eminent cities."
We applaud and support the mayor's vision of reclaiming Lexington's worthiness to characterize itself as "The Athens of the West." Looking westward from here, however, we see some pretty formidable competition (that did not exist in the early 19th century). This, we understand, is not lost on the mayor, and that says something about his expectations, not only of himself and of his administration, but of all of us as well.
Doing everything within our abilities to prepare and transform the competitive posture of Lexington and the Bluegrass region into a place deserving of such high reputation means our business community must support and aid education; education in general, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics in particular. Increasing the challenge is an imperative that a focus on these fields must not come at the expense of other equally critical disciplines, from language and history to philosophy and the arts.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science put it best in a report stating, "The key point for education reformers to recognize about business involvement in K-12 education is that businesses most likely to become involved in reform are those who feel most affected by today's competitive environment." It would be easiest to list those who don't. And the good news is that many of our major employers are setting very meaningful examples by engaging in partnerships and other roles in support of education.
Closing the gap between what is learned in school and what is actually required by the job - school-to-work (STW) transition - is key. This is happening here in Central Kentucky as evidenced by the development of new partnerships between Toyota and Scott County schools (see our cover story, "The Digital Native") and between Lexmark and Fayette County Public Schools.
Lexmark has entered into a three-way collaboration with the school system and Commerce Lexington to "bring innovation to teaching and relevance to curriculum." Commerce Lexington's Pamela Trautner said the Lexmark Teacher Institute will convene for the week of July 30-August 3 to bring together teachers and community business leaders. The goal, according to Trautner, is "to better understand how businesses use what schools are teaching, gain real-world examples to enliven delivery, and create opportunities for students beyond the school walls."
The rationale, Trautner explained, is inspired by "current studies and surveys of business leaders and organizations (regional and national) that indicate the need for business to have a great degree of input when setting state standards and relevance in curriculum."
In other words, teachers and business people will become acquainted with each others' successes and challenges and translate what is learned into classroom experiences that send our children out into the real world with eyes wide open.
The advanced technical programming now provided by Fayette County schools at the Eastside and Southside Technical Centers is producing graduates whose skills are in high demand in the coveted advanced manufacturing sector - automotive, in particular.
Progress can also be attributed to the efforts of the Partnership for Successful Schools, which, according to its Web site, delivers "practical, real-world programs and strategies focusing community and employer energy on school improvement efforts."
Unfortunately for all of us, while most students place their future economic life near the top of their lists of educational objectives, many perceive vocational education as a "dead-end" track "meant for somebody else." But here's the thing: that "somebody else" now has access to the training he or she needs to develop the complex skills now required by well-compensated jobs in advanced manufacturing - hardly a "dead end" and definitely a track to a productive and happy life. Not everyone, after all, is inclined to become a lawyer or a doctor.
As Georgetown College Business Department Chairman Tom Cooper states in our cover story, "Job security (and high income) will come from differentiating oneself from the machines and cheap labor mass producers. As machines, computers, and unskilled foreign workers take over the routine tasks that we can standardize, the most valuable workers will be those who can solve unpredictable, one-of-a-kind problems. Problem solving is one flexible skill that one can adapt to many workplaces, dealing with the new problems that arise. Teamwork is another flexible skill. Effective teams produce much more than the participants could individually, and they are ideal for combining insights from a variety of perspectives, a key ingredient for coping with the complexity of our world."
So what roles can be filled by the business community of Central Kentucky?
Business has the clout to keep reform high on the public agenda. As one of the nation's most powerful political lobbies, the sector has the ability to pressure for change constantly throughout the many levels of our educational system. Business can offer - if school systems are receptive - expertise in strategic planning and finance. Businesses can encourage their employees and parents to be involved in school improvement projects and to help make schooling more relevant to students' lives. And teachers are better able to relate what goes on in their classrooms with the real world when companies offer tours of facilities, workshops for students and teachers and workplace apprenticeships for students.
As the AAAS report states, "business isn't monolithic. Individual employees who are parents and taxpayers will carry out most of the work that 'business' undertakes to implement science education reform. Business as a whole cannot be expected to march in lockstep with all reform goals or to make a major financial contribution - beyond the taxes it already pays - to improve public schools generally. Finally, business can make an important contribution by letting educators know what skills the workers of tomorrow will need, while recognizing that educational decisions ultimately must be made by educators, parents, and students - not by business people." That's not as harsh as it sounds. Many of us are both.
This commentary is not an act of whistling in the wind. The intent is to encourage what is already happening. On the local level, mayor Newberry has entered office on a platform that (in its first phase) proposes making a postsecondary education in one of the STEM fields accessible to all who make the grade, regardless of economic circumstance. And Commerce Lexington's Strategic Planning initiative includes a "brainpower" committee that is focusing its efforts on awakening the community to the sophistication of today's "vo-tech" curriculum.
With the state's new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Task Force convening for its second session on January 31, there is new energy behind efforts to raise awareness of the connection between well-educated students and the economic success of our city, region and state - and, for that matter, our nation.
We will keep you informed of this momentum and hope that you will think about ways your own business can play a role in the realization of Mayor Newberry's vision of Lexington as one of the nation's preeminent cities.
We invite you to offer your thoughts on these pages and welcome submissions for consideration at tom@bizlex.com
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