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The State of Washington recently launched a new performance funding system for community and technical colleges called the Student Achievement Initiative. Its goal is to “raise the knowledge and skills of the state’s residents” by increasing education attainment across the state. Its four primary metrics that determine financial rewards for institutions are:

Business Roundtable launched The Springboard Project to develop innovative recommendations to change the way the United States approaches training and education so that American workers prosper in the 21st-Century’s evolving labor market.

Business Roundtable launched The Springboard Project to address the challenges America’s workforce is facing with intensifying competition in an evolving global marketplace that values talent and innovation.

December 1, 2009

Throughout much of the 20th century, our nation’s publicly funded two-year colleges have opened the door of economic opportunity to a broad base of students while serving local business as a cost-effective and responsive resource for workforce development. In today’s competitive global economy, that relationship continues to thrive: Currently, 1,152 two-year public colleges in the United States serve 6,596,356 students in for-credit programs plus an estimated 5,000,000 students in noncredit continuing education.

The recession, soaring unemployment and underemployment, and the reset of the global economy are throwing longstanding U.S. problems with education and training into high relief. Our low high school graduation rates, poor college completion rates and overall inadequate levels of education will cause us to fall far short of meeting demand for more skilled workers and will place a premium on workers who are willing to keep learning to meet emerging needs.

Lifelong Learning: An Essential Factor in Workforce Success and Global Competitiveness
Findings from the American Worker and American Employer Surveys commissioned by Business Roundtable’s Springboard Project

Over the past three decades, business leaders have invested time, expertise and resources in efforts to improve K–12 education in the United States. What we have learned leads us to conclude that America’s continuing efforts to improve education and develop a world-class workforce will be hampered without serious federal and state commitments to high-quality early care and education for all children, zero through five. In challenging economic times, it is essential that public investment be as efficient and effective as possible. Investments in quality early care and education, with a particular focus on children most at risk, are a wise and safe investment in our nation’s success

The U.S. economy today drives world growth, innovation and prosperity. And as recent events reinforce, the health of the U.S. economy is inextricably linked to the economic health of the rest of the world. If America is not doing well, the rest of the world is affected.

In July 2005, 15 of America’s most prominent business organizations1 joined together to express their deep concern about the ability of the United States to sustain its scientific and technological leadership in a world where newly energized foreign competitors are investing in the capacity for innovation — the key driver of productivity and economic growth in advanced economies.

The United States cannot succeed in the international economy without a welleducated, well-trained workforce. The United States needs a strong education system and lifelong learning opportunities to prepare today’s workers as well as the next generation of workers for the ever-changing economy.

January 30, 2008

America faces unprecedented competitive challenges in the world economy. These uncertain times are creating anxiety about the future for some American citizens, communities and companies. To succeed in this new reality and benefit from expanded economic opportunity, American workers need programs to develop and maintain the skills needed for higher-skilled service and manufacturing jobs that increasingly characterize the U.S. economy in the 21st century.

Business Roundtable’s Essential Components of a Successful Education System is a nine-point policy agenda for K-12 education improvement. This framework was adopted in September 1990, and updated in May 1995 and February 2000.

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