I’ve recently been re-reading the book Re-Imagine by Tom Peters.  Peters starts each chapter by stating, “We are not prepared,” and then explains why we aren’t prepared on a variety of subjects.  I love this book because it really causes me to think about change and how it affects every facet of life.   The chapter on education especially caught my interest; it talks about the need to re-imagine education in America if we hope to stay competitive with the rest of the world.

From Re-Imagine:
“We are not prepared…We attempt to ‘reform’ an educational system that was designed for the Industrial Age – for a Fordist era in which employees needed to ‘know their place’ and in which employers needed uniformly ‘trained,’ interchangeable ‘parts’...yet now we must prepare for a world in which value emerges from individual initiative and creativity.  And we must reject all notions of ‘reform’ that merely serve up more of the same: more testing, more ‘standard,’ more uniformity, more conformity, more bureaucracy.”

With this in mind I recently attended a meeting where Richard Kendell, the Utah Commissioner of Higher Education, presented facts about education in Utah and the U.S.  I came away from the meeting with one main thought – we are not prepared!  In fact, we are losing ground fast.

Statistics show that we don’t value education as much as we used to.  Today only 34% of college-aged people (18 – 24 years old) are attending college.  Compare that to fifteen years ago when 41% of that same demographic in both the United States and Utah attended college.  These statistics are very alarming when we consider that having an educated work force is essential to keeping our economy robust.

But what may be more alarming than the statistics is what’s behind them; it appears our students believe they can make more money by skipping college and just getting a job straight out of high school.  That may work for a while, but it isn’t a good long term plan.  Commissioner Kendell shared some statistics about pay that students should consider:

Median Income by Education Level

High School diploma  $22,437
Associates Degree  $30,356
Bachelors Degree  $45,776
Advanced Degree  $65,301

Data has repeatedly shown that people need to continue their education past high school, whether they choose college or a vocational school.  In fact, a graduate degree is becoming more of a necessity in today’s economy.  So why aren’t our students listening?  Why aren’t parents becoming more involved and pushing their children toward college?  Why is our education system not better motivating students and encouraging them to expect more?  Why aren’t businesses getting more involved when business depends on educated employees?

Attendees at the chamber meeting I attended seemed surprised with the statistics presented; they wondered why more young people weren’t attending college.  Perhaps the problem lies in a common pitfall – thinking everyone shares an upper-middle class lifestyle.  As business leaders, most of us probably have the opportunity to go home at night and help our children with their homework and encourage them to excel in school.  But this is not the case in every household.  There are too many parents who are too exhausted to help.  They may want to, but they can’t.  There are too many parents who are frustrated with the school system and don’t know how to make it better.  There are too many parents who are tired of battling with their frustrated children over school.  Too many, quite frankly, have lost their motivation.

I believe it is time for business to step up and make a difference in education.  Right now we – in Utah and across the country – are enjoying a very strong economy.  Most of us are benefiting from it.  But, if we don’t do something soon we may lose momentum and see a decline in our ability to compete.  It is time for business leaders to be proactive with their employees and customers to help them understand why education is so important.

The world is changing fast.  Business has to change fast to keep up with the technology and the world economy.  We should expect nothing less from our education system.  But to do this, we must act now.  Utah’s Higher Education community, under Commissioner Kendell, is promoting a new plan to get our young people excited about higher education.  It is called Utah Scholar.  And Utah’s business community should support it. 

Utah Scholar will help students see the importance of education by helping them choose a more rigorous path.  This path will help prepare students for the type of college education that will then prepare them for their future jobs – jobs that will help our economy stay ahead of the rest of the world.

This is a great opportunity for business to make a big difference.  Not only can we encourage young students to desire more, we can also become involved in changing the way education is delivered.  We make the marketplace of jobs and we should be vocal about having the kind of workforce we need to fill it.

To learn more about how you can help visit our website (www.alexanders.com) and view the presentation about higher education.  There is also information on the site about how to contact the commissioner to become involved in the Utah Scholars program.

We are not prepared, but we can be if we start today and if we use a little re-imagination

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