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Stronger Schools Attract Jobs

Written on: September 28th, 2010 in Education, Job Creation

There is nothing more critical to our state than getting Delawareans back to work and expanding economic opportunity for people who are already working.

While our daily focus on bringing in new and better jobs to Delaware and helping Delaware companies grow must continue, it is also clear the most important thing we can do to ensure our state is an economic leader over the long term is to make sure we have some of the best schools in the country.

When talking with national and international business leaders responsible for creating jobs, they want their companies to be in places with great schools or schools that are on their way to being truly great. They want to be able to hire and provide careers to students who graduate prepared to succeed.

Our competition in this regard is no longer just our neighboring states; it includes countries around the world seeking to bring those jobs to their shores.

For those business leaders that have made the decision to build and grow their companies here in Delaware, one constant theme supporting their decision is that in Delaware, we are truly a state of neighbors and, when faced with a challenge, we come together, across counties, across political parties, across occupations and across individual interests, to move our state forward. It is my firm belief this approach, which serves us well when we compete for jobs day-to-day, will be the cornerstone of our long-term success in creating great schools.

To turn around our persistently low-performing schools, to overhaul our student testing and teacher appraisal systems so that they are more useful and fair, and to implement new academic standards that will enable our students to compete with the world’s best, will not be easy, so we need your support and involvement in the process.

We hope you join this conversation.

The complete schedule for the Conversations About Stronger Schools – public town hall meetings up and down the state – can be found here.  Please help us spread the word!

You can also submit your suggestions and feedback through ideas.delaware.gov.

This post was originally published in The News Journal.

Tags: Delaware, education, Governor Jack Markell, job creation, jobs