Thursday, July 31, 2008
K-12 Education Makes Economic "Cents"
A case can be made that cities with good K-12 schools bring a quality return on investment for economic development. A highly-educated city workforce results in better jobs and higher wages. Companies and corporations are more likely to either relocate their headquarters or open a new location in cities where their employees can enroll their children in schools with a track record of scholastic achievement. In his book The Smart Money: Education and Economic Development, William Schweke writes"A compelling body of research links primary and secondary education to economic development and growth. This research recognizes people as a type of economic asset – 'human capital' – and shows that increased investment in health, skills, and knowledge provides future returns to the economy through increases in labor productivity. Education increases workers' average earnings and productivity, and it also reduces the incidence of social problems such as drug abuse, crime, welfare dependency, and lack of access to medical care, all of which can weigh heavily on the economy."
Your view on how Atlanta schools systems are doing probably depends on where you live in the Atlanta area. A July 2008 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution entitled "More Georgia Schools Fall Short" reports that about one out of every three Georgia public schools met the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standard of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Only Fayette County in the Atlanta metro area had 100% of their schools meet AYP. The following table shows the percentage of schools meeting AYP in the Atlanta area:
The dynamics between education and economic development must be understood and appreciated by both the education and economic development community in order for Atlanta to have strong and substantable economic growth.
REFEERENCE
William Schweke, Smart Money: Education and Economic Development, Washington, DC, Economic Policy Institute, 2004.
Labels: AYP, education, elementary, k-12, NCLB, public, schools, secondary
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