| |
Paul
Schaumburg
Education
and Economic Development
September 2004
Western
Kentucky's schools, colleges, and universities play a key
role in developing the area's economy. That's according
to an economic development expert who visited the Graves
County Schools recently. Many of our educational institutions
offer high quality instruction as a selling point for prospective
industries to locate here; however, he says, the schools
also need to add more advanced concepts to the curriculum
in several subject areas. I can think of no other topic
more critical to the future of western Kentucky. It demands
our attention now.
Tom
Welch is the director of Seeding Innovation in the Kentucky
Department for Innovation and Commercialization for a Knowledge-Based
Economy. Welch's organization focuses on adapting Kentucky
to the global economy of the 21st Century. Even with the
quality of many area schools, the educational level of the
entire population is too low, he says. For example, the
percentage of Kentuckians over the age of 25 with less than
a 9th grade education is well over 11 percent, compared
to a national average of less than 7 ½ percent. More
than 80 percent of American adults have earned a high school
diploma or higher, compared to 73 percent of Kentuckians.
Nearly one-quarter of American adults hold a bachelor's
degree or higher. In some western Kentucky counties, that
rate is cut in half.
So,
if the quality of many of our schools is high, why are those
numbers so low? Between 1995 and 2000, nearly 1,400 Kentuckians
in their 20s holding bachelor's degrees left the commonwealth.
It's a phenomenon known as "Brain Drain." In the
same period, more than 6,000 people with less than a high
school education migrated into Kentucky.
Welch
says the lack of ability to generate knowledge reinforces
itself. The most entrepreneurial individuals want to be
where the action is, so they move and the overall wealth
of the region decreases. Countries and states that can't
produce new knowledge will have to sell their labor at lower
and lower rates. His figures show that between India and
China alone, 1 ½ billion workers are available, ten
times the number as in the United States. And, many workforces
abroad will work longer hours for much lower wages.
Many
countries, states, and institutions continue to invest primarily
in things a person can see and touch, even though two-thirds
of the global economy is already a knowledge economy. Welch
says the most important thing in the new economy is knowledge.
In
recruiting industry, he says, we should emphasize the high
quality of our best schools, but all of our schools need
to align their curricula with industry's needs in the new
knowledge based economy. Kentucky schools, colleges, and
universities need to teach rigorous courses that respond
to needs in the biosciences, environmental and energy technologies,
human health and development, information technology and
communications, and materials science and advanced manufacturing.
Well
beyond the traditional courses, important topics today include
astrobiology, biotechnology, alternative fuels, genomics,
artificial intelligence, biopolymers, nanotechnology, and
quantum computing.
Welch
spoke to the faculty and staff of the Graves County Schools
as well as local economic development leaders. His message
was both sobering and hopeful. While his presentation made
it obvious that western Kentucky has much work to do, the
specifics of his message provide an excellent starting point
in efforts to improve.
To
learn more, email Tom.Welch@KY.gov.
|
