Education & Workforce

2009 Bills attached to this issue

Much work has been accomplished in recent years to increase the performance of Florida’s students in reading and math, in accelerated college coursework, and on state and national assessments. Last year, Florida’s Legislature passed, with strong AIF support, important legislation that added to the school accountability system for high school grades and updated and improved the Sunshine State Standards for K-12 education. However, Florida continues to lag on several indicators of college and career readiness, most notably graduation requirements.

Newly elected President Barack Obama has already been working on a federal economic stimulus plan that will possibly infuse resources in many areas. In the education arena, President Obama’s plan will undoubtedly focus on expanding access to educational technology and pre-kindergarten. Research shows that each dollar devoted to the nurturing of young children can eliminate the need for far greater government spending on remedial education, teenage pregnancy and prisons. Similarly, research shows an improvement in student engagement and achievement with the addition of access to technology.

Workforce development continues to be a huge issue for AIF and the business community as access to the best prepared and knowledgeable employees becomes even more critical during these recessionary times. According to the Agency for Workforce Innovation, there currently are 11 Banner Centers, based at either a Florida community college or university. Despite recent downturns in the economy, it is critical to continue to adapt to new technologies and industries that will ultimately restore the strength of Florida’s economy. Banner Centers and their education partners help train Floridians in 10 sectors such as alternative energy, aviation/aerospace, biotechnology, construction, digital media, energy, health sciences, homeland security, logistics and manufacturing. Additionally, AIF strongly supports the “Ready to Work” program for career choice training. More than 40% of Florida students will not go to post-secondary education, so we should create innovative programs that will transition them into very good paying jobs in industry and commerce.

In the higher education arena, Governor Charlie Crist recently proposed a set of university reforms that allow the state’s public universities to increase tuition by up to 30% with a portion of the increase set aside for financial aid. Additionally, the 2008 Legislature created a pilot program of nine state colleges (as part of the Florida College System) to expand affordable access to the baccalaureate degree. Taken together, these changes, which could be written into law by the 2009 Florida Legislature, represent major changes to the state’s public higher education system.

Many issues need to be addressed and balanced as legislation moves forward including, most importantly, the continued commitment by all parties to the decades-long tradition in Florida of a seamless transition of students between community college and state universities. Additional considerations must focus on maintaining the strength of the current college systems as these changes are occurring during a time of very limited financial resources. The ultimate benefit of these changes will be a system of public higher education in Florida that is more competitive; this will be a long-term driver of economic success for our students and our state.

Other education issues that may emerge during the 2009 session include, but are not limited to:

• Class size – flexibility in plans to fulfill the very expensive mandates of the class-size constitutional amendment; the importance of this issue continues due to state revenue shortfalls
• School choice – legislation is likely to be proposed as a resolution to recent court decisions regarding school choice

Given the current landscape in education and workforce issues, AIF will concentrate on the following for the 2009 session:

College & Career Readiness

AIF will prioritize SUPPORT for increased rigor in high school course offerings and graduation standards particularly relating to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), to assure the workforce is prepared for the upcoming creative economy. This continues to be AIF’s top priority in education. For example, legislative efforts to add more rigorous core course requirements to Florida’s high school graduation standards and to create STEM magnet schools should be considered as important steps toward achieving more gains in the core subject areas. We must produce a workforce that can compete in a global economy — not just with other states. Increasing school standards will help narrow the gap, but we must also stress the importance of creative courses such as art and music, which help nurture the entrepreneurial spirit and help keep students from dropping out.

Education and Federal Economic Stimulus

AIF will work with state policy makers to capitalize any available federal economic stimulus support for education technology and pre-kindergarten with a focus on increased access, improvements to student achievement, and additional teacher professional development. Maximizing federal support will allowfor a short-term boost to job creation that will also lead to longer term competitiveness through better prepared students for 21st century technology skills.

Banner Centers for Workforce Development

AIF will SUPPORT the continuation and expansion of Florida’s Banner Centers for Workforce Development, which support economic growth by bringing together industry and education to identify training needs and create training programs that can be shared statewide, thus reducing duplication. By bringing together educational leaders and employers, these centers are able to design and create curriculums around industry standards and make them available to schools around the state. The emphasis is around target industry clusters that create high-paying, high-tech jobs. These banner centers provide a pipeline for ready-to-go employees and provide the necessary training future business leaders require to be successful from the very start of their careers.

Higher Education

AIF will closely monitor university tuition policy changes and the implementation of the “state college system” to ensure that the needs for Florida’s universities to compete nationally are balanced with the needs of students for affordable access to higher education. The number one goal is to achieve a seamless transition between the entire postsecondary continuum (community colleges, state colleges, universities, private for-profits, and private non-profits), while ensuring each institution has the necessary autonomy and accountability so as to best prepare Florida’s future workforce.