NEXT WEEK: Education of your future workforce
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Date: Feb. 17
Time: 7 to 9 a.m.
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Location: Hilton Garden Inn
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Iowa has long had a reputation of leading the nation in public education. Yet in the midst of a hotly contested school funding debate in the Legislature, Iowa was just given a C grade and ranked 19th in overall quality of education by Education Week magazine. A lot of noise, plenty of rhetoric and many questions are coming from many stakeholders, but the heart of this challenge is a common worry for businesses: What if Iowa doesn’t produce enough of the talented and highly educated future leaders my business will need to be successful? To see how businesses can support the improvement of the education system in Iowa, I asked each of our panelists to identify a challenge to educating our future workforce. I hope you find their answers enlightening and hope to see you at our event for a deeper look into Iowa’s education system.
What is the biggest challenge to educating our future workforce?
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| Dave Wilkerson |
“I believe the biggest challenge will be providing real-world experiences for students that are meaningful and provide them with both the soft and hard skills necessary to be successful in the workforce. In my opinion, these MUST occur outside of the traditional classroom setting, as you simply cannot replicate the ‘world of work’ in the classroom. If we don’t confront that challenge in Iowa, we could be faced with significant worker shortages that inhibit the ability of our businesses and economy to grow. Students need to SEE and UNDERSTAND what the workplace looks like. Business and education need to look for continued ways to partner to provide these experiences, partnering that can benefit both business and education.”
-Dave Wilkerson: superintendent, Waukee Community School District
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