Dive Brief:
- The Leaders and Laggards report recently released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation assigned grades to state education systems..
- An analysis of the overarching grades indicate that states have been improving their academic records, but still have progress to make before they're truly competitive with the rest of the globe.
- States were graded in 11 areas ranging from reform to excellence. The top state was Massachusetts, which received an "A" in 6 of the 11 categories, while Alabama found itself at the bottom, failing in 9 categories.
Dive Insight:
According to John McKernan, a former governor of Maine and the Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s president, having the business community weigh in on education totally makes sense. “Business has a huge stake in education…businesses are the largest single consumer of our school systems,” McKernan told Daily Caller. He also explained to the news source that the grades and the Chamber's input was a reaction to schools failing to improve themselves, accusing them of failing to keep pace with the private sector's innovations.
With that in mind, its not surprising that STEM education was particularly highlighted when assessing each state. In the past, many students have been deemed unprepared for careers in STEM fields, which would obviously be a tense subject for the business community that relies on these sectors.