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Home / Washington Business - Spring 2003 / AWB Must Address Education Carefully and Thoughtfully |
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AWB Must Address Education Carefully and Thoughtfully |
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Written On: Spring 2003 |
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Written By: By Heidi Stanley, Board Chair |
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Did you know our association has been an international leader in education? Business Week started at the Association of Washington Business (AWB) almost 30 years
ago and has spread across the nation and into some foreign lands. The concept of providing economic education and linking business leaders with high school students began at the Association of Washington Business.
That success tells us we can improve education if we have the right approach.
We need to bring that same energy and commitment to bear in our state. In a sense, we have been the missing link in our state’s education debate. That’s not the case in other states. For example, the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry (NCCIB), AWB’s sister organization, has been deeply involved in education for years, and its
president chairs the state board of education. NCCIB is making a difference in education in North Carolina.
So, I’ve asked our Vice Chair, Mike Bernard, to chair an AWB Education Task Force. This is not an easy assignment, and I’m asking for your help as well.
While AWB has struggled over the years to find a comprehensive education strategy, many of our members have a good deal of knowledge, experience and expertise in
education. For example, former AWB chairs Phyllis Campbell and Dick Davis have been regents at Washington State University (Campbell is still currently on the Board of
Regents). Immediate past chair Fred Stabbert is on Seattle Pacific University’s Board of Trustees. Gerri Coleman is on the Workforce Education and Coordinating Board, and Jack
McRae is a member of the Edmonds Community College Board. Mike Bernard is among many AWB members who have served on a school board (Issaquah).
AWB Needs Focus on Education
So, we have the expertise and commitment—but not the focus.
Ironically, that diversity of interest has been AWB’s problem. We’ve also been handicapped by a lack of staff to address education. Frankly, other more pressing issues, such as workers’ compensation, have been a higher priority.
Over the years we’ve launched attempts to focus on education, but all those attempts failed for the following reasons:
1. No consensus. Our member polls indicate our members are split on the focus. One-third wants us to address support for the K-12 system, another third wants us to address workforce training, and the final third want us to address the four-year colleges and universities. We didn’t develop critical mass in any one level of education.
2. Competing factions. The issue itself is overwhelmingly complex, with armies of competing interests who often not only disagree, but openly fight over control and money. Watching these conflicts from the sidelines has been the safest place for AWB.
3. The money maze. Finally, we can never agree on funding priorities. Education consumes more than 60 percent of our state budget. Over the years we’ve tried to “follow the money” and recommend how to prioritize spending. It is like navigating through a dark maze full of landmines, trap doors and trip wires. So, after peeking around the corner, we’ve chosen to stay out and save ourselves for other issues.
AWB Can’t Sit on the Sidelines
But now, AWB can no longer sit on the sidelines. Our state faces a $2.6 billion budget deficit and our economy continues to struggle. Education must perform its core mission— instructing students—within existing resources. State legislators must carefully target our resources into programs that make a difference. We must apply the principle devised by Gov. Locke and his “Priorities of Government” (POG) task force, i.e., “We can’t afford to do
everything, so we must focus on our core mission and let the rest go.” Simply, there is a better way to educate our students and provide knowledgeable, dependable, trained and
skilled workers.
Because education is so important to our future competitiveness, AWB must do more than simply support charter schools.
So here is what I have asked Mike to do:
1. Be thoughtful and careful. We want to start with the “crawl, walk, run” strategy. We can’t jump into this race and expect to be at full speed tomorrow. We most certainly can’t speed past our members. We must develop a critical mass of support among our members so we can effectively pursue our strategies and positions.
2. We should partner with the Washington Roundtable and aggregate the expertise of the employer community. AWB and the Roundtable have forged a great working relationship over the years and leveraged off each other’s strength.
The Roundtable has a solid Education Committee and graciously invited us to participate as they develop their
strategies. It is our hope that, by working together, AWB and the Roundtable can have a greater impact on education.
3. We must continue to support Business Week and insure its success.
4. We need to forge partnerships on education issues. That’s part of the reason we formed the Institute for Workforce Development and Economic Sustainability. In addition, we’re now working with our state’s community and technical colleges in a partnership to provide more skilled
worker training programs. We need to make that partnership successful.
5. Finally, and most importantly, we must insist that the Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and our legislators deal with education the same way the Governor developed the budget. They have to apply the “Priorities of Government” process to education, and we must be part of that process.
Education is Complicated
This assignment will not be easy, and there will be differences of opinion. That’s healthy, as long as we keep our eye on the goal and don’t personalize our differences.
Finally, as I look at where we are on education, I think back to five years ago when Walt Smith of Active Construction made a passionate plea at the Policy Summit for AWB to engage in transportation. We took on the challenge, even though many critics thought AWB was doomed to fail. But with the leadership of Fred Stabbert and Greg
Tisdel, we succeeded in framing the transportation debate in Olympia on setting priorities, streamlining permitting,
accountability measures, and cost efficiency.
We need that same optimism and commitment as we start to address education, and Mike Bernard will need your help.
Heidi Stanley is Executive Vice President of Sterling Savings Bank headquartered in Spokane.
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