Community Council Report

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

Recommendations are the Study Committee’s specific suggestions

for change, based on the findings and conclusions. They are listed

without prioritization.

Summer 2016

develop self-awareness

and expose them to career

opportunities.

Partnerships among educa-

tional institutions, businesses,

and community organizations

create avenues for students to

engage in internships, men-

torships, job shadowing, and

cooperative learning experi-

ences. Providing students with

opportunities to engage with

local community organiza-

tions and businesses can help

students gain 21st century

skills and expose them to

employment possibilities.

Entrepreneurial education

is important for economic

growth in our region because

it teaches people how to

create new jobs, not simply

fill the ones that already exist.

Investment in an entrepre-

neurial ecosystem would pro-

vide access to resources and

foster a culture that expects,

encourages and engages new

ideas and advances innova-

tion. Programs that support

entrepreneurial activities in

partnership with education

can expose students of all

ages to new possibilities while

engaging them with the busi-

ness community.

Investing in educational

programs that support value-

added agriculture could

expand employment opportu-

nities in living-wage jobs and

increase the value of agricul-

tural products in our region.

Improve our community’s un-

derstanding of and commitment

to high-quality education in our

region.

a. Establish an educational attain-

ment alliance that will regularly

inform residents of the eco-

nomic, social and personal ben-

efits of educational attainment.

b. Actively support investments in

learning by educating the public

about the necessity of passing

local levies and bonds and by

advocating for the region’s state

legislators to fully fund pre-K–14

education.

Create an educational culture

that emphasizes the value of each

student, cultivates their talents,

develops their skills and supports

their aspirations so that they are

truly engaged in school and later in

work.

a. Encourage schools to create

environments that are physically

and emotionally safe for all.

b. Hire staff and faculty that repre-

sent the racial and ethnic diver-

sity of the student population.

c. Increase the number of guid-

ance and career counselors to at

least the levels recommended by

the American School Counselor

Association (1-to-250) in middle

and high schools.

d. Expand and support high-quality

nontraditional alternatives to

high school completion.

e. Encourage the development of

a formalized education plan for

each individual student, K–12.

f. Invest in the expansion of quality

mentoring programs and sup-

port their effective utilization.

Reduce or eliminate differences

in educational achievement that

are associated with race, ethnicity,

gender, and income.

Enhance outreach, availability and

accessibility of early learning op-

portunities so that 100 percent of

children in the region are prepared

to enter kindergarten at grade level

by age 6.

a. Increase investments in early

learning opportunities in the

region.

b. Educate the community on the

importance of early learning

programs.

Increase and expand trauma-

informed practices in all schools,

pre-K through postsecondary, and

in the community.

Expand and sustain professional

development opportunities.

a. Develop schedules that provide

professionals time to engage

with each other to network and

develop their capacity.

b. Create professional development

opportunities that support the

incorporation of 21st century

skills and project-based learning

into curricula.

Recommendations