Workforce readiness

Missouri’s failing education system has a real impact on the state’s economy.
The problem is bigger than any one student or any one community. This is a problem for our entire state.

Missouri is falling behind in the race to have a highly qualified and well-educated workforce.

Consider these facts:

• Compared to the nation and to neighboring states, Missouri’s economy has hardly grown over the past 20 years.
• Improving Missouri’s education system could bring over a trillion dollars to the state in the next ten years.
• Only 15 % of Missouri business owners believe that Missouri high schools are preparing students for the workplace.

Although Missouri has one of the highest graduation rates in the country, many graduates find themselves unprepared when they enter college or the workforce as a result of the education they received in Missouri schools.

It is time for Missouri to take control of its future

Missouri must improve its education system if it hopes to create the workforce of tomorrow.

Doing so will require innovative thinking to expand access to high-quality schools that fit students’ needs and reinvigorate both the rigor and curricula in those schools.

Other states have found success in improving college outcomes and their workforce by creating systems that allow students and parents greater access to charter and private schools.