New Initiative to Promote Goals of Higher Standards

The Hunt Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation launched a new initiative to support the goals of the Common Core State Standards. The organizations will emphasize their importance to students, while also trying to dispel myths about the standards. The new partnership was announced by Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D), a prominent supporter of the common core, during a press conference in Wilmington, on March 10, 2012.

Read More →
14
Mar 2014
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments

Why do CEO’s support the Common Core State Standards? Craig Barrett, former Intel CEO and chairman and current CEO of BASIS Schools – one of the highest-performing charter school systems in the country – speaks candidly about why businesses and higher education benefit from the Common Core in the Journal Sentinel op-ed, “Why CEO’s Support […]

17
Feb 2014
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS

Turning America’s Education System Around with Common Core

Business leaders Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Governor John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, are straight forward about America’s public education system not making the grade in their op-ed, “Common Core Brings Benefits to Both Education and Our Economy.” This op-ed originally appeared via the McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

Donohue and Engler discuss how K-12 public education is “setting our nation up to fail,” noting that it’s not preparing students for college or career success, not delivering skilled works for businesses and a stronger economy, or enabling our country to compete and lead in the global economy. They conclude that “proficiency in fundamental disciplines is slipping,” and that it is an impending national crisis that requires urgent action at the K-12 level.

Read More →
09
Aug 2013
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments

Survey Finds Employers Still Value Four-Year College Degrees, But Want More

An outcome from The Chronicle of Higher Education and American Public Media’s Marketplace special report found that many employers value a four-year college degree more today than five years ago – as it was stated in The Chronicle’s article, “A College Degree Sorts Job Applicants, but Employers Wish It Meant More.”

Marketplace and The Chronicle commissioned a survey of employers who hire recent college graduates in August and September 2012, to find out how well employers think colleges and universities are preparing students for careers. The report showed that though half of the participating employers surveyed said they have trouble finding recent graduates qualified to fill positions, most colleges do a good job producing successful employees, with room for improvement.

Read More →
03
Jul 2013
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments

Education Governors Tackle College and Career Ready Challenges

By The Hunt Team

Last week, The Hunt Institute and NGA hosted 11 of the nation’s governors in Chicago, Illinois at the 2013 Governors Education Symposium: Advance America | A Commitment to Quality Education. The Symposium, conceived by the Hunt Institute, is designed to bring the nation’s governors together to engage in candid dialogue about critical challenges facing education. Governors Jim Hunt, Dannel Malloy (CT), and Terry Branstad (IA) served as co-chairs and provided strong, thoughtful leadership throughout the discussions.

Read More →
19
Jun 2013
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments

U.S. Businesses Stand United for Common Core | Urge RNC to Support

In a letter to Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Priebus, John Engler, former Michigan governor and current president of the Business Roundtable, made a strong case as to why the Republican Party should support the Common Core State Standards. Governor Engler urged the support of the Republican Party on behalf of 200 or more chief executive officers from across the country.

From the business leaders perspective, Governor Engler stressed to Chairman Priebus the critical relevance of the Common Core State Standards. In addition, he clarified that the Common Core State Standards are not national standards, but, in fact, standards designed by each state and according to specific needs.

Read More →
22
May 2013
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments

Tucson Business Community Rallies for Improved Skilled Workforce

In the Tucson Sentinel article, “Business Leaders: Common Core Standards Will Improve Workforce,” business leaders assembled before the joint session of the House committees on education and commerce on January 16, 2013, to tell state policymakers that the Common Core Standards will help advance the workforce and advocate for Standards funding.

Read More →
22
Jan 2013
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments

Business Leaders and the Common Core

Currently, only one-quarter of America’s K-12 students match the average performance of the top five school systems in the world. Furthermore, business leaders consistently lament the negative impact that workforce shortages and skills deficiencies are having on our economic productivity. This does not have to continue being the case.

In an ever increasingly globalized world, American students must be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete with their international counterparts. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) offer us just that. By placing an emphasis on the skills valued in the workplace – critical thinking, problem solving, and mastery of mathematical concepts – the Common Core has the potential to help stem the widening achievement gap in the United States. Ultimately it will allow American students the opportunity for future competitiveness and employment.

Read More →
15
Aug 2012
AUTHOR The Hunt Team
COMMENTS No Comments