9486 in the collection
CEOs to governors: Schools don’t make the grade
Typical corporate line. Repeat the lie that American youth are not "competitive." Read Gerald Bracey's research on international tests.
Gordon Trowbridge and Mark Hornbeck
ACME, Mich. -- Two titans of the high-tech economy told the nation's governors on Saturday that their states are not doing enough to educate students for technology-heavy jobs or to clear the way for investment by their companies.
"We're not competitive in our education programs," Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive of AT&T, told the National Governors Association annual meeting here. "Our education system is falling flat."
Stephenson also had tough words for states that he said put up regulatory roadblocks to investment by companies such as his. Asked by Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen what role states should play in monitoring or regulating the spread of broadband technology, Stephenson said, "Increasingly, your role is ... to stay out of the way."
The AT&T chief and Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, spoke to the opening business session of the governors' 99th annual meeting at Grand Traverse Resort in northern Michigan, a session focused on how states can boost business innovation and economic growth. Both had plenty of advice, suggesting that governors' most important role was to boost education and knock down regulatory walls.
Schmidt, a pioneering Internet executive, encouraged states to show more daring in looking for better ways to increase student performance in public schools.
"Almost anything we try is going to give us more information," Schmidt said. "Why not simply try five different things and see what kind of results you get?"
But it was Stephenson, who has held the top job at AT&T for less than two months, who had the toughest words for the more than 30 state chief executives in attendance. He said that an AT&T agreement with its largest union to bring back 4,000 jobs that had been outsourced to India was struggling because of faulty U.S. education standards. "We're struggling to find qualified candidates to fill those 4,000 jobs."
He praised Michigan and other states that have consolidated franchising processes for cable television, allowing companies such as AT&T to work out blanket agreements with state governments rather than individual deals with dozens of cities and counties. But when several governors -- including the Democratic Bredesen, and Vermont Republican Jim Douglas -- asked if states shouldn't establish rules to protect consumers or require companies to extend broadband lines to rural areas, Stephenson pushed back. He said the best thing governors could do to encourage economic growth was to knock down regulatory barriers.
You can reach Gordon Trowbridge at (202) 662-8738 or gtrowbridge@detnews.com.
— Gordon Trowbridge and Mark Hornbeck
The Detroit News
2007-07-21
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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