Gov. Gregoire, business leaders call for improvement in Washington's high schools

For Immediate Release: February 28, 2005

Gov. Christine Gregoire said today she agrees with Bill Gates� concerns about the nation�s high schools, and said she is committed to focusing on high school reform as part of her proposed education-funding study.

On Saturday, Gates told governors attending the National Education Summit on High Schools in Washington, D.C., that the nation's high schools are obsolete and need radical restructuring to raise graduation rates, prepare students for college and train a workforce that faces increased competition in the global economy.

�The high schools we have today are based on the same model used in 1950s,� Gregoire said. �There�s no question that our high school curriculum did a good job serving the needs of yesterday, but it is a new competitive day.�

High schools today nationwide graduate 35 percent of students college-ready, Gregoire said. That rate does not match society�s needs, as three-quarters of the top 50 fastest-growing jobs require education beyond high school.

�The fact is, today�s global economy is demanding more from our high school graduates,� Gregoire said. �That is particularly true for Washington state, where one in three jobs are tied directly or indirectly to international trade. The new economy is not only generating more new jobs that require a higher level of skills, but the existing jobs are also requiring more education and better training.�

Estimates show that China is graduating 350,000 new engineers per year, in contrast to American universities, which are producing less than 100,000. The U.S. now ranks 17th among developed nations in the percentage of youths graduating from high school. Other countries such as China and India have outdistanced the United States.

Gregoire said that means everyone, including government, teachers, principals, parents and business, must do a better job of supporting and getting young people ready to participate in the global economy.

Kerry Killinger, chairman and chief executive officer of Washington Mutual and a member of Achieve Inc., the nonpartisan organization that co-sponsored the National Education Summit with the National Governors Association, said, �We also need the business community, civic leaders, and parents to stand with the governors in their effort to build the high schools we need, so that one day we'll find that the workers we wish for are, in fact, the graduates we have.�

Terry Bergeson, Washington's Superintendent of Public Instruction, also attending the summit, said, �Realizing that the United States is losing our competitive edge in education was tough to hear. The exciting and helpful outcome was a commitment by state leaders and the business community to support Washington's reform efforts as we build on our world-class educational system.�

Other Washington attendees included Don Nielsen, TeachFirst Inc.; Cheryl Vedoe, Apex Learning; Tom Vander Ark, Gates Foundation; and Ronn Robinson, Achieve Inc.

Gregoire said the education-study legislation she is sponsoring takes a systematic view of the quality and funding issues facing education in Washington state. She said the legislation �will help set the wheels in motion for our kids to succeed in the job market of tomorrow.�

The legislation would ensure that funds provided in education systems, from early learning to higher education, are used effectively and efficiently. The advisory committees in each sector will be charged with:

• Examining ways to support and expand early learning opportunities to assure children are prepared for kindergarten and first grade.


• Ensuring that higher expectations for K-12 students are supported with quality programs and resources.


• Recommending funding strategies to ensure affordable access to colleges and universities.

�Only by looking at the whole system can we make sure our kids leave high school with a foundation of success,� Gregoire said. �When we fail to address the fact that one-third of our kids are dropping out of schools, there is a social cost to that failure, such as increased reliance on social services or a need for new prisons. We simply can�t afford to let our kids fail.�

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