2008 session in review:

Education progress in the works

Manufacturing skills, high school improvement on target

(May 20, 2008) Employers know that the key to fielding a competitive workforce is finding, attracting and keeping people with the right education and training. That’s why Connecticut businesses want to make sure education at all levels gets the attention and support it needs.

Last year, lawmakers and the governor’s administration enacted significant funding and accountability measures for public education. Because of those actions, and with the state’s more tenuous fiscal situation this year, the legislature enacted no major education initiatives in 2008.

Industry standards
However, other progress is still being made outside the legislative arena. For example, the E.C. Goodwin Technical School in New Britain and Oliver Wolcott Tech in Torrington have become the first schools in Connecticut to offer National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) Certification Training.

NIMS is the nation’s only American National Standards Initiative accredited developer of precision manufacturing skills standards. These performance and competency benchmarks define what the metalworking industry wants workers to know and be able to do.

This certification is very important to manufacturers in the state because it gives students the real-world skills that today’s high-tech manufacturing workplace demands. Over the next two years, as the initiative moves statewide, 20 more teachers will be NIMS trained to help Connecticut students meet industry standards.

High school reform
CBIA and the business community have continually called attention to the importance of high school reform so that students graduate with the skills they’ll need to succeed in higher education and in the workforce.

For years, the State Department of Education, educators and the business community have been working to improve Connecticut’s high school curriculum and graduation standards. In a series of meetings across the state over the past year, Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan and the State Board of Education Ad Hoc Committee on Secondary School Improvement have been reaching out to the public to gain more input on how to raise academic standards in Connecticut high schools. CBIA has participated in most of those meetings.

The commissioner and committee are determined to have a study completed prior to the next legislative session that will give the state a better picture of what needs to be done, how it can be accomplished and what the implementation schedule should be.

In order to continue to keep Connecticut competitive in the global economy, quality education must be a high priority, providing businesses with skilled workers and providing residents good jobs and an excellent quality of life.

For more information about education issues, contact CBIA’s Jesmin Basanti at 860-244-1929 or jesmin.basanti@cbia.com.