Education is critical to creating jobs, better futures

In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama focused on one of his top priorities — the creation of jobs for the American people. He also made it clear that in order to be competitive, attract new industries, and spur great innovations in America, “we need to invest in the skills and education of our people.” Education reform is a huge focus for the Obama Administration, and he used the SOTU to outline his goals: “instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform.” He continued, “In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education.”

Sound familiar? Earlier this week, Delaware Governor Jack Markell committed to creating “an environment for new prosperity. We will … provide our children a world-class education so they can work in first-class jobs.”

In Delaware, we know how to create world-class schools, but we need to prove we have the will to make it happen. Vision 2015 gave us a widely-accepted blueprint, and the Markell Administration has recently committed to bold reforms in its education agenda and Race to the Top proposal. Do we now have what it takes to improve schools and benefit generations to come?