How will we educate for tomorrow?

A society that fails to invest in education fails to invest in its future. With the closing of the Imagine schools, the verdict being in on the Turner case and the reaccreditation process taking place in public schools, we must ask ourselves how will we choose to educate for tomorrow.

Will we continue to subsidize the privatization of education with public funds without attacking the underlying issues behind underperforming schools? Or will we do what is right for St. Louis and invest in public education. 

Since the people we train today become the workforce for tomorrow, we must choose to invest in community-based schools, free pre-Kindergarten for all starting at age three and technology-based youth programs now, in order to have a competitive workforce for tomorrow’s jobs.

Although the reasons for poor student performance are complex, there are some research-based strategies which have been successful in improving student learning.  

For example, community-based schools are a solution that aims to provide stability outside of the classroom. Community-based schools provide programs and services from universities, businesses, city and state agencies all under the same roof.  Programs and services are geared to help students and families with the greatest needs. A typical community school could stay open through the evening hours for extra tutoring and recreational activities for students in a safe environment. Community partners will offer wrap-around services such as counseling programs, social services, health and dental care. All these efforts focus on the students’  stability outside the classroom, which is necessary for them to be most productive in the classroom.

The research is in on the economic benefits of investing in preschool for children starting at age three conducted by both private and federal researchers. Money spent on early childhood education quadruples the benefits of money spent on adult job training programs and far outpaces investments in high school or college. Every dollar we invest in pre-Kindergarten starting at age three returns seven dollars or more back to the community. Programs that have a high impact and return to the community must be enacted if we want long-term improvement.

Technology-based youth programs are essential for us to create a tech-savvy workforce for tomorrow. The benefits of teaching our young people how to build websites, mobile applications and software programs are two-fold. First, these skills will give our youth the ability to attain passive income from application sales or work in development jobs, both of which create new income opportunities currently not available. And second, the development of a tech-savvy workforce of young people will drive tech businesses to open offices or even headquarters in St. Louis, creating jobs and adding to our tax base.

We can prepare our workforce for the jobs of tomorrow, but it will take bold community action and a paradigm change. We must invest in our future because a failure to invest is a failure to make things better for our children as our parents have done for us. It’s not going to be easy or happen overnight. But if we attack the instability outside the classroom, start educating our children sooner and begin to teach for tomorrow, we can secure a bright future where St. Louis is the shining star of urban economic development.

Samuel J. Cummings III is a candidate for State Representative in Missouri’s 78th District.