History

Since the organization’s inception in 1983, the Roundtable has been highly engaged in efforts to improve public education and ensure every student is prepared for success in work, college and life.

Given the nature of the intensely competitive, global economy, the level of skills today’s young people will need to achieve that success is much higher than it was for past generations.  For this reason, the Roundtable is highly focused on policy efforts that will continue to improve the quality of public education, raise student achievement and ensure every child is work- and college-ready.

Priorities for 2008:

Provide every student with the opportunity to pursue post secondary education and family wage work. 
Students have limited opportunities for family-wage work without some form of education after high school. The high school diploma should be updated to certify that, at a minimum, students are ready for post-high school education or training without remediation. In addition, no student – regardless of race or income – should be denied the chance to apply to a four-year college. This means all students should have access to a high school curriculum aligned with the state’s minimum college admissions requirements. Achieving these goals will require the state to unify and accelerate recruitment, training and compensation strategies to address the shortage of qualified math and science teachers. Lastly, the diploma must signify that a high school graduate can read, write, compute and reason. The legislature absolutely must maintain its commitment to the state’s basic graduation requirements in reading and writing.