Kansas faces a workforce shortage emergency, and the keys to addressing it are providing families access to affordable childcare, early education and helping schools teach employability skills, according to the Governor’s Education Council.
To accomplish that goal, education and workforce experts on the council said Kansas policymakers must improve connections between students and businesses, accelerate career opportunities and de-emphasize the political focus on state and national tests in K-12.
Meeting Friday at KASB, members of the council said Kansas must do a better job of teaching students essential job-related skills, such as working as a team member, being able to communicate and resolving differences.
Several members of the council bemoaned the fact that some in the Legislature and critics of public education focus almost solely on the test scores that don’t tell the whole story about how a student is doing.
“Every school district is being guided by a test score,” yet in the workplace, no one is concerned about those measurements, said Fred Dierksen, who is co-chair of the council and superintendent of Dodge City USD 443.
His comments were echoed by others, including workforce experts, who said students should be measured in multiple ways rather than how they scored on a state or national assessment during one day of their K-12 career.
Blake Flanders, who is president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents, said even if a student scores in the bottom levels of state assessments, he or she has many opportunities to pursue higher education.
The council put its finishing touches on recommendations that will be presented to Gov. Laura Kelly next month.
One of the primary recommendations is improving access to childcare and early childhood education.
Melissa Rooker, executive director of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund, noted there are numerous state agencies involved in early childhood issues, which often makes it difficult to get anything done. The council voiced support of a recent proposal by Kelly to centralize childcare programs.
The council also recommended actions that would help all Kansans attain an industry credential, certificate or degree and increase training and pay for teachers to teach data analytics, which is useful in many lines of work.
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