Far from earning a living wage, many Arkansas workers are below the poverty line, and not all of these are in the private sector. The personal care aides enter private homes to care for the elderly and disabled. Because the state considers them contractors, rather than employees, they have no health insurance either. Governments need to pay their own employees more, and the state needs to aim its industrial-recruitment efforts at companies that pay decent wages. This information has been kept secret, which means that the legislature and the taxpayers cannot know if the industrial subsidies are worthwhile or not.
Education is part of the solution to low wages, it's true.
A college education has never been more helpful in obtaining a job that pays well. But education is not the whole solution. In Lake Woebegone, all the children are above average. In Arkansas, no matter how well-educated the work force may become, not all the jobs will be above average. Someone will always have to fill the less desirable openings, and those someones deserve a living wage too.