At a governor's round table on Thursday evening, Gov. Engler said one of the most important components needed to ensure future competitiveness is a well-educated talent pool upon which industry can draw. The education skill level of the workforce is the most serious hurdle of the next decade. The quality of elementary and secondary schools is a disgrace. Our public schools must do better. Our higher education system is world-class because of intense competition.
Public schools lag because there is no competition.
Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci said the Massachusetts success story of bringing down record unemployment and raising an embarassingly low bond rating has restored fiscal stability to the state. The last thing we are doing is improving our public schools. He said he will stand firm on new state regulations that call for students to pass standardized tests before they can graduate from high school. At Friday morning's plenary session, William J. Perry, the Secretary of Defense from 1994-97, called for a return to the national emphasis on science education that preceded the Cold War. A 1997 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he now holds the Berberian chair in engineering, operations research and international studies at Stanford University.