Education and
Workforce
Development
Bridging the gap between
academic research and
marketable technologies. |
Why Does it Matter? |
Florida’s economy will depend
heavily on developing and
retaining skilled workers to ensure
economic success and future
growth. There are critical areas of
need facing the state relative to
nursing, teaching, construction
trades, high tech, and other knowledge
base professions, such as
disaster management and hurricane
mitigation — areas where
specialized skills and experience
are indispensable. Without an
educated workforce, Florida will be
unable to compete with other states
to attract qualified individuals to
fill these jobs and recruit new
industries.
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Developing our workforce to
support the needs of business
is critical to improving
Florida’s robust economy and
overall quality of life. Employers need employees that can speak intelligently,
write cogently, and think creatively. Our educational system must
focus on these basic skills. During the last regular legislative session, AIF
supported an economic development plan to diversify the state’s tax base
called the “Innovation Economy.” A central component of this plan is education.
The role of education in the Innovation Economy is to develop a
skilled workforce to support Florida business and to bridge the gap between
academic research and marketable technologies, thereby increasing
our state’s competitiveness in attracting industry and diversifying Florida
based business. Approximately 40% of children in Florida will never go to a
2- or 4-year college; therefore, greater emphasis must be placed on vocational
training at the middle and high school levels. The development of “Career
Academies” is but one way to address the need for more workforce training.
Last session, the Legislature authorized the “21st Century Technology,
Research and Scholarship Act” which creates the “World Class Scholars Program”
and expands the “Centers of Excellence Program” within the state
university system. The goal was to diversify the economy by attracting experts
in biomedical sciences, regenerative health, and marine sciences to
develop services and products in these areas. To be successful, Florida will
need an educated and trained workforce in all business sectors that will be
able to fill the jobs needed to run these projects.
This year, there are several pieces of legislation being proposed that are
designed to support workforce development in a variety of ways. Listed
below are a few of the ideas that made the Speaker’s 100 Ideas book:
- Systematically and sequentially replace the Sunshine State Standards
with new, world-class curriculum comparable to those found in the
leading education systems in the world.
- Create career academies and career training programs that allow
students to become industry certified in a technical field, both as
part of and after their high school education.
- Provide our elementary school children with the advantages of
learning a second language by encouraging a foreign language
curriculum in all elementary schools.
- Encourage collaboration among universities, businesses, colleges
and specialty public-private partnerships to provide excellent
principal preparation programs.
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