STEMing the tide of Virginia’s educational woes as Terry McAuliffe takes over as gov

When the Virginia Chamber of Commerce handed Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe its “Blueprint Virginia” at the chamber’s yearly Economic Summit in Williamsburg, there weren’t many surprises. The ‘blueprint’ asks the soon to be governor to place a greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering, math (also known as STEM) and health instruction at all levels of education. The blueprint also “calls for vigorous efforts to retain Virginia military assets and support military families and veterans.”

Blueprint Virginia is the Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s plan for economic development and business leadership, and it was received with open arms by Terry McAuliffe. According to one source, McAuliffe informed over 600 business leaders in attendance during the summit that the blueprint will be a “valuable resource” as McAuliffe’s administration develops Virginia’s economic plan for the next 48 months.

While the Virginia Chamber of Commerce isn’t exactly a bastion of progressivism, it certainly realizes the importance of ensuring that Virginia’s next generation of job seekers actually have the skills necessary for America’s increasingly sophisticated economy.

Unfortunately, for all of the hours that many U.S. children spend receiving instruction, the U.S. ranks low in the STEM disciplines compared to other countries around the world. Longer term, what this trend means is that as more STEM jobs open up, there won’t be enough American workers who have the skills or knowledge to take them. Enter workers from other countries…

In my humble opinion, it’s not Duck Dynasty or any of the other mind-numbing shows on TV that are adding to America’s education woes, it’s the way that we as Americans approach education. More work, more hours spent in instruction, and standardized tests have continuously failed the test of effectiveness. It’s time to reevaluate how we as Americans approach educating our country’s youth.

Virginia’s business community and Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe appear to be fully aware of Virginia’s weakness in the STEM disciplines. The only questions are will the latter have the political will to shake Virginia’s educational system into high gear and will the former put its money where its mouth is by offering incentives for students to enter into and complete STEM lines of study?