II. EDUCATION FOUNDATION

VISION:
Before 2024 the Wichita MSA will:
Have a globally competitive educational system that encourages and supports life-long learning and contributes to the social, cultural and economic vitality of our diverse community.

STRATEGIES:
A. Skills Training and Life-long Education
Provide a world-class system and facility for adult basic education, technical education programs and customized training.

• Adult basic education will provide the soft skills and literacy necessary for potential employees to be competitive.
• Technical education will result in technical or associate degrees.
• Customized training will be competitive and meet the needs of specific businesses to retain and create new jobs in the Wichita MSA.

The system should be flexible and have the ability to adapt to trends, address diversity and allow career path advancement. The system will provide opportunities for current young people, jobholders, retirees or the unemployed to increase their education, skills and productivity. The educational infrastructure must: 1) be organized and coordinated with input from businesses on issues like the number of projected vacancies; 2) provide required skills; 3) encourage industry infrastructure investment. Two major challenges are obtaining this business input and its interpretation by the educators because of the fast pace of change and global competition. A single point of contact will be established that will direct potential employers and employees to the right place. Educating and training replacements for retirees in the next five years will be a high priority. Promote technology careers for our 8 to 25 year olds.

B. Post-secondary Education
1. Create an awareness of the Wichita MSA as a college mecca and learning community. Increase the number of students in all area colleges and universities. Provide graduate level education with a world-class faculty and research facilities. Provide curriculum, programs and research that supports the Wichita MSA employer’s high paying targeted job sectors. Increase research grants. Identify future technologies that can be developed in the Wichita MSA and provide the research and incubation for commercialization in the Wichita MSA.

2. Market our universities and colleges to attract out of state students, women, minority students and international students. Encourage students to remain in the Wichita MSA for employment.

3. Coordinate the education process so that students requiring licensing and/or certification can be streamlined into the workforce sooner.

4. Provide a seamless opportunity for transfer from and among certificate programs and community/technical colleges to four-year colleges and universities.

5. Provide and market a coordinated program to assist young adults to obtain financial assistance for higher education. Encourage more employers to reimburse tuition costs for their employees.

6. Market real world education for managers and supervisors so they can serve as role models, mentors and advisors.

C. K-12
1. Expect all students to graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills (including basic life skills and critical thinking skills) to either immediately enter the workforce or attend certified training, technical college/community college or university. Beginning at kindergarten, the school systems will ensure that each student performs at or above expected grade level. Throughout the student experience maintain the highest expectations for achievement and success. Ensure educational equity is achieved for students of all races, ethnicity, economical circumstance and special education needs.

2. Expect parents to be involved in their schools and be accountable for the education and behavior of their children. Provide mentoring and education opportunities for parents to fill this role. Help with reading and other homework is a very important parental input. When the parent is unable or unwilling to provide this input the community will provide mentors and tutors from businesses, faith-based institutions, civic clubs, retirees, older students and other organizations. Every student who needs a mentor will have one. The Wichita MSA will be a mentor-focused community with an active center for mentor programming and a positive marketing campaign.

3. Increase public school teacher pay and attract the best teachers. Hold teachers and administrators accountable for student performance. Support and recognize teachers in their difficult jobs and reward those that have greater skills and student success.

4. Encourage employers and industry associations to create apprenticeship and internship programs for high school students. This will be a partnership with the school system as it provides these students an academic education and technical education in their area of interest. Communicate to students that we want them to stay in our community. Increase the dialogue between teachers, students (starting in middle school), career counselors and employers about the requirements and career lattice opportunities in today’s and tomorrow’s workforce (career lattice demonstrates how skills can be used to move horizontally and vertically).

5. Insist that students and faculty are respectful of each other and that there are high standards of discipline. Empower teachers to have a disciplined classroom and encourage parental support of discipline. Ensure character mentoring and modeling activities are in every classroom and adopted as a community initiative. Each school and classroom will have a friendly and welcoming environment with professional teachers that concentrate on teaching and educating students in a positive environment. Each person will feel valued and respected.

6. Recognize the absolute importance of assessment of student progress compared to required standard levels of performance. Ensure that the curriculum, performance standards and assessment tests represent what our young people need to learn to be successful citizens.

7. Return to neighborhood schools that will allow parents to become more engaged in their children’s education.

8. Ensure that all school systems are prepared to utilize the latest technology for classroom instruction and administrative support in order to support increased productivity. Teach students to think in a way that allows quick adaptation to new needs for industry.

9. Decrease K-6 class size; increase resources and support staff to ensure student achievement and advancement.

10. Enhance and support fine arts/music education in schools recognizing their contribution to academic achievement.

11. Encourage public school systems to cultivate, embrace and support programs and events that are inviting to minority children.

12. Reduce the amount of documentation required by teachers and allow more individual time with students.

13. Increase the number of college prep programs including International Baccalaureate programs.

14. Provide all day kindergarten.

15. Focus on improving and marketing schools in older neighborhoods to reduce urban flight.

D. Birth-K

Expect all children to enter kindergarten ready to learn at the kindergarten level by:
a) Identifying reading deficiencies early and help birth-K parents and teachers with programs
that result in each child being ready for kindergarten.
b) Improving access to birth-K programs including Headstart, educational daycare, etc.
c) Including programs for parents and children to address language skills and social development
of birth-K within the community.
d) Providing more qualified pre-school teachers in daycare and birth-K programs.

E. General
1. Maintain continuous communications between all the Wichita MSA and appropriate Kansas educational institutions and the business community to address business needs, opportunities in targeted high paying job sectors/emerging job sectors and implement constant changes required to remain competitive in a global knowledge based economy. Involve parents and students in this partnership to develop an understanding of the broad range of opportunities available in the Wichita MSA job market.

2. Regain the entrepreneurial spirit of our past through entrepreneurial education and mentoring programs for students from elementary school through post-secondary education.

3. Develop and support a network of public library locations that ensures the most effective use of resources in the future while also providing residents with convenient access to library services. Encourage libraries to find ways to serve as community and cultural centers for residents of all ages by being friendly, extending service hours, coordinating programs, teaching research skills, offering current technology for those without, providing family resources for reading readiness, and developing material collections that meet the interests and needs of the community.

4. Develop the passion to overcome mediocrity.

5. Provide every family in the Wichita MSA with high speed Internet.

6. Encourage and facilitate teaching English as a second language.