This may explain it

Editorials

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

WHY ARE so many of the state’s very good suits so interested in reforming education? After all, the Waltons, etc., surely could take it easy at this stage of their lives and fortunes. 

Here’s our theory: Besides an affection for Arkansas that we all share, a common bond unites these entrepreneurs—an interest in economics. And no one interested in this state’s economy can afford to ignore its schools. Should these philanthropists be tempted to slack off, news stories like this one the other day will remind them of what’s at stake—and should remind all of us: 

Economist: Ark. job picture less than rosy 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP)—An economic forecaster says Arkansas’ lack of tech-related jobs plus a shrinking manufacturing base has given the state an unemployment rate slightly higher than the national rate. 

Jeff Collins is director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. He says job growth in the state is presently dominated by lower paying jobs. 

Collins noted that the Whirlpool plant in Fort Smith is cutting 200 jobs. That plus other recent layoffs and closures will take nearly one-thousand manufacturing jobs away. Collins says service jobs are filling the gap, but they don’t pay as well. 

Collins says the state needs more educated workers, so they can perform jobs in tech-related fields. Only one in five Arkansans has graduated from college. And Collins says people with low educational levels are most vulnerable to losing their jobs. Low-skill positions are the ones most easily moved to plants in countries with low wages. 

The emphasis is ours. It should be the Legislature’s, the gubernatorial candidates’, and everybody’s. Not just for the sake of the state’s economy but its general well-being. A well-educated state isn’t just a richer state but a better state all around.