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March 19, 2007
Illiteracy and un-economic development
I have been involved with economic development in the District of Columbia for a number of years. With all the technology and economic boom in the Washington area, DC itself is something of the hole in the middle of the doughnut. There has been a construction boon in the District -- but the technology companies (and others) are locating in the suburbs. This is, ironically, in part a consequence of the construction boom -- as more and more A-space office building are built and rents reach the level that only high priced lawyers, lobbyist and first-tier defense contractors can afford. As property values continue to rise, small guys can't afford either the rent or the property taxes (if they were lucky enough to have bought years ago).
The other part of the problem has been worker skills. DC is in the middle of a political battle over the schools -- with the Mayor seeking direct control and the elected School Board fighting back. Both sides agree that DC public schools have failed DC children and that something needs to be done now.
But the school issue is for future generations. What about the workforce here and now? On that score, DC is about to get some devastating news. According to a story in today's Washington Post (Illiteracy Aid Found To Lag In District):
Only 8 percent of District residents with the lowest literacy skills get the remedial assistance they need, according to a new report by the State Education Agency.
. . .
The State of Adult Literacy Report, scheduled to be delivered to the mayor and D.C. Council members today, found that nearly 36 percent, or 170,000, of the District's residents are functionally illiterate, compared with 21 percent nationally.
The news is even worse in some areas. In the poorest Wards, the literacy rate is almost 50%.
The economic consequences are terrible:
The D.C. Chamber of Commerce, which contributed to the report, said the District lost up to $107 million in taxes annually between 2000 and 2005 because of a lack of qualified job applicants.
The second irony of this situation is that the Washington region is one of the most educated areas in the country. DC itself is home to a number of major universities (Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, American, Catholic, etc), with others nearby (Maryland, George Mason, Johns Hopkins).
The new Mayor likes to say that Washington should be a world-class city. But it won't be without a world-class workforce. And that workforce has to encompass both the top and bottom levels. Right now, raising the bottom needs to be our focus. In the I-Cubed Economy, there is no excuse for functional illiteracy. As the slogan of the United Negro College Fund goes, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Brain power is our most important asset. We can't afford to lose any of those minds -- in DC or elsewhere.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at March 19, 2007 8:05 AM
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