Massachusetts High Technology Journal, April 2005
Guest Commentary By Cort Boulanger

Massachusettsê diverse technology industry is a critical element in our stateês continuing efforts to expand the economy and create high-quality jobs.

A recent study by the Massachusetts High Technology Council found that 52 percent of technology chief executives plan to add jobs in 2005. For displaced technology workers, who in recent years have experienced the downturn of a highly cyclical industry, this is welcome news.

A challenge these growing businesses cyclically face, however, is having a large enough skilled workforce to fill critical roles in different technology sectors. As we recognized the Week of the Young Child last week, it makes sense to highlight the statewide public early education system as an integral part of a technology-focused economic strategy.

Technology business leaders will tell you that the growth of their businesses is directly tied to an active pipeline of innovative and well-trained workers. Early education ensures the seeds of an adequate supply of these productive and capable workers. In addition, the roots of future science competence are established long before formal schooling, and recent neuroscience findings confirm the importance of the link between early experience and subsequent achievement.

In fact, research has shown that children who participate in high-quality early education programs are 30 percent more likely to graduate from high school and more than twice as likely to go to college, dramatically increasing their employability.

With a growing economy comes the worry of tech CEOs and human resource professionals: Where will we find the next generation of skilled workers? The statistical trends are alarming. A recent study by the Manhattan Institute showed that only 34 percent of students graduating from American public high schools had the skills needed to attend college.

This is a national problem, but a technology-based economy such as ours is more at risk. Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to have actually lost population last year. And the future pipeline of tech workers may be running dry: According to the College Board, interest in science and technology careers among the stateês college-bound seniors now stands at 19 percent, down from 26 percent in 1999.

Singapore recently knocked the United States from the top spot in the World Economic Forumês Global IT rankings, in which the quality of math and science education is a significant factor. The United States is now ranked fifth, also trailing Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

Fortunately, attitudes are starting to change, and Massachusetts is now focusing on early education in a comprehensive way. On July 1, 2005, a new, consolidated state Department of Early Education and Care will become operational. The department is charged with overseeing the development and implementation of a program of voluntary, accessible high-quality early childhood education for all preschool-aged children in the commonwealth and the creation of a workforce development system to support the education, training and compensation of the early education and care workforce.

The state must develop a strong curriculum for early education that provides children with the building blocks to succeed in math and science when they arrive at kindergarten. Toward this end, Gov. Mitt Romneyês selections to the Early Education Advisory Board include Christopher Goode, an executive from EMC, a global technology leader that has unwavering local and national commitment to improving our public schools.

Technology leaders in Massachusetts are particularly forward-looking. They are not just focusing on the bottom line for next month but also on the prospects for growth in the coming decades. They recognize that to ensure growth we need an educated workforce that has the fundamental tools required to succeed in these competitive and evolving technology sectors. With its new commitment to high-quality early education and a focus on developing its workforce, the commonwealth is also looking to the future, ensuring that its businesses and its children can reap the benefits that universal high-quality early education offers.

Cort Boulanger is vice president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and a member of the Early Education for All advisory committee.