business backgrounder | economy
“I have seen what a bridge looks like in the bottom of a
river. I do not want to see that scene again.”
— Gov. Jay Inslee, reiterating his call for the Legislature to pass a
comprehensive transportation package by the Apple Cup
It’s a serious problem, but it’s really a symptom of a host of larger challenges
facing the education community, according to the Policy Summit’s education
panelists.
The challenges include the rising cost of higher education, the flexibility
— or lack thereof — for colleges and universities to make changes quickly,
the lack of “soft skills” among today’s young people, and changes in society
that impact families.
Panelists included Brian Benzel, vice president of finance and administration
at Whitworth University; Earl Hale, retired director of the Washington State
Board for Community & Technical Colleges; and Lee Huntsman, University of
Washington president emeritus. Doug Bayne, director of resources at the Walla
Walla Community College Foundation and then-chair of the AWB board of
directors, served as the moderator.
The rising cost of higher education has been well-documented, but Huntsman
said the “rebalancing” of higher education from a public benefit to a private
benefit is the “elephant in the room.” In other words, tuition now pays for a
majority of the cost of college, not state funding, which peaked in 1971.
Educators recognize that employers are having a hard time finding young
people with the right skills, the panelists said, and they’re working on ways
to address the problem. But adding STEM programs — science, technology,
engineering and math — isn’t just the responsibility of educators. Students must
want to take the classes.
The best hope for closing the skills gap, Hale said, is better communication
between the higher education community and the business community.
results washington, transportation, health care
Gov. Jay Inslee used his first Policy Summit address as an opportunity to promote
Results Washington, his push for a more effective and accountable state government.
“I like the idea that state government can someday be as efficient as The Boeing
Company, and I believe that’s possible,” Inslee said.
He also reiterated his call for the Legislature to pass a comprehensive
(Top) Luncheon keynoter Gov. Jay Inslee. (Bottom) AWB
transportation package by the Apple Cup in November.
member Fawn Spady, of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants,
“I have seen what a bridge looks like in the bottom of a river,” he said, referring to
poses a question to TIME Magazine’s Rana Foroohar.
the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River. “I do not want to see that scene again.”
Inslee’s address came just a few weeks before the Oct. 1 launch of Washington’s health exchange, and he used the opportunity to voice
his support for the program. But the next two spots on the agenda offered more skeptical takes on the Affordable Care Act.
Hadley Heath, senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s forum, said the goals behind the president’s controversial law are
laudable, but the number of regulations contained in it — some 20,000 — and the number of unknowns it has raised are both daunting.
Heath then joined a panel discussion on the subject of health care beside Dr. Lee Antles, an Olympia physician; Jeff Roe, executive vice
president of Premera Blue Cross of Washington; and Don Conant, a member of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange board.
They agreed there are many questions about the health law that have yet to be answered, and plenty of reasons to be concerned about
how it will work.
For example, the network of health care providers is shrinking even as hundreds of thousands of people prepare to joi