| |
Joint Committee on Education; An Act Establishing Early Education for All (H.1175/S.303); Testimony of Cort Boulanger, MHTC
Testimony of Cort Boulanger, Vice President
Massachusetts High Technology Council, Inc.
October 6, 2005
Thank you, Chairman Antonioni and Chairman Haddad.
My name is Cort Boulanger and I am Vice President of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and a member of the Early Education for All Campaign Advisory Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in favor of “An Act Establishing Early Education for All” (H.1175/S.303).
The Massachusetts High Technology Council was formed in 1977 by high tech CEOs whose mission was to help make Massachusetts the most competitive state in which to create, operate, and expand high tech businesses. That remains our mission today. Council members employ hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in all of Massachusetts’s key technology sectors, including computer hardware, life sciences, software, medical products, semiconductor, and telecommunications. Our board includes the executive leadership of tech employers such as Boston Scientific, EMC, Dynamic Research, Genzyme, Teradyne and Thermo Electron.
I would like to recognize the Committee and the entire Legislature for the great strides that have been made in the last year in the area of early education and care, including the creation of the Board and Department of Early Education and Care, new early education investments and initiatives in the FY06 Budget, and the Committee’s own legislation relative to the new Board and Department.
It isn’t everyday that the High Tech Council comes before the Legislature in support of a new program, particularly one that will require significant investment when fully implemented. But this is a true competitiveness issue for Massachusetts and its technology sector because it: provides critical to our economic competitiveness, nationally and internationally; delivers an excellent return on taxpayer investment; would create as system for assessment and evaluation to gauge the progress of the program.
Massachusetts’ burgeoning high technology sector is critical in our state’s continuing efforts to grow the economy. In fact, a recent study by the Massachusetts High Technology Council found that 52 percent of technology chief executives intend to increase recruitment this year and, of those looking to hire, 78 percent anticipate sales increases. A challenge these growing businesses continually face, however, is the lack of a highly educated skilled workforce to fill critical roles in the high technology field. 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. Another recent study ranked the U.S. dead last of 12 competitor nations in generating engineers on an annual percentage basis.
To face this challenge head-on, the Massachusetts High Technology Council is committed to fostering improvement in our pre-K through 16 education system, including pushing for the necessary reform and investment. Ensuring that a child’s first stop in this pre-k through 16 continuum consists of a high-quality developmentally-appropriate early education program is a critical step to that child’s later success in school and in life. In fact, research has shown that children who participate in high-quality early education programs on average outperformed those who did not on school achievement tests between ages 9 and 14, were 30% more likely to graduate from high school and more than twice as likely to go to college. In addition, children with high-quality early learning experiences are 40% less likely to need special education or be held back a grade.
But it is not about need alone; it is also a matter of return on taxpayer investment. Numerous studies have shown that the state will get a direct return on investment th
|
