Worlds Best Workforce

 

The state "Striving for the World's Best Workforce" bill was passed in 2013 to ensure every school district in the state is making strides to increase student performance.

As a result, every school district in the state, including Willmar, developed a plan to address the following five goals:

• All children are ready to start kindergarten.
• All third-graders can read at grade level.
• All achievement gaps between students are closed.
• All students are ready for career and/or post-secondary education.
• All students graduate from high school.

Why are we focused on this idea?

To be competitive, we must have students who are career and college ready, poised to lead the state's workforce. This is important for a number of reasons, according to the state:

• Our state's population is aging.
• Some 70 percent of jobs require more than a high school diploma.
• Statewide, we don’t have an adequate number of qualified candidates to fill many good-paying jobs.
• The fastest growing segment of the state's future workforce includes students of color, and they currently have the state’s lowest graduation rate.
• Minnesota has one of the worst black-white achievement gaps in the country.

Read more about what the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) says about "Striving for the World's Best Workforce."