{"id":28428,"date":"2017-07-06T12:35:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T17:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=28428"},"modified":"2017-12-01T11:52:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T17:52:14","slug":"as-cities-in-oklahoma-woo-innovative-industries-researchers-say-schools-are-a-weak-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2017\/07\/06\/as-cities-in-oklahoma-woo-innovative-industries-researchers-say-schools-are-a-weak-link\/","title":{"rendered":"As Cities in Oklahoma Woo Innovative Industries, Researchers Say Schools Are a Weak Link"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_28433\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-28433\" alt=\"General Electric's new Oil and Gas Technology Center in Oklahoma City.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-620x413.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/07\/20170705-GE-tech-center-001-WEB-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">VICTOR A. POZADAS \/ KOSU<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">General Electric&#39;s new Oil and Gas Technology Center in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>A new report from the Brookings Institution says Oklahoma City is positioned for growth. It says the city has a solid layer of infrastructure essential for development \u2014 and diversifying the economy.<\/p><p>But there\u2019s a threat to this development, and that\u2019s a potentially weak workforce. Some researchers say local officials need to ensure schools provide the training innovative companies need. And they need to be doing it now.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/331964443&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p><p>Scott Andes of the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution says Oklahoma City can beat out international competitors \u2014 not by innovating within a single industry \u2014 but instead by finding ways for its industries to work together.<\/p><p>\u201cIn the report we talk about how to form linkages between health care and energy,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do you take some of the great technologies being developed by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation or OU and find ways to connect them to, say, Devon Energy?\u201d<\/p><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/research\/positioned-for-growth-advancing-the-oklahoma-city-innovation-district\/\">report<\/a> focuses specifically on a small corridor of Oklahoma City near the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center and General Electric\u2019s new Oil and Gas Technology Center. Andes and others have dubbed areas like these potential \u201cinnovation districts.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cYou\u2019ve got an extremely small area that\u2019s extremely research intensive,\u201d Andes says. \u201cThe question becomes: How do we take that great capacity and build jobs and companies around it?\u201d<\/p><p>Andes said if Oklahoma City\u2019s leaders can make it easier for these major industries to collaborate, then other tech-savvy companies will want to set up shop here, too. That can bring in more high-paying jobs, and diversify the local economy for years to come.<\/p>\n<h3>Bet on Workforce<\/h3><p>The idea of blending education and technology is catching on in other cities, too. Broken Arrow, for example, is planning an innovation district <a href=\"http:\/\/publicradiotulsa.org\/post\/innovation-district-works-broken-arrow\">centered around a new manufacturing and technology<\/a> campus.<\/p><p>Andes said city leaders have work to do if they want these districts to succeed. Cities need to invest more money in infrastructure where innovation among these different business sectors can occur. He suggests building an \u201cOklahoma Center for Energy and Health Collaboration\u201d. But, he says, city leaders also need to nourish their workforce.<\/p><p>\u201cYou cannot have a well-functioning innovation district, one that\u2019s both inclusive and impacts the broader economy, without a clear pipeline through your education system,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>This includes K-12 education and other workforce development programs, but Andes questions whether the state itself is spending enough money to get Oklahoma school children where they need to be to thrive in the 21st-century economy. He said if Oklahoma doesn\u2019t increase its K -12 investment soon, the state might lose out.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen companies and others start making their bets around the world, are they going to look at Oklahoma City? If you don\u2019t have the workforce it won\u2019t happen,\u201d he says.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Legislature is \u2018not acting\u2019<\/h3><p>Oklahoma City Council member Ed Shadid is taking the Brookings study and running with it.<\/p><p>He said the findings are just more evidence the city needs to take <a href=\"http:\/\/kosu.org\/post\/teacher-year-oklahoma-moves-texas-money\">education funding matters<\/a> into its own hands.\u00a0 Shadid has <a href=\"http:\/\/kosu.org\/post\/income-tax-proposed-raise-funds-oklahoma-city-public-schools\">proposed<\/a> a temporary, city-wide income tax to give city teachers raises and hire more of them, which would help reduce class sizes.<\/p><p>\u201cObviously it\u2019s not your first choice for a funding mechanism for Oklahoma City Public Schools,\u201d Shadid says. \u201cBut we\u2019ve waited for years for the legislature to step up and find a solution. And it\u2019s not acting.\u201d<\/p><p>Others city leaders, and school district administrators have expressed a desire to have more local power over school funding, but Shadid is among the first to take action. Other city council members <a href=\"http:\/\/kgou.org\/post\/education-leaders-question-oklahoma-city-infrastructure-funding-proposal\">oppose the income tax plan<\/a>, but all agree that local schools are one of the biggest factors in economic development.<\/p><p>So, Shadid says now is the best time to step up and help the schools in the area\u2014and ensure growth for the future.<\/p><p>Shadid said the city\u2019s largest school district \u2014 Oklahoma City Public Schools \u2014 has been in constant crisis mode over the last couple of years due to about $40 million in state cuts, and he worries these cuts will have long-term effects on the quality of the workforce coming out of local schools.<\/p><p>\u201cThese companies need them to be as educated as possible,\u201d he says. \u201cBut when we continue to lose teachers to surrounding states because they pay so much more money, and when we continue to cram more and more children into the same classroom, it makes it very, very difficult for kids to get the attention that they need and crave.\u201d<\/p><p>If Oklahoma City wants to grow and flourish in the future, Shad says it can\u2019t want on the Legislature to increase school funding.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to look to local solutions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new report from the Brookings Institution says Oklahoma City is positioned for growth. It says the city has a solid layer of infrastructure essential for development \u2014 and diversifying the economy.But there\u2019s a threat to this development, and that\u2019s a potentially weak workforce. Some researchers say local officials need to ensure schools provide the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":28433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[855,709,710,711],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28428"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28442,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28428\/revisions\/28442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}