The Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE) released its slate of endorsed candidates for Seattle School Board on Tuesday. Endorsements are based on several points that support success for Seattle’s children and job growth for our region. Those include aligning classroom curricula with emerging employer needs, preparing students for post graduation education success, and maintaining current efforts to support overall student and teacher performance.
Endorsed candidates are:
“A strong economy starts with an excellent education system,” said CASE Board Chair Rich White. “We want our children to have good jobs in our evolving, and highly competitive, global economy. So we must ensure they have the necessary skills, and that starts with K-12 education.”
The need for a strong education system and alignment is also evident in the recently released results of the 2011 Job Sector Survey, an annual survey spearheaded by the Seattle Metro Chamber. The survey found that one in four employers recruit outside the area to find top talent.
CASE Executive Director George Allen finds this alarming. “CASE represents a wide array of employers that share this concern,” explained Allen. “What local industries and our community need is a better pool of local and skilled employees.”
In July, CASE endorsed candidates in the primary races for Seattle City Council, King County Council and Port of Seattle Commission. CASE does not plan to issue additional recommendations for the general election.
More than 40 companies from sectors including restaurants, retail, manufacturing, construction, tourism and recreation, real estate, finance, professional services, transportation and life sciences joined together in June 2011 to launch CASE. It supersedes the Alki Foundation, which dissolved last year in favor of CASE and the opportunity to have greater reach, relevance and support for endorsed candidates.