The greater Seattle region has a very strong economy — according to The Brookings Institution it ranks 4th in the world in terms of per capita GDP. It also ranks near the top of national adult educational attainment indices. It has an innovative, productive, knowledge-based economy, and its workforce is very well educated — sounds like an economist’s dream, doesn’t it?
Yet for more than 55,000 low-income student growing up in South Seattle and South King, education results are shockingly poor. We currently import more talent than we grow locally; the effects are devastating for our children and our communities. The difference in attainment between those who migrate here and those who grow up here is staggering. The Need for Action is Urgent and Growing
- More than 50% of Washington’s children are not ready to succeed when they enter kindergarten(Source: Puget Sound Educational Service District)
- Nearly 43% of low-income students in the Road Map region did not meet the standard on 3rd grade reading(Source: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction)
- A Staggering 67% of low-income students in the Road Map region did not meet the standard for 7th grade math( Source: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction)
- Only 27% of all student in the Road Map region complete a college degree or credential(Source: The BERC Group)
- By 2018, 67% of jobs in the Washington State will require a college degree or credential. (Source: Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce)
The Community Center for Education Results (CCER) was founded to work in partnership with communities and organizations that want to dramatically improve results at all stages of the education continuum, from “cradle through college and career.” The goal of CCER is to make the Puget Sound the region that produces the best-educated people in the world.
Join the Education Results Network to get involved and create change in your own backyard.