Gov. Easley Gives Keynote Address at National Education Conference

Focuses on Increasing High School Graduation Rates, Helping Students Get to College

Raleigh- Gov. Mike Easley today said American education must be reformed to become more innovative and break down the barriers between high school and college so citizens can succeed in the global economy.  Easley’s remarks were part of the keynote address he delivered in Washington, D.C. at the Jobs for the Future conference, “Double the Numbers 2007.”

“We must break down the barriers between high school and college,” Easley said.  “No matter where people live, what their economic circumstance, age or school experience, we must help them succeed.  That means we provide every citizen the opportunity to be successful in school and graduate ready for college so they can get a skilled job and become informed, contributing members of their community.”

The goal of the conference is to double the number of low-income students who earn their high school diplomas and go on to complete community college and university undergraduate degrees.  The conference brought several hundred education, community, and business leaders together to examine promising practices and policies developed by schools, school districts, states, the federal government, community college and university systems, and nonprofit organizations.

“In North Carolina, we are thinking outside the box.  When others cut, we invested more in our people,” Easley said.  “We are creating high schools where students want to stay, where they know that college is for them and that they can afford it.”

He noted that Learn and Earn early college high schools, where students in five years of study can get a high school diploma along with either an associate’s degree or two years of college credit, are spreading throughout the state.  There will be 70 by the fall of 2008.  For students who cannot attend one of the Learn and Earn schools, there is Learn and Earn Online that brings college courses to high school students via the Internet.

Easley is also breaking down the financial barriers to college through the newly enacted EARN grants that put a debt-free education within the grasp of every North Carolinian.  All students with a family income of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible to receive two years of college debt free.

“America cannot be chained to old-fashioned systems that were put in place for another day and another time,” Easley said.

For more information on the governor’s Learn and Earn initiatives, go online to www.nclearnandearn.gov.  There is more information on Jobs for the Future at www.jff.org.