2009 Community Matters Campaign Final Report is here! The 2009 Community Matters Campaign has drawn to a successful close. You can now read or download our 2009 CMC Final Report (PDF, 1MB). You can also view our 2008 CMC Final Report (PDF, 56kb).

 
CityClub's 2009 Community Matters Campaign will explore the issues of education and economic opportunity - two issues of particular urgency in our community today. This year we are partnering with The Seattle Foundation to begin a community dialogue based on the findings of its newly released Healthy Community Report - particularly its education and economic opportunity chapters.

Over the coming weeks CityClub will convene 3,000 participants to discuss what we can/need to do individually and communally to overcome barriers and achieve positive results. In addition, candidates for public office will be asked to comment on the Healthy Community Report during debates presented by CityClub, and media and business leaders will be invited to submit op eds and blog posts.

At the end of the campaign, we will report back to participants and community leaders. Our goal is to begin a dialogue, create buzz and the inspiration to act; to engage our whole community with the data, urgency and opportunity for positive change.

 

Education and Economic Opportunity - The Facts

• Washington leads the nation in jobs for people with degrees in science and engineering but ranks 38th nationally in the number of students graduating with those degrees.¹

• Washington ranks 37th in the nation in high school graduation rates.¹

• The gap between the rich and the poor continues to rise. In 2007, 49% of all income in King County went to the top 20% of households while around 3.5% went to the lowest 20%.²

• 64% of King County’s jobs do not pay a “living wage” for a two-parent household with two children (one parent working). A living wage is the minimum amount of money a family needs to earn to provide the basic necessities of living. For a family like the one above, the living wage is $50,000.²

• A recent survey of Washington firms found that the highest vacancy rates were for jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a baccalaureate degree.¹

• The number of green jobs could quadruple in the Northwest by 2020 and add billions of dollars to Washington’s $270 billion economy.¹

[1] “A Healthy Community: Strategies for Giving,” Seattle Foundation, June 2009 report available at www.seattlefoundation.org

[2] “Communities Count: Social and Health Indicators Across King County”, 2008 report available at www.communitiescount.org

Relevant graphs from the Communities Count report (click to enlarge)
King County median income by race/ethnicity as a percentage of white median income - 2000 and 2007	Percentage of King County students who met the 10th grade WASL standard, by subject and subgroup, 2007

Education and Economic Opportunity - The Face

“We need to make sure that parents are educated as well and encourage parents to go back to school, because it starts at home. The parents are always the first teacher I believe. And some parents – they don’t know how to read themselves, or do math – my mom struggled with math but was expected to help me with geometry in high school.”



“They’re doing all these cuts at these schools…They’re firing all these teachers and it’s just going to add more to the classes. And if you’re gonna kick out a new teacher – a really good teacher, even if they’ve only been there for a year - compared to a teacher that has seniority...  Based on where I go – they’re cutting down all the schools that are relevant. Like, if you’re living in South Seattle and you want to go to school in West Seattle, they’ve cut down the buses and all this stuff. If you think you have a better education elsewhere, why can’t you just go there? They won’t let you go to the school that you want. You get put in the school where you live around. That makes it worse, because you’re living in this area where like, people think ‘oh, well you’re going to be stupid so I’m going to put you here’ “                             


                               
“Some people can take a step back to their parents in their 20’s; I took my step back at about 31.  They (my parents) let me come back and straighten up some things.  I was able to keep my bills down; I was able to keep a job…I like my job a lot.  I have adapted to it.  This is the first job that I have kept for over a year… I like it a lot because of that reason, because it’s a major accomplishment in my life and I also like it because after 6 years, I really know what I am doing.  I’m confident in it.  I know that as long as the company stays open, I’m stable, because I can do my job.”                                      



“We need to attract and keep large employers – and they need to know they can find talented workers here. And that brings us back to education… Unless we can close the school preparedness gap, our K-12 and higher education systems alone will never overcome some of the factors that are depriving our economy of the work force we need both for today and tomorrow. We must offer a hand up to children likely to enter school with the largest preparedness gap.”                        

Questions for Consideration

• What change in the community is needed to achieve educational and economic opportunity for everyone in King County?

• What strategies address both these issues together and are there examples of effective efforts, synergies and progress you can tell us about?

• What should be the priorities for the community investment to advance these goals?

• How would you prefer to engage with community leaders and your elected officials on these issues?

• How will you be involved?

Learn More About the Community Matters Campaign

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