The Future of Missouri’s Workforce

Education |
By Susan Pendergrass | Read Time 1 minute minutes

For Missouri to attract businesses and make up decades of lost ground in economic growth, the state needs a workforce that is attractive to business owners. Unfortunately, two significant trends are working against us: our population is not growing, and the education credentials of our residents are also declining. More and more students are leaving high school unprepared for either college or the workforce. The state’s current approach to this problem prioritizes helping adults acquire postsecondary degrees or certificates that they did not pursue directly after high school. But is this the best way forward? Why not help children get the most out of school while they’re in class rather than trying to fix educational deficiencies later?

This report describes the current Missouri workforce, projects the condition of that workforce in 2040 barring a course correction, and examines potential policy fixes that could get the state’s workforce back on track. Click here to read the full report.

 

About the Author

Before joining the Show-Me Institute, Susan Pendergrass was Vice President of Research and Evaluation for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, where she oversaw data collection and analysis and carried out a rigorous research program. Susan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, with a concentration in Finance, at the University of Colorado in 1983. She earned her Masters in Business Administration at George Washington University, with a concentration in Finance (1992) and a doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, with a concentration in social policy (2002). Susan began researching charter schools with her dissertation on the competitive effects of Massachusetts charter schools. Since then, she has conducted numerous studies on the fiscal impact of school choice legislation. Susan has also taught quantitative methods courses at the Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies, at Johns Hopkins University, and at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. Prior to coming to the National Alliance, Susan was a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education during the Bush administration and a senior research scientist at the National Center for Education Statistics during the Obama administration.

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