The Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce has established an education task force that the group says will give businesses a stronger voice on Kansas education issues.
The task force is made up of members of the chamber’s government relations committee and the Business and Education Alliance. Chamber president and CEO Gary Plummer says the group wants to work with legislators to have some input over the state’s K-12 and higher education funding decisions.
“We think this kind of positions the business community to be more vocal and more involved in that conversation," Plummer says.
The chamber’s 2016 legislative agenda specifically opposed cuts to K-12 funding in Kansas. Plummer says Wichita businesses have a stake in how Kansas is investing in public education.
“We can’t survive and continue to grow our economy without an educated workforce," he says. "The challenge is if we don’t take this seriously and address it with a degree of urgency, we’re going to put employers in the position where they have to make choices on where’s the best workforce for them to get a project done. And we want to make sure the best workforce continues to be in Wichita."
The task force includes representatives from Koch Industries and Spirit AeroSystems, as well as Wichita Public Schools Superintendent John Allison.
--
Follow Nadya Faulx on Twitter @NadyaFaulx.
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
