Gov. Jack Markell says the state needs to continue investing in education to prepare Delawareans for high-skill employment.
In his weekly message, the governor said Delaware has done well preparing young people for the future. This past year, the state recorded the fastest growing graduation rate in the country.
“But we can’t just focus on teenagers. Today more than 75,000 Delaware adults don’t have a high school diploma or GED,” Markell said.
He said these undereducated adults are typically stuck in low-skill, low-paying jobs.
He wants the state to continue investing in the James H. Groves High School, which he said will help these 75,000 adults get the education they need to attain better paying jobs.
In 2015, more than 1,200 Delawareans attended the school and more than 200 students graduated.
Full text of Gov. Jack Markell's weekly message:
In our rapidly changing economy, there has never been a better time to enter the workforce with the right skills, but there’s never been a more challenging time to be without the key skills or the right education.
Ensuring Delawareans have access to good jobs starts with giving them the best chance to earn a high school diploma. It provides entry into today’s job market and opens pathways to additional education and training, and it’s why we should be proud that, with the hard work of teachers focused on identifying and helping students who fall behind, Delaware has set new graduation records and recently recorded the fastest growing graduation rate in the country.
But we can’t just focus on teenagers. Today, more than 75,000 Delaware adults don’t have a high school diploma or GED. Jobs available to these folks are usually lower skilled and lower paying - making it hard to support families and prepare for a comfortable retirement. So this past week I visited with nearly 30 adults who received their high school diploma through our James H. Groves High School, whichserves adult learners who embrace the opportunity to earn their diploma. In the last year, the Groves school has served more than twelve hundred Delawareans and graduated more than 200 students who are paving their own way to rewarding careers. I am so proud of these inspiring men and women who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to seizing the opportunity to chart their own pathways to success in life.
We have a responsibility to highlight their accomplishments and commit to initiatives like these for other Delawareans. By providing quality education opportunities for all our people from our youngest learners, through high school, and beyond we’re expanding our workforce and helping them seize the opportunities of the future, and that will keep Delaware moving forward.