Importance of Education Reform

Like many, I’ve been making my way through Jamie Dimon’s annual shareholder letter this week. It’s always rich with insight, but this year, one section felt less like analysis and more like a call to action—capturing what so many of us already know: if we’re serious about economic mobility, we have to reimagine how our education and workforce systems deliver opportunity. A few points that stood out in his letter: - K-12 outcomes are not aligned with today’s economy. Despite nearly $1 trillion in annual K-12 spending, too many students are graduating without the skills—or the opportunity—to secure good jobs. - There are models that work. Aviation High School in Queens combines academic rigor with hands-on technical training. Graduates enter the workforce earning ~$80K/year in critical industries. It's not just a school—it's a blueprint. - We need scalable, stackable pathways. Short-term credentialing, apprenticeships, and earn-and-learn programs can (and should) count toward degrees and meaningful careers. - Early childhood education is economic infrastructure. Universal pre-K and high-quality childcare aren’t just good policy—they drive parent workforce participation and long-term outcomes for kids. - Financial and health literacy matter. Building economic resilience starts with early, accessible education in personal finance and well-being. None of this requires more spending—it requires smarter alignment of what we already invest with the outcomes our communities actually need. If we want inclusive growth, we have to invest in the infrastructure that enables it. Education and workforce systems are not separate from our economy—they are our economy. #WorkforceDevelopment #EducationReform #EconomicOpportunity #SkillsBasedHiring https://lnkd.in/gFuz-9WM

The Bloomberg article provides an important look at the immediate effects of the student loan crisis, but to truly understand the issue, we need to dig deeper. Simply focusing on curing the problem after it’s already bloomed—like the credit score impacts discussed—won’t yield sustainable solutions. Instead, we should be asking: • Why has the cost of education skyrocketed? It’s not just inflation driving tuition hikes—administrative costs at universities, building expansions, and investments in non-academic amenities have added significant costs. Are these expenditures aligned with what students need for future success, or are they inflating debt for unnecessary services? • Is the money being spent wisely? If we break down how universities allocate funds, are we truly prioritizing education and academic development? Studies show that many institutions spend more on non-academic costs, which raises the question: Are we investing enough in professors, curriculum development, and research? • Why do we focus so much on the cure and not prevention? Tackling student debt after it has snowballed will only absorb more resources and provide limited results. We should instead focus on prevention: controlling rising tuition, promoting financial literacy before students take on debt, and providing better early-career support to ensure graduates are financially stable before repayment begins. If we want real change, it’s time to shift the conversation from crisis management to long-term reform. Fixing the student debt issue means addressing the cost structure of education and ensuring that the investment students make pays off in real-world outcomes. Waiting until the problem explodes only creates more financial instability for students and graduates, with few lasting solutions. #StudentDebt #EducationReform #HigherEducation #LongTermSolutions

"Education is not just a personal achievement; it’s a public good with ripple effects across society. Higher educational attainment is linked to lower poverty rates, better health outcomes and reduced dependency on social safety nets." "For women, the connection is even more pronounced. Breadwinning mothers who are single are twice as likely to live in poverty than breadwinning fathers who are single. Increasing their education attainment by one level, from high school to a bachelor’s degree, reduces their poverty rate by 68 percent%. Eliminating the Department of Education would strip away programs that support these women, from childcare assistance for student-parents to job training programs that help them re-enter the workforce" Katica Roy https://lnkd.in/eH5U-Qw2

" In Chapter 4, our celebrity friend Shehzad Roy said, ‘Reform is going to be a series of small steps.’ Those small steps must be in rhythm and all going in the same direction. Uppermost on the things-to-do list is to first stop the bleeding: Get out-of-school children into schools by building and staffing more schools. Every year of delayed schooling puts more children at risk of failure. Equally important is the quality issue that includes a plethora of items, starting with the long-standing language issue. A national policy on language should be in concert with all provinces and regions. Registration of all schools, including madrasas, is an absolute necessity for the very important functions of monitoring, rating, and improving the quality of education to be delivered. Credentialing standards for teachers and their professional training requirements need to be addressed and refined with buy-in from teachers’ groups. The curriculum needs expert review and public acceptance, along with reformatting. Corresponding changes and revisions should be made in the textbooks at all levels. Assessment of outcomes is a key area that has been sorely mismanaged; it will need a set of tough teams to take on this task. The management systems will need solid structure and well-trained human resource cadres that are nimble, have fresh ideas, and are dedicated to reforms. Above all, reforms will need ongoing advocacy for public involvement and civic leadership by influential public leaders committed to reforms as a long-term national priority. " An excerpt from 'Agents of Change' (Oxford University Press, 2021)