Issues of the Urban Institute
Leadership
Water
- (see also: Water Forum Steering Committee Members)
- Salazar calls for efficiency in water use
- Extended Interview: Water use in Western states (video)
- Interior chief to talk about water
- Problem gets fish stranded, Loss of trout blamed on malfunctioning gate
- Study looks at warming's effect on Beartooth glaciers
High School and College Attainment
Billings is part of the Talent Dividend Tour
Read more about the Talent Dividend at:
http://www.ceosforcities.org/talentdividendtour/About the Talent Dividend
We know that educational attainment is the biggest predictor of success for cities and metro areas today. The research is unassailable.
The more educated a city’s population, the more robust its economy will be. In fact, in his speech to a joint session of Congress President Obama put the issue of talent squarely on the federal agenda when he said, "The… challenge we must address is the urgent need to expand the promise of education in America. In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a pre-requisite.”
However, few urban leaders are focused on the relationship between education and the economy. In fact, producing more college-educated citizens is rarely found in any city’s economic development plan.
In a move to increase the political and civic will to produce more college graduates and thereby help cities capture real economic gains, CEOs for Cities has calculated the Talent Dividend. Increasing educational attainment, measured by raising the four-year college attainment rate by one percentage point in each of the 51 largest metropolitan areas, would be associated with an increase in per capita income of $124 billion per year for the nation. Monetizing these achievements serves as a powerful motivator to urban leaders to act urgently to achieve results.To jumpstart local efforts, CEOs for Cities, in partnership with the Lumina Foundation for Education and with additional support from DeVry, Inc., has launched a national tour around the Talent Dividend to engage in local conversations with cross-sector groups of urban leaders on the development strategies to move people up the education pipeline and ultimately increase the number of people who come out of it with a college degree.
