Playing the Education Card

In December, Citistates Group journalists Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson put forth their innovative idea for education in New England, coined “Opportunity New England.”

College for ME, an initiative of the Maine Compact for Higher Education, is one of several best practices highlighted in December's articles.

ONE would provide students with a “one stop shop” to assist with researching schools, determining which schools will meet their needs, enrollment, financial aid, and post graduate job placement in New England. Peirce and Johnson also explore the economic impact an uneducated immigrant workforce will have on New England’s future; spotlight the efforts of College for ME, the imaginative new initiative launched by the Maine Compact for Higher Education; and examine how New England could reengage high school students by going back to its roots of smaller schools.

This third article in the six part series, “New Century, New Game,” will begin appearing in newspapers around the region and at our website starting this weekend, December 3rd.

Strategic Alliance of Regional Leaders Joins Effort to Unite New England

Sixteen leaders from across New England, including former governors, corporate CEOs, foundation and non profit presidents, and a bishop, have joined together in a Strategic Alliance to call for better collaboration among the six states to tackle the challenges New England must address if it’s to prosper and reach its potential in the 21st century. The alliance was convened by Paul Choquette, Chairman, Gilbane Inc. in Rhode Island; Madeleine Kunin, former governor of Vermont and Deputy U.S. Secretary of Education; and Bishop Peter A. Rosazza, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General for the Hispanic Apostolate in Connecticut.

The goal of the Strategic Alliance is to promote the project publicly through media appearances, meetings with the New England Congressional Delegation and Governors, and participation in agenda-setting discussions. "While New England is facing some serious economic, environmental, and demographic challenges, the region has much to build on – such as its entrepreneurial spirit, sense of community, and world class universities,” said Madeleine Kunin. “The time is right to build on these assets and advance a collegial New England agenda on such critical issues as energy, health care, and education.”

Visit our website to meet the members of the Strategic Alliance.

New England Futures Spotlight

Each month, New England Futures highlight projects that are already seeking to make a difference in the issue of that month. This month, we focus on education. See the Best Practices area of our website under Education for more great projects.

Bridgeport Higher Education Alliance

Education Beyond High School for Bridgeport Youth

The Bridgeport Higher Education Alliance was formed in April of 2004 when leaders of the Bridgeport Public Schools met with higher education administrators and urban education experts from around Connecticut. The goal of the alliance is to better prepare high school students in Bridgeport for advancing onto college by promoting collaboration between high schools and Connecticut’s colleges and universities. In November 2005, the Alliance published a report, “Bridgeport—Expect Great Things,” which sets forth a plan for achieving the Alliance’s goal. Read the report for more information about the alliance and its goals.

Submit your project to be highlighted next month on the topic of Growth, Sprawl and Affordable Housing by sending a description of the project to info@newenglandfutures.org.

Participate on Education at the New England Futures Website

Help us to make the New England Futures’ website an active and vibrant destination where all New Englanders can participate in their future by writing blog entries, moderating forums, taking the survey, or providing content. Go to our website to view the Best Practices and Resources that we have already identified on the topic of education, and let us know about any of your projects that you want us to list.

Contact Christine Petterssen at cpetterssen@iscvt.org to find out how you can contribute to the new NEF website.

Survey Results on New England’s Energy Future

During the month of November, we asked visitors to our website to give us their opinions on questions related to New England’s energy future. Some of the highlights of the survey are as follows:

• When asked to prioritize areas where New England states should cooperate on energy policy, respondents gave the highest rankings to the development of renewable energy resources, energy conservation, and public transportation. Nuclear energy and better access to fossil fuels received the lowest rankings.
• Respondents believed that energy conservation, wind energy and solar power offered the most promise for reducing New England’s dependence on foreign fuel. Respondents felt nuclear energy and natural gas had the least promise.
• 88.6% think New England communities should be doing more to promote energy efficiency and address global warming.
• 92.3% would like see more buildings in New England built or renovated to green building design standards.

Let your opinion be known on these and other pressing energy issues by taking the energy survey at our site. Please remember to also take our new survey on education.

New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Grant

Lew Feldstein, President of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation

We our pleased to announce that new funding for New England Futures has been provided by the Susanne Satterfield Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. NHCF has made major contributions to NEF since its inception both through Phase I and II grants and the tremendous help of President Lew Feldstein, a member of NEF's Strategic Alliance, and Racheal Stuart, Vice President of Program. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has been working to improve the quality of life in our communities since 1962. For more information about the Foundation, call (603) 225-6642 or visit www.nhcf.org.

Phase II for New England Futures is also funded by the generous support of the Surdna Foundation and Northeast Utilities.

We strongly believe that with sufficient resources for New England Futures, the New England states can make pivotal advances on strategic issues and rise out of isolation to lead the country with innovative solutions to some of its more intractable problems. To help fund NEF, contact Beth Humstone at ehumstone@iscvt.org.

Preview of What’s to Come in January

New England is losing ground: its population is aging rapidly; it lost 20 percent of its 20-to-34 year olds in the ‘90s; towns resist families with school-age kids; some demographers see “slow economic suicide.” Sprawl imperils the region’s world-signature countryside; housing costs soar; local government inefficiency inflates costs. Coming in January, Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson put forth some possible solutions to these pressing problems. Contact the project at info@newenglandfutures.org to see how you can help on this issue.