OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – State education and childcare experts gathered for a special summit in Oklahoma City, participating in a series of panels that highlighted how vital career-readiness education and accessible childcare is to growing the economy and strengthening the pipeline into Oklahoma’s workforce.
The State Chamber Research Foundation, a division of The State Chamber of Oklahoma, hosted its inaugural Oklahoma Prosperity Summit at the Will Rogers Theatre on Tuesday.
The Summit featured three panels, each focusing on a different aspect of education and how it pertains to growing a vital and skilled workforce.
“The inaugural Prosperity Summit was a success. We gathered leaders in education, business and the Legislature to discuss the workforce pipeline,” said Amanda Hall, policy and research manager for The State Chamber. “The biggest takeaway from the panels was the need for further alignment and collaboration between industry and education. This alignment must include a state longitudinal data system, so the state can track a person’s education and interventions from cradle to grave to better understand what programs and interventions worked.”
Workforce needs have been a growing concern in Oklahoma, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Workforce issues quickly shot to the top of the list of concerns for business leaders,” said Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber. “When we first launched the Oklahoma Business Leaders Poll in 2021, 45 percent of the respondents ranked workforce as the primary issue. The crazy thing about that was there wasn’t even a close second. By 2022, that number had shot up to 62 percent, firmly establishing workforce as a critical priority.”
The need for a skilled workforce remains Oklahoma business leaders’ top concern, with 42 percent of business leaders saying it’s their top concern, according to the 2024 Oklahoma Business Leaders Poll, which SCRF releases annually.
The 2024 Oklahoma Scorecard, another SCRF annual publication, ranked Oklahoma 42nd on workforce strength among states across the nation. Oklahoma’s educational system was a crucial factor in Oklahoma’s low workforce ranking.
“The lagging performance of Oklahoma’s public K-12 school system continues to hold back its workforce ranking,” the Scorecard states.
The Summit’s panel discussions lasted around four hours in total, with discussions dedicated to educating policymakers, business leaders and the public on how the state’s educational efforts can be improved to strengthen the workforce and ultimately make Oklahoma more economically prosperous.
“A skilled workforce begins in the classroom,” Hall said.
The first panel was focused on early education, specifically, exploring the importance of quality early education access.
“This is a critical period for establishing foundational skills in young learners,” Warmington said.
The panel featured Lucia Frohling, director of Parent Services for Oklahoma Parents for Student Achievement, Dr. Megan Oftedal, executive director of the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, and Casey Sullivan Taylor, policy director of Early Literacy for ExcelinEd.
Children’s intellectual capabilities begin to blossom at age three, according to VeryWellMind.
A high quality daycare or preschool is essential to developing a child’s development, Oftedal said.
Unfortunately, access to childcare is limited in Oklahoma.
“We have a lot of childcare deserts in Oklahoma. In general, 55 percent of Oklahomans live in childcare deserts. That figure shoots up to 68 percent in rural communities,” Oftedal said.
Childcare deserts not only prevent children from gaining the early education essential that will serve as the building blocks of their academic development, it also takes Oklahomans away from the workforce, Oftedal said.
“If parents can’t send their child to a high-quality daycare or pre-k, that’s a worker who might drop out [of the workforce] to be home with their child,” Oftedal said. “Being able to invest in early childcare so that students across the state can be able to access high-quality childcare is an issue.”
The second panel explored efforts to better connect students to career pathways. That panel included Terry Adams, director of the Oklahoma Aviation Academy, which is part of Norman Public Schools, Brent Haken, state director of the Oklahoma Department of CareerTech, Chuck McCauley, superintendent of Bartlesville Public Schools, and Quentin Suffren, senior advisor of College & Career Pathways for ExcelinEd.
The third panel was concerned with higher education, discussing the responsiveness of universities and colleges to Oklahoma’s workforce needs. That panel was composed of Dr. Brandon Tatum, executive director of the Regional University System of Oklahoma, Courtney Warmington, a state regent for the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education, and Dr. Gregg Garn, vice president of Online Learning for the University of Oklahoma.
Career-readiness training provides students training that will give them the skills they need to obtain a good job and become a valuable member of the state’s workforce. The Aviation Academy gives high school students such opportunites.
“It’s all about providing opportunity and access and getting kids excited about a career. When they get excited, they want to come to school, they want to learn, and they’re engaged,” Adams said.
Exposing students to potential career pathways early on is essential for building the state’s future talent pool, according to Hall.
“Early exposure to careers is vital to ensuring students know what their futures could look like,” Hall said. “This begins with foundational learning of reading, math and critical thinking because the workforce uses those skills daily. We have to make sure students are prepared early on so that they can enter into whatever field they desire.”
SCRF is a nonpartisan thinktank that works to help Oklahoma’s business community grow and thrive. It publishes in-depth reports from national and local experts on the key economic issues facing Oklahoma, and breaks down complex topics into actionable information. SCRF’s efforts are focused on maximizing Oklahoma’s economic competitiveness to help the state achieve greater prosperity.
