Championship education: investing in education is key to winning business competition.

• Author: Becker, David
• Position: VIEWPOINT - Viewpoint essay

THANKS TO DECADES OF hard work and achievement, people around the world associate the word "Hoosiers" with teamwork and championships. High school basketball. College basketball. The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Most recently, the world champion Indianapolis Colts.

Unfortunately, Indiana doesn't enjoy the same championship reputation when it comes to the skill level of our workforce or our students. Our business and community leaders identify the quality of K-12 public education as the number one issue affecting Indiana's economic growth. Recently, national attention has focused again on the low graduation rate at Indianapolis Public Schools. The consistent media message reflects what most of us have known for years. Hoosier students don't have the skills they need to compete, and it will take a significant long-term community effort to return Indiana and school districts like IPS to the elite status they once held.

The good news is that a commitment to teamwork and community-wide effort is already in place and at work across Indiana. The community partnerships that launched New Tech High @ Arsenal Tech are just one example.

TechPoint Foundation is a joint venture between Indiana's technology community and Central Indiana Community Foundation that brings tech sector resources and entrepreneurism to help at-risk youth develop 21st-century skills. Three years ago, when IPS divided its five large high schools into small learning communities, TechPoint Foundation joined with IPS, the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning at the University of Indianapolis, and United Way's Bridges to Success program to establish a new model of 21st-century learning and community partnership. With significant financial and volunteer support from the community, IPS launched New Tech High @ Arsenal Tech last August, providing a project-based learning curriculum and a laptop computer to every IPS student who signed up for this...