Friday, August 11, 2006
Dear Friends,
I am honored to share with you that this past weekend, my colleagues - the Governors of our nation's states - elected me to Chair the National Governors Association (NGA) during our summer meeting in South Carolina. This is the first time in the NGA's 98-year history that a woman or an Arizona Governor has ever chaired the group, and I am pleased to take on this responsibility.
Being chair also means that I have the opportunity to focus on a specific NGA initiative. This week, I introduced my Innovation America initiative at NGA. This initiative has a combined focus on education, innovation and technology. Just like my P-20 Council, this effort will focus on the connections between education and the economy to ensure that our graduates have the necessary skills to compete for the jobs of today. There is a national sense of urgency to renew our educational systems in order to modernize our workforce. Though many countries lag behind America in educational and economic achievement, some are quickly catching up, due in part to their focus on innovations in science and technology.
Innovation America will:
· Increase math and science proficiency of all children in K-12 as well as post-secondary education systems - including the graduate level - and increase the quantity of scientists and engineers who attend college from U.S. high schools; and
· Promote business innovation broadly throughout the states and target regions that compete globally.
I am excited about Innovation America and believe that it will make Arizona and America more competitive and our workforce more successful.
