Recognizes mayor-led efforts to enhance college completion, career readiness
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 27, 2016) — Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer was awarded a 2016 U.S. Conference of Mayors/USA Funds 2016 National Education Pathways with a Purpose award on Sunday in Indianapolis.
The winning communities—Louisville, Orlando and Hartford, Conn.—will share $150,000 in grants to recognize mayor-led programs that provide a more purposeful path for students to and through college, and on to rewarding careers and successful lives. Winning cities were selected by an independent panel of former mayors, educators and workforce development professionals.
Fischer was honored as the large-city awardee for the Cradle to Career initiative launched in January 2015 as a comprehensive approach to improve student success in career and life. Cradle to Career operates through four major pillars, corresponding to four interconnected pieces of the larger college and career pathway system. Each pillar has a local community “owner,” an entity that can convene stakeholders, formulate strategy and marshal public support:
- Early Care & Education/Kindergarten Readiness (Metro United Way)
- K-12 Success (Jefferson County Public Schools)
- High School to Postsecondary Transition and Completion (55,000 Degrees)
- 21st century Workforce and Talent (KentuckianaWorks)
Results include a Career Calculator app that KentuckianaWorks is creating, in recognition of the value of using labor market data to guide education and career decisions. The Career Calculator will allow people to find labor market data by occupation, college major and income, allowing them to make informed decisions about their college and career focus. Overall, the judges said, Cradle to Career is creating a cycle where good education leads to good jobs, which leads to family-supporting wages, which enables good education, which again, leads to good jobs.
“Lifelong learning is one of our city’s three core pillars. It is key to the success of our city, and this award is recognition that we and our partner agencies are on the right track with our overall approach and some of the initiatives already under way,” Fischer said.
Add Comment