Task force expected to push students to continue education

BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has created a Task Force on Higher Education that he hopes will increase the amount of workers who have a post-high school education.

The task force is a reaction to short progress made toward the state’s goal to ensure 60 percent of its workforce between the ages of 25 to 34 has a post-high school education by 2020, the Idaho Statesman reported Sunday.

The rate has risen from 38 to 42 percent since the goal was established in 2010.

The deadline will not be pushed back, Otter said.

“I don’t like the idea of setting targets too low and hitting them,” he said. “I like the idea of setting them way up high and striving to attain them.”

The task force co-chairs Linda Clark, state Board of Education vice president, and Bob Lokken, CEO of WhiteCloud Analytics, said that many Idaho students do not see any reason for pursuing education beyond high school.

They are considering a statewide campaign to push the importance of post-secondary education.

The task force is expected to give the governor recommendations by September on how the state can get high school students to continue their education.

The governor has given the task force the authority to address any issue it thinks is important, no matter the cost associated with the plan. The task force will hold a public meeting June 9 at Boise State University.