Last week, we told you about Kip Blakely’s presentation on behalf of the NC Chamber to the Academic Standards Review Commission, where he discussed the need for business participation in developing integrated workforce systems that prepare students with the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace. With the Academic Standards Review Commission planning to review draft recommendations in August, we wanted to update you on our continued efforts, through the Hire Standards, NC coalition, to support high academic standards and aligned assessments for students.

At its monthly meeting last week, the Academic Standards Review Commission gave only brief updates on the work of its ELA and math working groups responsible for creating the draft recommendations for the August meeting. The Commission also spent a significant amount of time discussing standards implementation issues, further proving that stronger implementation should be the focus.

Following up on that meeting, Hire Standards, NC coalition manager Andrew Meehan compiled a set of recommendations for the Commission. We hope that you will share this information with anyone interested in preserving high standards. In addition, we encourage you to communicate with the Commission co-chairs in support of the Hire Standards, NC recommendations. The co-chairs are Tammy Covil at tammy.covil@nhcs.net and Andre Peek at andre.peek@nc.gov. Please take a look at the presentation linked above, and feel free to reach out to Andrew Meehan with questions or for help in communicating these points to others in your networks.

We thank you for your ongoing support of the NC Chamber and the Hire Standards, NC coalition in promoting high academic standards that give today’s students the skills and knowledge they need to lead productive lives tomorrow.

Gary J. Salamido
Vice President, Government Affairs
North Carolina Chamber