Governor’s Vision One For The Books

A lifelong learning system “that anyone can plug into,” is Gov.

Gary Locke’s vision for higher education in Washington state.

But it will be up to a new 21-member commission to take a closer look at higher education and recommend how best to turn a vision for the 21st century into reality.

“I’m not asking them to reshape the current higher-education system,” Locke said Wednesday. “I’m asking them to develop a clear vision of a world-class, lifelong learning system for 2020.”

The commission will start work this month and make suggestions by the end of September that will set the educational stage for the 1999 legislative session.

Locke emphasized that the aim of the commission was not to find faults in the educational system, which he praised, but to look for innovative and creative approaches to education in the future.

Accountability, quality, educational reforms, affordable access, lifelong learning opportunities that use technology, and a competitive work force that contributes to economic growth are issues that will draw close attention from the panel, he said.

Locke cited what he said are the successes of the 1993 Education Reform Act as evidence of how taking a fresh look at education can work to improve the system.

“Now it’s time to step up and rethink and reshape higher education from the ground up,” he said.

The 2020 Commission on the Future of Higher Education is composed of education, technology and business leaders from across the state, including U.S. Bank of Washington President Phyllis Campbell, a member of the Washington State University Board of Regents.

John Creighton Jr., former CEO of Weyerhaeuser Co., and Bob Craves, senior vice president of membership and marketing for Costco, are co-chairs of the commission.

Creighton is a member of the University of Puget Sound Board of Trustees, and Craves serves on the boards of trustees of Seattle University and Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

“As a leader of a company that grows trees, he’s used to thinking 60 years ahead,” Locke joked about Creighton.

Creighton said the commission will not be working in a vacuum.

“We’re going to be working diligently to get input from all sectors of the state,” he said.

Locke said the need to rethink higher education comes at a time of myriad pressures.

Keeping tuition costs down, inclusion of historically underrepresented groups, the impact of new technologies, and the implications of K-12 education reforms are all concerns, he said.

, DataTimes