New Report: Voices for the Common Good: America Speaks Out on Education

Posted by on April 11, 2011

UWW plans to recruit one million volunteers, mentors

United Way Worldwide hosted a National Education Town Hall on March 31st in Washington to unveil the report Voices for the Common Good: America Speaks Out on Education and announce its new commitment to recruit one million volunteer readers, tutors and mentors.

The event, which was webcast live on the United Way’s website, was moderated by CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and brought together some of the nation’s leaders in education, service, nonprofits, policy and business to discuss the findings of this report and the challenges facing education today and how to solve them.

“Few issues are as important as the national debate on our education systems, yet the voices of everyday people haven’t been part of the conversation,” said Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide.

“United Way has been listening to the concerns of Americans across the country, and what we’re hearing is that they care deeply about the success of the schools and young people in their communities, and they want to be involved.”

Other key leaders who participated in the Town Hall included U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; and Former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

The report unveiled the collective findings from a nationwide listening tour, a national telephone survey and focus groups in six cities about concerns within the education system, as well as ideas for short- and long-term solutions. Key findings of the report included that 29 percent of Americans polled are concerned that their children will drop out of school.

In 2008, United Way announced a goal to cut by half the number of young people who drop out of high school by 2018. In the fall of 2010, United Ways around the country hosted “community conversations,” listening to everyday Americans to elicit ideas and ways to improve not only our public schools, but our communities at-large so that children of all economic backgrounds have the chance to succeed.

To access the full report, visit here.

http://www.liveunited.org/report

To see educational outcomes and how they affect other conditions in the community, see the Common Good Forecaster, a web-based tool created by United Way and the American Human Development Project.

http://liveunited.org/pages/common-good-forecaster