Business group buzzes about Louisville’s collaborative efforts

The Business-Higher Education Forum held a Leadership Summit in Louisville Oct. 28-29 and the sessions buzzed with conversation about the Mayor’s Education Roundtable and 55,000 Degrees.

Delegations from Des Moines and Oklahoma City – including mayors, college presidents, foundation and business leaders, and superintendents -- came to hear about Louisville’s experiences. Also on hand: experts from Long Beach, Houston, Cincinnati, and other communities with stories to share.

“Hearing you talk about ‘the Louisville Model’ and what it’s ‘achieved’ leaves us flattered but also a little shocked,” said David Jones Jr., as he welcomed the group to Louisville.

“At this point, we feel good about the progress we have made by coming together … but we’re just getting started.

“The pipeline” – the education system from preschool through graduate school – was the focus of many remarks. BHEF provided a flow-chart depicting how improvement occurs across the pipeline, available here (slide 14.)

Sheldon Berman, superintendent of Louisville’s Jefferson County Public Schools, said his goal is “not only every student graduating, but also every student graduating college-ready.”

Berman outlined reforms underway, including more personalized instruction, a caring environment, engaging curriculum, inquiry-based learning, high schools reorganized around career themes with a trimester schedule to allow acceleration or catch-up.

“These are the kinds of changes we need to make,” he said, “if 55K has any chance of succeeding.”

David Spence, president of the Southern Regional Education Board, said getting more students into college was critical, but colleges and universities will be challenged to serve them on tight budgets.

“I know this is hard to talk about …” he said, “but higher education must become more efficient. The cost per student has got to come down.”

Indiana University Southeast Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles agreed, saying colleges needed to achieve business-like efficiency.

Jamie Merisotis, president of the Lumina Foundation for Education gave the dinner address. He spoke about the work that Lumina is funding in Louisville, and he said: “It’s my hope that we can take what’s happening here in Louisville and transplant it into every American city. I can’t think of a better way to supercharge the efforts we think are required to dramatically increase postsecondary education attainment.”

Berman praised the commitment of Louisville’s business community, noting that he raised more than $1 million in 28 days from local businesses and foundations so JCPS could secure a $5 million federal grant -- Investing in Innovation (or i3) -- from the United States Department of Education. Nearly 1,700 applications were submitted. The JCPS application was one of 30 selected.

“Thank you for inviting us to hear Louisville’s story,” Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said. “I really benefit from hearing the opinions of so many high level educators, policy-makers and business leaders – and the time to sort out some ideas to take back for the betterment of our community.”


55K Interim Director Mary Gwen Wheeler told the group: “We have a plan – a clear goal. And we are going to keep the numbers in front of everybody.”

The list of other Louisville presenters included a number of Roundtable members, including its convener, Mayor Jerry Abramson: GLI president Joe Reagan, University of Louisville president James Ramsey and U of L Provost Shirley Willihnganz and JCTC President Tony Newberry.


For more coverage of the event, visit the BHEF blog.