Impact of Poor Urban Schools on The Suburbs

This article from a few weeks back comes from the Washington Post's Business section (Hat Tip: DC Education Blog):

Looking out 20 years, what is the most significant public-policy challenge facing the region's business community?

No, it's not taxes. It's not federal spending. It's not even land-use planning and transportation.

It's education. Specifically, education from preschool through high school. And more specifically, struggling -- some would say failing -- schools like those in many parts of the District and Prince George's County.

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I know those of you sitting out there in Herndon and Gaithersburg think this doesn't really affect you -- maybe that's why you're out there in the first place. Here's why you're wrong:

If these school systems continue to churn out large numbers of graduates and dropouts who don't have the hard knowledge and soft social skills required by a post-industrial economy, then the income support and health care they will require, and the crime and social pathology they will cause, will be a huge fiscal burden on households and businesses throughout the region.

Just as important, businesses won't be able to find the workers they need to grow. That will force them to pay premium (read: uncompetitive) salaries. And it will require them to recruit workers from outside the region, pushing housing costs even higher and exacerbating all the problems associated with urban sprawl.

Put another way, if the Washington area economy is going to continue to grow, much of the growth will have to be in the District and Prince George's County, which won't happen as long as the schools are inadequate.

This is a truism not only in the Washington DC area, but in all metropolitan areas. The schools, the urban schools, at the center of a metro area affects the entire human resources pool.