Rod Guajardo: Feedback Offers Opportunity To Get Ahead Of Education Issue

ROD GUAJARDO The votes from Northeast Mississippi residents are in and some of them might surprise you. No, I’m not talking about votes for potential presidential candidates or even collegiate football alliances. The votes that grabbed my attention this week came out of the Mississippi Economic Council’s Pacesetter Tour, which made a stop in Tupelo on Friday at the Summit Center. The tour, which is making stops in 22 cities across Mississippi, brings together members of the state’s chamber of commerce with members of Mississippi communities to discuss significant issues including transportation, economic competitiveness and workforce development, among many others. In between the sharing of facts and figures on those issues, MEC leaders also take the opportunity to allow community stakeholders to provide input and feedback. Using an electronic survey system, attendees are asked several multiple choice questions after a particular issue is discussed. With clickers in hand, a diverse group of Tupelo and Lee County residents spoke up and shared its views. The answers to questions regarding the state of Mississippi’s roads and bridges and where funds should be best allocated for those projects weren’t incredibly shocking, so I’ll skip over those for now. What was shocking, at least to me, were the answers to several questions about education, the second-most discussed item during the presentation besides transportation. Educational achievement and workforce preparedness were listed as one of the top pillars of progress in MEC’s Blueprint Mississippi report. Even prerecorded videos by the state’s top officials – Gov.