Since last Tuesday’s presidential election, president-elect Barack Obama has been asked repeatedly by the media what his top priorities will be when he takes office in mid-January. It’s been reported several times --"Obama is Expected to Put Education Overhaul on Back Burner"-- since the election that education reform, one of his top priorities during the campaign, is falling further and further down on his list of things to accomplish in the early part of his first term.

But as New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof noted yesterday:

We can’t meaningfully address poverty or grow the economy as long as urban schools are failing. Mr. Obama talks boldly about starting new high-tech green industries, but where will the workers come from unless students reliably learn science and math?

Our country has fallen behind industrialized nations when it comes to student achievement at all levels. We are long overdue in making education reform a national priority and creating accountability in a system that has been operating the same way for decades. But how can we solve a worsening financial crisis, secure our energy future, provide quality health care to our citizens, and remain a leader among nations when American students are less likely than their parents to have earned a high school diploma? ("Counting on Graduation" Education Trust). Everything depends on a talented and skilled workforce.

How can businesses rely upon these individuals for innovation and entrepreneurship if we don’t insist that investing in human capital and demanding accountability and transparency from our public school systems be top priorities? We hope that President-elect Obama will join with the Chamber and its business members to develop the education and training systems needed to fuel our economy.