On the latest episode of CEA’s podcast, Dalio Education Co-CEO Andrew Ferguson joined CEA President Kate Dias and Vice President Joslyn DeLancey to talk about the importance of coming together to invest in the state’s youth.
Ferguson is the co-chair of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities’ 119K Commission on At-Risk and Disconnected Youth, which recently released a plan to confront a crisis of disconnected youth by investing in education, social services, and job training.
The report makes an economic as well as moral case for investing in the 20% of youth ages 14-26 that a Dalio Education report found are disconnected from education and work, estimating the cost of inaction at $750 million.
“When we look at a budget at any level, at a school level, at a municipal level or elsewhere, it’s just a reflection of values and choices,” Ferguson says. “For this crisis to be reduced by half within ten years, our collective values and choices as residents must evolve. And I would argue that they must evolve toward supporting young people and those who serve them, which certainly includes teachers.”
Listen to the latest episode of Two T’s in a Pod below, or wherever you get your podcasts.
