Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 17, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 45 Let's get smarter V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L L et's face it, America has failed the first semester of the coronavirus pandemic. We have more than 5 million cases of the disease and about 20% of the world's fatalities, and no political spin can change the facts on the ground. Many factors have led to our county's failures, but among the most striking is the lack of belief in science, and our vexing inconsistency in following recommendations on social distancing and wearing masks. In a 2018 video where he tried to clearly show the world is round, famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson blamed the rise of the flat-Earth theory on two things: "One, we live in a country that protects free speech," and "We live in a country with a failed educational system," he said. In America's all-out effort to be the greatest nation in the world – to have the best economy, the most advanced society, and freedoms to be the envy of all nations – we seem to have forgotten the smartest people in the room usually win the game. When it comes to our education system – the very backbone of our prosperity and exceptionalism – we've fallen from the top to the middle of the pack. When weighed against countries where higher education is highly prioritized, and mostly free, our system is mediocre. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders campaigned for "Free College for Everyone!" as his rallying cry. Free is simply not a feasible model for higher education. But it's time we start putting greater emphasis on funding higher education. During a Worcester Business Journal webinar on Aug. 11, educators and leaders from local universities – including Paul Reville, the former Mass. secretary of education and now professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education – said the government support for colleges and universities has become woefully inadequate, to the point where a number of institutions might not survive the financial crisis stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. While not every college needs to be saved, especially those with bloated costs who are not offering competitive value for the educational dollar, we do need to provide substantially more support for students, and the industry as a whole. Federal spending on higher education programs is about $75 billion. at federal figure is actually exceeded by the combined spending of the 50 states on their own colleges and universities. More needs to be done, and the obvious place to look for that investment is on the federal level. What good will our military strength do if we are not investing in the best scientists, the best innovators, the best entrepreneurs, the best doctors, the best teachers, the best tradespeople, and the best problem solvers to drive our economic growth? e GI Bill, which helped fund college education for a generation of returning World War II veterans, was transformative, helped expand our middle class, and launch a sustained period of growth and prosperity in our country. Economic success will increasingly rely on the skills and education of our workforce, and the need for more citizens to get associates and bachelor's degrees is directly related to our ability to compete on the world stage. Another benefit of more Americans achieving a college degree is more of us will understand our history, communicate more effectively, be more likely to trust science, and be able to sort fact from opinion. ose are important skills today, and critical skills for tomorrow if our nation is to maintain its position of leadership. The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y D O N L A N D G R E N W Land conservation helps the local economy A t the end of July, e Trustees of Reservations made Jewell Hill in Fitchburg, Ashburnham, and Ashby its 120th property in Massachusetts. is sweeping 296- acre parcel is a gem for hikers and others seeking renewal in the outdoors, but also a treasure for the local economy. Scientists at Harvard Forest, Am- herst College, Highstead in Connecti- cut, and Boston University released a study last year examining 1,500 New England cities and towns to estimate the local net impacts of private and public land conservation going back more than two decades. e study found long-term benefits going well beyond preservation and recreation. When land protection increases in a community, so too does employment over the next five-year period, especially in rural areas. A 1% increase in land protection led to a 0.03% increase in employment, so a town of 20,000 resi- dents increasing land protection from 10% to 15% could see the addition of 300 workers during the next five years. e Trustees protects more than 27,000 acres of land across Massachusetts and works closely with cities and towns, along with state and federal agencies, to not only conserve land but bring revenue and cost savings to the table in every municipality with which we partner. For every park, mountain, beach, farm, museum, or his- toric house e Trustees acquires, the organization makes substantial capital investments to improve hiking trails, construct, restore, or remove buildings, and implement programming where applicable. Roughly $300,000 is being spent at Jewell Hill on improvements like land surveying, demolition work, environmental site cleanup, and legal costs, money oen going to local companies. Once guests start arriving, many stop in at nearby small businesses for meals, gas, supplies, and other goods and services. Although they don't apply at Jewell Hill, there are economic benefits from Trustees' properties featuring food service, serving as wedding venues, and hosting special events. Communities can see tangible economic gains in the form of increased property values resulting from nearby conservation land. Other benefits come in the form of cost-savings, which are more imperceptible. Properties that aren't developed have a lower cost of municipal services for education, police, fire, and ambulance needs. At Jewell Hill, where the City of Fitchburg Water Division has worked tirelessly to conserve surrounding lands for drinking water supply protection, half of the acreage is designated as important for protection of outstanding water resources. is prevention of activity detrimental to the water supply potentially saves millions of dollars otherwise required for filtration plans. We have always known land conservation and the protec- tion of natural resources has benefits for residents through recreation, quality of life, and character of our communities; more people are coming to understand the benefits extend far beyond nature to local economic wellbeing too. e Trustees looks forward to continuing to prove land conser- vation in the commonwealth goes hand-in-hand with wise economic development. Rob Warren is the managing director of conservation at e Trustees of Reservations in Boston. BY ROB WARREN Special to the Worcester Business Journal Rob Warren W

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