Raise DC Press Conference April 26, 2012 Remarks by Lucretia Murphy Executive Director of the See Forever Foundation/Maya

a Angelou Schools and Raise DC Co-Chair

My name is Lucretia Murphy. I am the Executive Director of the See Forever Foundation/Maya Angelou Schools. I am honored and humbled to serve as the Co-chair for Raise DC: Cradle-to-Career initiative. So what is this initiative? The vision of the initiative is simple: to see all of D.C.s children, youth, and young adults achieve success from the cradle to a life-sustaining career Making it from cradle to career is not a simple journey. There are too many youth and young adults between the ages of 17-24 who do not have a high school credential and are not prepared for careers. For too many of our young men its more likely to be cradle to prison: We can act now to we break this cycle. What have we done? Over the last several months, community leaders from multiple sectors have committed to develop a road map to get us from where we are (which is currently at the bottom of most metrics) to where we want to be. For each phase of the journey from cradle to career there are clear targets: o By fall 2013, we will know the percent of our children who are ready for school and set targets for improvement; o By 2017, we will increase the percentage of high school graduates from 59% to 70% (with the expectation that they are ready for college/careers); o We will increase the percent of students who graduate college within six years from 30% to 40% by 2017. and we will increase the number of our community college students who earn an industry-recognized license/certification from 36% to 60% by 2017. o We will increase the number of youth ages 20-24 who are employed, from 56% to 66% by 2017.

o We also have a goal to reconnect 3,000 young people (ages 16-24) who are currently not working or in school to education, training or job opportunities. I think this one is particularly powerful. As adults we know we make mistakes and at times those mistakes have significant consequences. While we hope that supports that we offer young people will enable them to make it successfully through school, some will make poor choices or face circumstances that derail their progress. It means a lot to youth to know that they can have a second chance at education, or a second chance at employment. It is important that we have made this commitment to reconnect previously disconnected youth. It is never too late to invest in our young people. This is an opportunity to work smarter. It is important to recognize that these are not new targets. All of the targets are aligned with existing efforts in the city: the metrics of the Early Success Framework (launched earlier this week) set the benchmarks to ensure that every child is prepared for school. Well measure success in K-12 with benchmarks that are aligned with the Chancellors recently announced 5 year plan for DCPS; and the charter boards Performance Management Framework or chartered schools. Our youth employment goals are consistent with those set by the WIC. And post-secondary credential goals are consistent with those set by the higher education partners. So, the initiative demands more than an education compact. This is a new opportunity to bring all sectors of the community together around a shared vision and purpose. We know young people need supports in and outside of the school buildings to be ready for the careers of the 21st century. They need healthy meals, some need social services to support their families, all need a safe place to live, and young adults need meaningful work experiences to prepare them for adult hood. Through this initiative, we can rethink the entire system to ensure that all of the resources and strategies that touch our young people from age 0-24 are aligned to meet the ultimate objective of college and ultimately career readiness. Personally, Im daunted by the challenge. This certainly isnt a new vision, and good people have been working hard for many years to raise expectations and outcomes for our young people. Still they do not have what they need; and dont have the success in education and employment that we want them to achieve. But if we get mired in the failures of the past, we fail to recognize new opportunities for success. I am invigorated by the level of the engagement of over 100 community members to come together for 2 days to develop this roadmap; the commitment to look at data (the good bad and the ugly) to set benchmarks and outcomes; and the willingness across sectors to be accountable to the success of all young people at

every stage of their journey from cradle to career. We have successes to build on and with all the sectors that have come together for this initiative education, business, philanthropist, government, community organizations, and community members we have the resources necessary to raise D.C. youth to new levels of success from cradle to career. Nothing happens overnight. But the new opportunities and renewed collaboration should give us faith and zeal for the hard work ahead. If we stay the course, we can be successful. With our success, the nations capital can finally become a national model for success for children, youth, and young adults from the cradle to careers.