CEO: High schools must improve
SAS chief speaks to business lobby

James H. Goodnight, CEO of SAS Institute, says the state needs to make smaller classes and prepare all for college. Staff Photo by Mel Nathanson

By JONATHAN B. COX, Staff Writer

North Carolina must overhaul high school education or risk losing its competitiveness, James H. Goodnight, chief executive of SAS Institute, told business and government leaders Wednesday.

The low-skill economy is gone, yet the education system has not adapted, Goodnight told about 1,000 people attending the N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry annual meeting in Raleigh.

"We are still relying on a system that fails to reflect our changing world," said Goodnight, the Triangle's richest man and co-founder of the world's largest privately-held software company. "Obviously, if we're not producing a work force for the 21st century we will not be able to attract the industry we need to compete."

Schools should be more rigorous and relevant, he said, and should improve student-teacher relationships. To accomplish the goals, class sizes should be smaller, he said. And computers should be on every desk.

"We don't take turns walking down the hall to check our e-mail at work," he said, referring to the practice of students sharing computers in secondary schools.

No matter their future plans, all students should be required to pursue a college preparatory program, Goodnight said. Doing so will ensure that even those who don't go to college are ready for the demands of business.

Goodnight and his wife, Ann, have shown a special interest in education. The couple in 1997 helped found Cary Academy, a sixth-through-twelfth grade private school that focuses on having technology in the curriculum.

In lean budget years, some might argue against the extra cost of smaller classes and new technology. But Goodnight said it's an empty argument.

About 68 percent of those in U.S. prisons lack a high school diploma, he said. The state spends about $23,000 per inmate a year. It spends about $6,000 per high school student, Goodnight said.

"It seems to me we should be spending our money on education and not on prisons," he said to applause.

Reprinted by permission of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Reproduction does not imply endorsement.

View a complete transcript of Dr. Goodnight's speech