A strong K-16 education system is crucial to the development of any community. Employers need a solid base of well-educated employees; education is a key decision in many relocation decisions; academic advancement and research conducted at institutions of higher learning and science provide multiple benefits to the economy.

• The Chamber supports Texas Tech’s efforts with regard to federal research appropriations, including clearly identified earmark requests, and efforts to elevate Texas Tech to Tier I status, commensurate with that of a flagship institution.
• Support efforts to ensure that federal education and training programs, such as those authorized under the Workforce Investment Act, focus on the elements necessary to help American workers obtain the high-wage, high-skilled jobs that businesses are creating every day.
• Incorporate policies in legislation reauthorizing the Higher Education Act that recognize the needs of adult workers attending postsecondary education on a less than half-time basis; accommodate the demographic shift in the postsecondary student population; allow employers and workers to keep pace with rapid advances in technology; and make certain equitable treatment for proprietary postsecondary education companies to address existing workforce challenges and ensure American competitiveness.
• The Chamber is supportive of additional federal and/or state funding for water-related research projects, as long as a project benefits the region and does not negatively impact area producers and other water users.
• The Chamber is supportive of needed research on desalination efforts, particularly with regard to brackish ground water supplies in the Santa Rosa aquifer.