South's future tied to education, innovation

The Southern Growth Policies Board, a North Carolina think tank, says the South's future is tied to improving education and fostering a culture of innovation, according to a new report recently cited by the Associated Press:

"Among the report's recommendations are that Southern states encourage public universities to form partnerships with industry, government, federal laboratories and other universities to increase research. Southern states should also do more to encourage industries to move their research and development arms to the region, the report said, noting that many of the states already have recruitment incentives including lower taxes and labor costs than other regions.

"Education officials in the South need to do more to raise awareness of the importance of math and science careers and education, the report said. Again, the report noted a national problem — only half of 2004's high school graduates took four years of math in high school and only a fourth took a course in physics — and said most Southern states lagged behind those numbers."