America needs to do a better job of educating its youth if it wants to stay competitive in a global workforce, former Gov. Gaston Caperton told the audience at the Education Alliance's annual fundraising dinner Tuesday.

"For us to continue to be competitive, we've got to improve our education," the two-term Democratic governor said.

Caperton, who is now president of the College Board, noted that American ingenuity has kept it in the forefront of intellectual progress From the cotton gin to the personal computer, American inventors have led the way, he said.

But other countries are catching up, and America can no longer count on unchallenged dominance, he said. The world's biggest company is in China, the world's largest hedge fund is in the United Arab Emirates and the world's tallest building is in Dubai.

Caperton, who was a member of the Education Alliance's founding board of directors and served as its chairman from 1984-85 (when it was still known as the West Virginia Education Fund), praised the group's accomplishments in its first 25 years.

Bethesda, Md.-based magazine Education Week has recognized West Virginia as a leader of technology in schools, and 75 percent of the state's students go to class in a new or improved building thanks to $2.4 billion spent on construction and renovations, he said.

But the biggest improvement has been in the number of students going to college, he said.

When he became governor in 1989, 42 percent of high school graduates went on to college. This year, that number has increased to 59.3 percent, he said.

"That is a huge accomplishment," he said to loud applause from an audience that included Gen. Robert "Doc" Fogelsong, the Williamson native who recently retired as the president of Mississippi State University and West Virginia University interim president Peter Magrath. "There's not a better statistic to tell you how you're doing."

But educators need to adapt to the changing world, because 21st century students are very different than their predecessors, Caperton said.

He pointed to the success of Globaloria, a project-based program that was developed by his wife, Idit Harel Caperton, which teaches students to use Flash and other Web-based tools.

At his urging, West Virginia was the pilot state for the teaching method, he said.

"It is a program that teaches kids who have never used technology in their lives and teaches them to use Flash," he said.

After the event, Caperton seemed to shrug off speculation that he might be in the running to become the next U.S. Secretary of Education.

"I'm very honored that anybody would mention me for that job, but nobody's talked to me about that," he said. "I'm a great admirer of President-elect Obama. I'm very excited about the quality of people in his administration."

Reach Andrew Clevenger

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