Howard Tullman, an entrepreneur and investor, argues that the foundations of America's future workforce are being laid in high school classrooms, and that the people doing this work are increasingly being driven away from the profession. He draws on his experience backing founders, noting that every entrepreneur he has supported has said they would not be where they are without a teacher who challenged them or refused to give up on them.
Tullman's central point is that the qualities employers and investors value, including initiative, problem-solving and the confidence to build something new, are often first nurtured by individual teachers rather than by any single programme or policy. He frames the teaching role as a driver of economic capacity, not only an educational one, and suggests that losing experienced educators weakens the pipeline of people who will later create companies and fill skilled jobs.
The argument is set against a wider debate about how the United States prepares workers for a changing economy. Businesses across manufacturing and technology say the skills required are shifting quickly, and that workers need earlier and more accessible routes into new careers. Commentary from the corporate sector has increasingly stressed that durable economic strength depends on building local talent rather than relying solely on outside hiring when a vacancy arises.
Corporate examples support this view. Samsung Electronics, for instance, has described its investment in Central Texas, where it is preparing to open a new advanced semiconductor facility in Taylor. The company says it has invested more than $100 billion in the United States over nearly five decades, and that its US operations support more than 175,000 jobs. It also points to a new $22.84 million commitment in Central Texas this year, which includes a community engagement programme, an industrial trades training programme and an expanded paid internship scheme with Taylor Independent School District.
Samsung's approach, as set out by its Americas device solutions president, Paul Cho, focuses on educators as well as factories. The company says it reaches more than 50,000 students and 800 educators locally each year, and runs a fellowship that places teachers alongside its research and development engineers to build classroom-ready science, technology, engineering and mathematics lessons. Through its Solve for Tomorrow programme, it says more than 620,000 students have taken part since 2010, with technology and classroom resources provided to more than 4,300 schools nationwide.
Tullman's piece and the corporate commentary share a common question: what remains in a community once an investment is announced. Tullman's answer centres on people, and on the teachers who help young people see themselves as builders. Whether that message will change how schools are staffed, paid and supported is less clear from the material available, but the argument places classroom teaching squarely within the economic conversation about who will build America's next generation of businesses and industries.