The Erie Times-News’ three-part series on General Electric Co.’s grant to the school system in Louisville is worth checking out if you care about Erie and its future.

The series, which kicks off today and runs through Tuesday, shows how the company’s grant has impacted students in Louisville.

Why does this matter to Erie?

The reason is simple. GE recently decided to give the Erie School District a similar $15 million grant — largely to help improve the performance of students in science and math.

The goal is to help teach the next generation the skills they need to become productive scientists and engineers — the kind of professionals that GE Transportation and other Erie companies need to remain competitive.

“If the grants help districts push more students on to college — and if those students become mathematicians, scientists or engineers — GE has a ready-made pool of homegrown talent,” Erie Times-News reporter Erica Erwin writes in the first part of the series.

With any luck, some of the students who benefit from this grant will decide to make their lives in Erie. In an ideal world, they will help not only GE Transportation, but other local companies develop new products and processes that will add value to Erie’s economy for decades to come.

How can the Erie School District best leverage this grant? If you’ve seen or experienced education programs that have improved students’ math and science skills, I invite you to share the details of these experiences. We’d love to hear about best practices.