1990 - America’s Choice: High Skills or Low Wages

The STW blueprint

The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) published this report, the culmination of work by Ira Magaziner, Marc Tucker, and a cadre of business and education leaders. Based on their prediction that 70% of U.S. jobs will not require a college education by the year 2000, the NCEE report outlined a comprehensive, job-specific training and certification program to train high school graduates and re-train existing workers to fill the employment needs of business companies. Central to the plan was a system of employment and training boards at the federal, state, and local levels to organize and oversee the entire program. Key elements included creating national and international occupation standards, certifying students and workers who meet these standards, creating Youth Centers to work with dropouts, and developing one-stop employment centers for all workers and and training centers for unemployed workers. Funding for this STW system would include a mandatory investment by businesses of 1% of their payroll. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Clinton administration supported this plan.

1992 - SCANS Report from the U.S. Department of Labor

The STW plan

The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report from the federal Department of Labor addressed a problem voiced by business leaders: high school graduates are unprepared for jobs so businesses must train entry level workers. The SCANS report “solves” this problem by developing a complex STW system, which is highlighted below.

Reinvent Schools

Students in grades K-8 will learn English, math, science, history, geography, etc. with SCANS competencies* integrated into the curriculum.
Suggested teaching techniques include cooperative learning, active learning, and interdisciplinary approaches.
By 16 years old, most students should have attained the Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM), which documents that the student has learned the required specific attitudes and work practices.*
Students will select a career pathway that will dictate the student’s course selection and integrated work experience.

Foster Work-Based Learning

Students and workers will be expected to meet SCANS workplace competencies.*
To meet this goal, a system of teaching SCANS competencies and assessing ndividual training must be developed.
State standards for SCANS competencies will be benchmarked to national and international standards.

Reorganize the Workplace

Employers will adopt the SCANS competencies and train employees to meet them.

Restructure Assessment

A national assessment is developed so educational institutions can certify the levels of SCANS competencies* achieved by students.
The Report suggests including the SCANS competencies in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

*SCANS workplace competencies

These non-academic traits include organizing resources, working with others, acquiring and using information, understanding systems, and using technology. A fuller synopsis can be found at http://academicinnovations.com/report.html .

In short, the SCANS report creates a system in which businesses

dictate the skills and attitudes students will learn in school.

The blueprint for systemic change put forth in the SCANS Report was enacted through three separate pieces of federal legislation which were implemented at the state level. These three laws integrate government, business and education:

• Government controls education and works with business to

    identify employment needs and train workers to fill those jobs.

• Business determines employment needs and expects schools to

    train students and workers.

• Education follows federal and state mandates to change the focus

    from teaching knowledge to teaching skills so students can fill

    local employment needs.

1994 - Goals 2000: Educate America Act

The government takes control of education.

Goals 2000 was the culmination of discussions started at the Governor’s Education Conference in 1989. This landmark bill allowed the federal government to mandate standards, curriculum, and national testing – all critical to STW. The indelible link between government and education was formed.

Goals 2000 was implemented in Pennsylvania through the Chapter 4 Regulations enacted by the PA Department of Education in 1999. Chapter 4 mandates state academic standards and state assessments (PSSA). The PSSA is the basis for rewards and punishments for school districts, individual schools, and even individual students.

1994 - School-to-Work Opportunities Act

The education – business partnership is created.

This legislation called for a revolutionary change in American education by integrating academic and vocational learning for all students. The purpose of education is drastically changed from teaching knowledge to training students for specific jobs. Students are expected to graduate with certified skills so they can enter the workforce immediately or receive additional training. It was predicted that only 20% of future jobs will require a full 4-year college education, so 80% of students will be allowed to receive only a high school or two-year technical certification. STW develops a pipeline - a constant flow – of students filling local jobs.

In 2001 STW plans for Pennsylvania were in detailed in the Keystone Report , written by a commission of legislative and business representatives. Although the legislature has not yet implemented most of the Keystone Report plans, aspects of STW are already in Pennsylvania schools. (See separate synopsis of the Keystone Report.)

1998 - Workforce Investment Act

Education, Business and Governmentare joined in

Workforce Investment Boards.

This legislation established a nationwide network of local Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) that are under the control of each state’s Workforce Development Board. Likewise, the state Boards were managed by the National Workforce Development Board, which is monitored by the U.S. Secretary of Labor. These appointed Boards are comprised of business, government and education representatives.

WIBs are very powerful, for they determine what jobs are needed locally and then develop plans to provide a continuous local supply of certified workers. Their main tools are one-stop employment and retraining centers and STW K-12 education programs.

In Pennsylvania, Governor Ridge’s Executive Order 1997-7 formed the Human Resources Investment Council (HRIC) that released its Unified Plan for Workforce Investment in 1999. This plan implemented the federal Workforce Investment Act by creating local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), CareerLink (one-stop employment and retraining centers), and Youth Councils (that initiate and coordinate career development activities for disadvantaged students). One state WIB would control the development of all the elements via a specific plan with rules and regulations.

The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Act (Act 114 of 2001, formerly HB 3) codified the entire Workforce Development system in 2001 – two years after Ridge’s Executive Order established the extensive WIB network.

These three federal laws and their companion state plans create a complete economic system that integrates education, business, and government.

How does STW work?

Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) work at the local level to identify jobs with a high probability for growth.

Businesses work with WIBs to develop job profiles that identify the skills needed by the workers.

Schools identify students who could fill occupational categories and then teach the necessary skills to those students.

Students graduate from high school or postsecondary training with skills needed for a specific job.

Workers who lose jobs are retrained to fill another available job.

In this School-to-Work system, students and workers are considered human capital that must fulfill the economic needs of local businesses and the government.