As parents watch the building of this "new" system of
education, they hear the phrase school-to-work more and more. Education, they are told, has always
prepared children for college, ignoring the fact that the greater number of children
will enter the workforce on completing secondary education. The education system, therefore, must
not simply focus on the few who go to college, but on the many who will enter
the workforce. But parents soon
learned that education was not being changed to merely incorporate vocational
training, education was being changed to produce a workforce. In the words of Marc Tucker, published
in a booklet entitled A Human Resources Development Plan for the United
States (National Center on Education and the Economy, 1992),
What is essential
is that we create a seamless web of opportunities to develop one's skills that
literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone
— young and old, poor and rich, worker and full-time student.
…a seamless
system…cradle to grave…the same for
everyone, no matter what and no matter the aspirations of the child. The Washington state school-to-work
implementation grant, Working and Learning Together (1995),
leaves no doubt the focus of this new education system,
The transformation
of K-12 education system into a integrated system that is performance-based and
in which STW is a central focus, in conjunction with
industry-driven skill standards, will drive the necessary changes in our entire
education and training system.
The first edition of High Skills,
High Wages published in 1994 by the Workforce Training and Education
Coordinating Board in Washington state, further illuminated the course
education reform would take,
Work-based learning
programs in high school should not be students' first exposure to work;
students should have an emphasis on career awareness in elementary grades and
career exploration and counseling in middle and junior high schools.
Workforce training
must be linked to economic development strategies so that the supply of highly
skilled workers is coordinated with the demand, and that Washington's training
efforts help attract family-wage jobs.
WTECB, the Employment
Security Department, and the workforce training and education agencies should
work together with business and labor on an ongoing basis to analyze the match
between the supply of trained workers completing programs and the demand in the
labor market.
Knowing what we
face, we are confident that Washington has the leadership, energy and
perseverance to make it to our destination: a world class workforce.
Workforce training…the end-all of
education…children trained to fill job slots according to regional
economic development strategies and regional labor market needs that must meet
federal requirements. Working
and Learning Together states, to this effect,
Moving toward the
regional approach in year two of the STWOA grant will
ensure labor market information and projections are also a key driver of the
developing STW system.
In the total quality environment of performance-based education,
training children to meet the needs of the new customer of education –
business – becomes the primary focus of education. America's Choice: high skills or
low wages! (Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce,
National Center on Education and the Economy, 1990) made this statement
regarding the level of education sought by business,
But in a broad
survey of employment needs across America, we found little evidence of a
far-reaching desire for a more educated workforce.
Providing children with a broad but
intensive liberal arts education—indeed, educating for
intelligence—is out. Using
the education system as a means to inculcate in children the behaviors –
the attitudes, values and beliefs – supposedly wanted by business, is the
new focus of education in the classroom.
Not only will the core knowledge
foundation of children be affected by school-to-work, but also extra-curricular
activities—sports. The
following quote is from the Final Report; Governor's Council on
School-to-Work Transition; March 23, 1995, page 13:
Tradition also has
created a high school culture that values sports, social activities, and clubs,
and these activities may create conflicts for students striving to raise
academic achievement levels and to participate in work-based learning.
If sports fans read that to mean sports
programs are going to take a back-seat to school-to-work, or be eradicated
entirely, they are right on target.
The links below explore various aspects
of school-to-work and what it means for the aspirations of children to be able
to do with their lives what they want.
Links also explore the reality of workforce training and retraining.
Note:
If you are opening this page from another section of this website,
please click here to bring up the Human Resources
web page where the corresponding links can be found.
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