RE: Workforce Preparation

The following from your remarks is critical to the rethinking of the master plan:

The Master Plan ignores many realities, such as; 1) seventy to eighty percent of the jobs in the U.S. do not require a four-year degree, 2) only about twenty-five percent of the population completes a four-year degree, and 3) most employers are small businesses who cannot afford to offer in-house training programs. 

>From the Adult Education point of view, we meet the needs of those who do not go on to a two or four year college, but learn skills as they progress through various jobs throughout their working careers.  We are the short-term, non-credit, vocational training piece of the education pie.

We are the safety net for those trying to finish high school; the core of the ESL student learning process--easing the transition into the working community; the small employer trainer--we fill the gap; the stop for new skills for many who now need them even though they have the two or four year degree.

A rewrite of Recommendation 38 is essential to make adult education an integral part of the Master Plan.  We make a significant difference in a cost effective way--2.4 million students are served each year through adult education.  Adult education should provide non-credit education; community colleges should focus on credit courses that lead to 2-year degrees and are the stepping stone to four year colleges; and the ROP and ROPCs should focus on vocational training at the high school level.  We all have an important role to play.