Report of the Working Group on Workforce Development and Business Linkages

Charge to the Workforce Preparation and Business Linkages Strategic Planning Work Group

In its Framework to Develop a Master Plan for Education, the Joint Committee articulated the following charge for California's education system in relation to workforce preparation:

California's education system must respond to the challenges of meeting the state's growing need for housing, infrastructure, transportation, other services by increasing its emphasis on career and technical education.

All students must be afforded the opportunity to participate in a cohesive and well-articulated system of career, technical, and academic preparation that prepares them to excel in roles as family members, community members and leaders, and productive workers. Career and technical education programs must have the necessary resources to provide pupils with essential skills for today's dynamic and competitive workplace. These programs must contain sufficient academic rigor to enable students to successfully modify their educational program in pursuit of more academically-oriented objectives.

For the K-12 system, it states:

• The state must define and maintain challenging education standards for career technical education courses that are appropriate to each field of study and are sufficiently aligned with state academic content standards;
• Every district that maintains a high school shall be responsible for ensuring the availability of a sufficient number of career and technical education courses relevant to state and regional workforce needs; and,
• Every district that maintains a high school shall be responsible for ensuring that each career and technical education course includes reasonably current technology and equipment to ensure adequate training in the field.

For the colleges and universities, it states:

• The statewide governing boards of California's public colleges and universities shall be responsible for defining minimum academic content for career and technical education courses that would warrant credit in their systems and enable successful transfer of a career-oriented student into a more traditional academic program.

For the business sector, it states:

• The state should request business and industry leaders to invite the involvement of educators in strategic planning and discussions regarding (1) economic development; and (2) the provision of skill development that will be required of the future workforce.