![[ED HOME]](/icons/EDhome.gif){kind=icon}
FOR RELEASE Contacts: School-to-Work Office November 21, 1996 Nancy Mathis (202) 401-6222 U.S. Dept. of Labor Diane Quinn (202) 219-8211 U.S. Dept. of Education Ivette Rodriguez (202) 401-0262
The grants will support efforts to help students obtain the academic and occupational skills needed to prepare for the postsecondary education and training required for successful careers and high paying jobs.
With today's awards, a total of 37 states now have received School to Work implementation grants. The states receiving awards in the current round are:
California $ 21.9 million
Connecticut $ 3.3 million
Louisiana $ 4.3 million
Minnesota $ 3.8 million
Missouri $ 4.6 million
Nevada $ 1.9 million
New Mexico $ 2.2 million
Rhode Island $ 1.9 million
Tennessee $ 4.7 million
Texas $ 10.3 million
"These grants will help give young people the practical workforce skills and academic knowledge they need to build promising futures," said President Clinton. "School to Work is a sound investment in our youth and our economy."
"School to Work means learning for the future," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "It expands education opportunities and career options for students by connecting academic achievement and on the job success, and makes lifelong learning a lifetime habit."
"School to Work is an investment in the future of our young people and in America," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich. "By linking the classroom to the world of work, we are helping students develop the skills they need for successful careers. At the same time, we are training a highly skilled workforce to ensure America's competitiveness in the world economy."
The grants will be used to implement statewide School to Work plans. For example, the funds may be used to actively involve employers and help them develop work based learning opportunities for students; design and implement challenging secondary school curricula; provide training opportunities for teachers, employers, workplace mentors and counselors; promote partnerships among employers, labor, education, government and community organizations; or work with local groups to introduce students, parents and educators to the connection between classroom activities and learning on the job.
The funds represent the first installment of a five year investment intended to help states and territories get School to Work systems underway at the local level. States receive funds after submitting comprehensive School to Work plans and demonstrating their readiness to implement them. Implementation grants are awarded on a competitive basis to new states, as appropriations permit.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and seven U.S. territories received non competitive development grants totaling $24.3 million in 1994 to design statewide School to Work systems. A development grant may be renewed until a state is ready to compete for, and is awarded, a School to Work implementation grant.
The School to Work Opportunities Act, which passed with bipartisan support in 1994, sunsets in the year 2001 and is jointly administered by the Departments of Education and Labor. School to Work links school improvement with workforce and economic development. It engages students, parents, educators, schools, businesses, labor organizations and communities in designing and implementing a high quality education that integrates challenging academic curricula and preparation for careers -- and reflects local employment opportunities and sources of education and training.
For example, Tennessee has a high level of employer involvement in the School to Work effort, with Lockheed Martin, BellSouth and Saturn taking strong leadership roles. In Minnesota, a union business partnership has established a charter high school to provide students with the academic and workplace skills needed to compete in today's high tech economy. Louisiana is involving out of school youth in School to Work efforts by developing a close working relationship with the New Orleans Job Corps Center. In California, a statewide school to career curriculum that emphasizes early career exploration is being reviewed by the public and should be available to schools in 1997. In Texas, Minnesota and Tennessee, state legislation now connects School to Work initiatives with statewide workforce and economic development efforts.
The real success of School to Work is measured in people like Marsha Dennis, who was in the 11th grade when she entered Boston's ProTech program, a youth apprenticeship School to Work partnership of 10 area hospitals, the Boston Public Schools and the Private Industry Council. While attending English High School and Bunker Hill Community College, she also worked with a mentor as an assistant in a hospital surgery department and a medical library. Now a surgical technician, Dennis credits School to Work with giving her an opportunity to apply what she learned and begin a successful career.
According to a recently released, two year progress report to the U.S. Congress on the implementation of the School to Work Opportunities Act, 500,000 students, 135,000 employers and 1,800 schools throughout the nation are involved in federally funded school to work activities.
NOTE TO EDITORS: State descriptions of these School to Work grant awards are attached.
Summary: With 5.7 million students enrolled in K 12, California's School to Career System must address the needs of an ethnically diverse population covering a large geographic area. The goal of the State's School to Career system, developed by the Governor's School to Career Task Force, is to integrate education reform with workforce and economic development. While many schools already offer School to Career opportunities (including those in local partnerships receiving federal funding), the California Department of Education has developed a statewide School to Career Curriculum Framework that emphasizes early career exploration in grades K 8 and promotes connecting school based and work based learning with attention to career pathways in grades 9 12. After public review and comment, the curriculum will be distributed to all California schools in 1997 and put into practice by the Fall of 1998.
To support its plan, the State is providing in service training and staff development for educators, forums on School to Career for employers and labor representatives, information and support to parents, and incentives to employers to provide work based learning. California's School to Career (STC) also has tremendous support from the state's higher education community. The California Education Roundtable, comprised of top administrator's including the Chancellor of the California State University system, President of the University of California System, Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction has endorsed the plan and is committed to expanding School to Career to cover K 16.
Vision: California's plan is to prepare all students -- K 16 --to be lifelong learners, ready for rewarding high wage, high skill careers that offer personal and professional growth as global citizens. California's STC efforts compliment and augment the State's commitment to a core set of "foundation skills"including a proficiency in reading, writing, oral communication, scientific reasoning, math and problem solving.All students are expected to attain these skills by 10th grade.
Innovative Components: School to Career is a statewide initiative that provides leadership and direction from the state, and input and participation from localities. For example, the State's Economic Strategy Panel identifies emerging growth industries that could become partners in local School to Career systems.The State is aligning STC with initiatives including Economic Development, Workforce Development, One Stop and Goals 2000. Tremendous emphasis has been placed on including all students with outreach to disabled students, dropouts, and those for whom English is a second language.
Major Partners: California Department of Education, California Chamber of Commerce, MagneTek, Inc, Pacific Telesis Group,California Business Council, Service Employees International Union,United Teachers, California State Parent/Teachers Association, Auto Club of Southern California, California Community Colleges and Julia's Mexican Food and Manufacturing.
Governance: School to Career leadership will be provided by the Governor's STC Advisory Council while the funding implementation will be managed by Interagency Partners: The California Department of Education, the Chancellor's Office of California Community Colleges and the Employment Development Department with input from local partnerships in 12 state regions.
Summary: Connecticut Learns, a joint school to work (STW) venture between State agencies, offers a flexible framework for implementation by providing three models of work based learning that can be adopted by local areas.Connecticut plans to bring on line 40 (of the 169) school districts the first year and steadily increase the number of districts until full participation occurs.Connecticut also proposes to invest heavily in demonstration programs that will serve as models for the State. The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) has worked extensively with the State in defining skill requirements for each of the eight industry clusters that the State has identified. They are; Arts and Media, Business and Finance, Construction:Technologies and Design, Environmental/ Natural Resources and Agriculture, Government, Education and Human Services, Health and Biosciences, Retail/Tourism/Recreation and Entrepreneurship, and Technologies:Manufacturing, Communications and Repair. The CBIA will also conduct an extensive marketing campaign to increase employer involvement. Elementary students will utilize specially designed activity packets and developmental curriculum to engage them in discussions about careers.Middle school students will participate in a variety of exploratory courses and have at least one job shadowing experience.Starting in grade 9 students will have the opportunity to select a specific program of study that will carry them through high school. Connecticut's Graduates Program, a program designed to prevent students from becoming dropouts, will assist in servicing at risk students under the STW framework.
Vision: The Connecticut Learns partnership will bring about the continuous improvement of Connecticut's labor force, expanding the job base by maintaining the state's competitiveness in the global marketplace, and providing all students in the state with the opportunity to connect the learning that takes place within the school walls to the needs and demands of higher education and of the full range of careers offered by the Connecticut economy.
Innovative Components: Each local school district is required to connect its STW program to one or more postsecondary institutions in order to receive funding.Connecticut plans to establish intern positions in each of its one stop career centers to assist local partners with employer recruiting.The State has developed the Connecticut Learns Toolkit to assist its local partners.The State has identified eight industry clusters and has developed skill requirement booklets that outline the skills required in each of these clusters.Plans are to award skill certificates in each of the eight areas.
Major Partners: The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (which represents about 10,000 employers in the State), the Departments of Education, Higher Education, Labor, and Economic and Community Development, business and industry and organized labor.
Governance: Connecticut Employment and Training Commission (CETC) has lead responsibilities and will engage staff from across the agency. At the regional level, eight recently formed regional partnerships align with the States' Workforce Development Boards, organized labor and other agencies and key stakeholders.
Summary: Louisiana's School to Work System is known as PARTNERSHIPS!It is part of Gov. Mike Foster's efforts to reform the state's workforce development system and encourage education reform through a Goals 2000 school improvement initiative known as LEARN for the 21st century. The State's School to Work (STW) system began at the grassroots level with the formation of local partnerships funded by the state. Funding requirements established a standard makeup of those local STW partnerships -- employers, organized labor, parents, students, elected officials, educators and community based organizations all had to be involved.. A network of nine regional partnerships began to take shape based on common economic development and labor market needs. Eventually, the Governor's School to Work Council was formed to direct PARTNERSHIPS! efforts. Louisiana's efforts are directed at all students, K 12. Elementary school students participate in activities designed to build self awareness and career awareness. Middle school students, along with their parents, begin to form academic and career plans based on their academic proficiencies and skills. By grade seven, students will have some work based learning experiences such as job shadowing. High school students select a career cluster that integrates work based and school based learning with work ethics and labor market information. Those clusters include, but are not limited to, Business and Marketing, Health and Human Services, Engineering, Industry and Technology, and Humanities and the Arts. Educators are provided with internships and staff development opportunities,and three State universities offer teachers graduate credit for courses in applied learning.
Vision: Louisiana's goal is to increase school completion rates and move students from some of the lowest income families in America into the workforce.PARTNERSHIPS! is driven by seven guiding principles; preparing all students for citizenship and work, designing curricula that are current and applicable, reshaping K 12 schools to link learning with employment, engaging students and their families in career planning, expanding employer participation in curriculum design, mentoring and work based learning, recognition by schools and employers of advanced course work or skill proficiency, and removal of traditional barriers to new methods of education and training.
Innovative Components: The State is making every effort to leverage existing state and federal initiatives to build school to work partnerships including education reform initiatives such as the State's 43 model "High Schools That Work", and workforce development programs like the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), Job Corps, and a Jobs for America's Graduates (JAGS) initiative that targets juvenile offenders.
Major Partners: The Governor's Office, and the State's Departments of Education, Labor, Higher Education, Social Services, Criminal Justice and Women's Services are involved. Employer/Labor participation includes the Louisiana Chemical Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Hibernia National Bank,BellSouth, Louisiana Association of Nurserymen, Procter and Gamble, Contractor's Educational Trust Fund, Louisiana Retailers Association and the Louisiana Business Partnership.
Governance: The plan is overseen by the Governor's Council on School to Work whose management structure includes an employer management team, a government agency weighted implementation team, and an advisory team with input from 9 regional partnerships.
Summary: The "cornerstone" of Minnesota's STW system has been the implementation of state-wide graduation standards which articulate the integration of school and work based learning skills and competencies for students.These standards, also the focus of Minnesota's Goals 2000: Education Improvement Plan, specify what all learners must know and be able to do prior to leaving high school.Sixteen regional forums, involving over 700 individuals, were conducted statewide to establish the plan and direction for the STW Initiative. Based on the concerted efforts and consensus of this broad based coalition of public and private agencies and organizations,Minnesota has put in place necessary leadership structures, established local and regional strategies to ensure that all schools and communities become active STW partners, and focused on the integration of academic curriculum and workplace experiences.Thirty five local partnerships have been established with six technical assistance areas that coincide with local labor market areas.
Vision: Minnesota's vision is to create a seamless system of education and workforce preparation for all learners, tied to the needs of a competitive economic workplace. It emphasizes high expectations and standards, targeted to the student's development of academic, technical, and career skills that will make the student employable.
Innovative Components: Minnesota has a variety of innovative components which will strengthen STW in the state.The University of Minnesota offers a STW certificate at the preservice and continuing education levels for interested professionals; the certificate requires 18 core credits specifically focused on STW program models, practices, and strategies.Minnesota also has an exceptionally strong partnership with organized labor to assist in the implementation of Minnesota's STW System; for example, the Minnesota Teamsters have partnered with business to establish a charter high school. Minnesota also has the first student owned and operated Radio Shack in the country.
Major Partners: The Department of Children, Families, and Learning, Department of Education, Department of Economic Security, Department of Labor and Industry and the Minnesota State College and University System are major public partners.Other partners include the Minnesota Teamsters, AFL CIO, Dane Industries, Activar, Inc., Hutchinson Technology, Augustine Medical, Inc., Minnesota Business Partnerships, and U.S. Directives Corporation.
Governance: The Governor's Workforce Development Council (GWDC), a 32 member council that meets monthly, has been charged with the responsibilities of coordinating the development, implementation, and evaluation of Minnesota's STW system.It is chaired by the President of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, with several prominent Minnesota based businesses and labor leaders represented on the governing board.
Summary of Proposal: The Missouri Community Careers System has been designed over the last three years, through a collaborative effort of many individuals and groups who share a common vision of creating an approach to learning that links students and schools with the world of work.The system provides a statewide framework, but depends on community based, grassroots efforts to increase students' awareness of workplace opportunities and training for the skills they will need to successfully pursue career goals.Fifteen regional partnerships will be vital to the statewide roll out of the Missouri School to Work system. These boundaries coincide with Missouri's Job Training Partnership Act Service Delivery Areas and the One Stop Career Center Planning Areas. Ultimately the State expects to have 60 local STW partnerships. The State will assist regional and local partnerships to involve all stakeholders at the local level; provide training for workplace mentors, teachers and other community members; use a mobile resource center to provide career information in rural areas; dedicate an additional safety and health inspector to help ensure that students are protected in the workplace; and make computerized career information available in every participating school.
Academic Performance Standards have been developed to establish the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for students to advance through elementary and secondary education, qualify them for high school graduation, and prepare them for postsecondary education, the workplace or both.Regional and local partnerships will have access to a statewide clearinghouse that will include a computer database about best practices, printed materials, videos and other information about STW.
Vision: Missouri's vision is having a well educated/trained workforce as a precious and valuable economic resource.Such a workforce will allow the State to compete for the high skill, high wage jobs that are so important to its future.The State is committed to giving students a high quality basic education and providing them with the right information enabling them to enter into and remain an integral part of the State's workforce.
Innovative Component: The Statewide STW system is closely linked to ongoing state education reform efforts such as the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, which includes such components as 73 Academic Performance Standards and the "A+ Schools" initiative.The STW initiative is also strongly linked with the State's One Stop Career Center initiative and shares the same management structure.
Major Partners: Employers include 3M Corporation, Briggs and Stratton Corporation, Toastmaster, Inc., Hallmark Corporation which are members of the Governor's Partnership on School to Work transition.Labor is represented on the partnership by the Missouri AFL CIO and Amalgamated Transit Union. Established Regional and Local Partnership Members represent employers such as Harmon Industries, ConAgra Frozen Foods, Maytag Manufacturing, Monsanto, Anheuser Bush, Inc. Union Electric, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and a host of small business and manufacturing concerns. Other partners are parents, educators, employment and training agencies, educational organizations, and community based organizations
Governance: Setting policy will be Missouri's Interagency Team for Workforce Development, comprised of the directors of five State agencies: Economic Development, Elementary and Secondary Education, Higher Education, Labor and Industrial Relations, and Social Services, the Missouri Training and Employment Council, and a member from the Governor's staff.Each department has designated staff to a STW management team, responsible for day to day operations.
Summary: Nevada has worked to create a "yellow brick road" from the schoolhouse to high wage, high skill employment. Creation of a comprehensive school to career system for all students has become a primary focus for a broad based coalition of Nevada's education, business, and workforce development community. Nevada's School to Career (STC) system has been strengthened over the past three years through the passage of legislation (AB 703) which provided $4 million for STC system building.The plan includes a wide variety of strategies and local models to integrate school and work based learning, secondary and postsecondary education, and academic and vocational curriculum.It includes options for work based learning for in school and out of school youth with a major concentration on paid work experience; a plan for career guidance and counseling in grades K 14; and opportunities for business/industry involvement and a campaign to increase the number of private sector employers involved in STW.To maximize resources and provide regional planning, and system development, the State has created four regional areas, based on the service delivery areas of the four community colleges and Tech Prep consortia.
State Vision: The state of Nevada envisions a comprehensive system for school to career transitions involving all youth.This system will be driven by a dedicated collaborative of committed partners from Nevada's public and private sectors and will provide students with the necessary skills to compete in today's interdependent global economy.
Innovative Components: Nevada has established a range of Action Teams designed to assist local partnerships with STC implementation.These action teams will be comprised of appropriate staff from across State agencies with expertise in various fields.An example is the All Students Action Team which will serve as a consulting body to help locals strategize and develop plans for ensuring that every student has access to and is supported in STC across the State. Nevada is also moving towards having all students complete at least one community college course before high school graduation to ensure a "foot in the door" of postsecondary education.
Major Partners: The Governor's Office, the State Legislature, Commission on Economic Development, Department of Education,Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation, and the University and Community College System of Nevada.These groups will be joined by a strong coalition of state business leaders, community leaders, and parents. Key employers include: Sprint, Wells Fargo Bank, Nevada Hotel and Motel Association, Sears, Nevada Bell, Ralston Manufacturing, Newmont Gold Company, Nevada Manufacturers' Association and Washoe Medical Center.Labor is represented by the AFL CIO.
Governance: Nevada's Department of Education will be the fiscal agent for the federal implementation grant.The Workforce Development Board's School to Career Council will address issues, make decisions or recommendations to decision makers, chart progress, evaluate the results, and adjust the course of STC implementation.STC Action Teams will provide guidance to the 4 regional partnerships, and make recommendations to the STC Council. Partnerships will coordinate STC activities in each of the 4 regions. Local partnerships will coordinate activities in each district.
Summary: After extensive multifaceted planning and development activities, New Mexico plans to implement STW through 17 Regional Area Partnerships, which will involve the collaborative efforts of schools, businesses, students, parents, state agencies and other partners. With a strong connection to the State's Goals 2000 initiative, the plan builds upon current successful practices such as tech prep consortia, career academies, and an "employability model" for school curricula that develops basic academic and personal skills and work competencies necessary for successful employment. Businesses have a variety of options for involvement, ranging from employing students to contributing resources to schools.The State's Small Business Development Center network is to support rural school based enterprises and other entrepreneurial activities. High schools are to be increasingly linked to postsecondary institutions.Efforts to bring STW to scale statewide have included a statewide STW awareness and education campaign, a STW partnership conference, a published STW manual, and career academy training.Career academies & skill standards have been identified for future job demands within the State.
Vision: New Mexico's vision is to prepare all students for success in the workforce, and through state support and local control, establish a statewide framework that meets the regional educational, training and employment needs of society, employers, government and individuals.
Innovative Components: New Mexico's Blueprint 2000, developed in conjunction with Goals 2000, contains an assessment tool that will be used to gauge students' knowledge, communications abilities, and employability or postsecondary readiness as they progress through school.The employability skills framework, initially adopted in 1992, will have standards in place in 1997 that all students will be required to attain.Several local school to work sites, particularly in the Albuquerque area, are strong and being used as models throughout the state.
Major Partners: The Governor's office,the State Departments of Education, Labor, and Economic Development, the State Board of Education, small business, organized labor, the Commission on Higher Education, Native American tribes, and public schools administrators are all providing direction and leadership.Many employers, who are actively involved in a wide range of activities, include Intel, Westinghouse, BDM, the Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, and the Santa Fe Hospitality Industry.
Governance: The School to Work Office is part of the Governor's Office , with the STW Advisory Board providing overall policy direction.
Summary: For the past three years, Rhode Island has been researching, designing, looking at demonstration projects and working to build awareness of School to Work (STW).Rhode Island's plan to implement a comprehensive school to work system reflects the grassroots efforts of stakeholders -- students, families, workplace representatives, community based organizations and town, city and state agencies all with the support of state leaders. The plan is also the product of a collaboration among three state offices -- education, workforce development and economic development. In Rhode Island, the work based, school based, connecting and family involvement activities begin at the early childhood level and continue to post secondary adult level and careers. In grades K 3, early exposure to careers and the world of work occur through story telling, interviews with family members and employers' visits to the classroom. Students in grades 4 6 begin to connect careers with the curriculum. In the 7th and 8th grades, students are matched with a mentor in their field of interest and have job shadowing opportunities. Ninth and tenth graders begin exploring career majors, and in the last two years of high school, students connect interest in a career major with work based learning. To demonstrate a student's mastery of high academic standards and workplace competencies, Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery will be awarded. Students are also encouraged to seek education and training after graduation. The Community College and the University of Rhode Island are active STW partners. There is strong employer participation and Rhode Island's size provides easy access to a broad range of people, resources, business and industry.
Vision: Rhode Island recognized a link between education and the economy and recommended the development of high standards for all students, performance measures of student achievement, and the development of multiple paths for student success that would link school based and work based learning.
Innovative Components: Much effort is being made by the Chambers of Commerce and community based organizations to connect dropouts with STW, including providing GED preparation and alternative learning environments. Rhode Island stresses that STW is for "all kids", with special programs that educate profoundly disabled students for work. The Annenberg Institute for School Reform has committed resources to STW. Funds from federal initiatives such as Goals 2000 and Jobs Training Partnership Act (JTPA) are also being leveraged to support STW.
Major Partners: Governor's Office, the Departments of Education and Employment and Training, AeroTech International,North Safety Products, Fielding Manufacturing, Electro Standards Laboratory, AFL CIO, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, Chambers of Commerce, Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, Community College of Rhode Island, University of Rhode Island, Alga Plastics, Pilgrim Screw Corporation, and Blow Molded Specialties.
Governance: The Governor's Human Resource Investment Council STW Subcommittee serves as the governing board for implementing and maintaining the STW system. A state STW Coordinator reports to the Subcommittee members who include the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Director of the Department of Employment and Training and a business representative.
Summary: Tennessee's School to Career (STC) system's goal is to provide all students with the essential skills needed to make the successful transition between the classroom and the world of work. Tennessee's School to Career has terrific support from the business community as well as post secondary institutions such as Vanderbilt University. In grades K 5, students are exposed to a variety of activities geared toward generating awareness and appreciation of the workplace and how academic achievement will increase future career options. Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 will take part in a broad variety of career exploration activities such as career study and research, mentoring and job shadowing. Before the end of eighth grade, educators and parents work with students to develop an individual six year plan of study involving seven study clusters -- health care, arts/communication, sciences/technology, business/marketing, hospitality/tourism and manufacturing/construction/ transportation. Using those career clusters as a framework, students in grades 9 12 add work based learning such as an apprenticeship or internship to their core academic curricula and additional technical study. Throughout the students' participation in school to career, private sector involvement insures parents and their children that they have realistic information about the variety of careers and the training required.
Vision: Tennessee's vision for the future is a statewide school to career system built on public/private partnerships committed to providing every student with the education and employment skills necessary to meet global standards, become a productive citizen, and reap the benefits of lifelong learning.It is built on the concept that education reform, economic development and workforce development must be part of the same system which provides opportunities for all students -- from the academically talented to the academically challenged.
Innovative Component: Tennessee's plan emphasizes the inclusion of rural areas in the system, and offers several innovative strategies to address their needs including distance learning and the Appalachian Intermountain Scholars program. Known as AIMS, this rural/ regional program sponsored by 55 employers issues certificates to high school students which are recognized by northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia employers. Additionally, each summer two Governor's School's will be established around one of the seven career clusters. Within three years, the state plans to offer scholarships to the Schools.
Major Partners: The Governor's Office, the Commissioners of Education, Labor,and Economic Development, the State Board of Regents, employers at the CEO and chief manufacturing levels (including Saturn Corporation and Lockheed Martin), and the AFL CIO.
Governance: The initiative will be run through the Schools to Career Office. The office will be comprised of 3 School to Career staff plus 10 other staffers on loan from departments with an investment in STC such as Labor and Economic Development.STC staff report directly to the Deputy Commissioner of Education who is a former BellSouth executive. The state will be divided into 14 STC regions, each of which will be overseen by a school superintendent and business leader. Locally, the state will have 70 95 partnerships covering most counties.
Summary: The Texas School to Work (STW) initiative will offer a curriculum that encompasses an academic foundation and enrichment opportunities that include Career and Technology Education (CT&E)for all students in regular and special education. Texas groups CT&E into seven clusters which must include a work based learning component.State plans also call for the expansion of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) project which will infuse "real world expectations" into academic subjects for grades K 12.Other activities in support of STW include Academics 2000 (Goals 2000), deployment of tech prep models, and apprenticeships opportunities in conjunction with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training in the areas of electronics, banking and construction.The current consolidation of approximately 30 employment & training and welfare related initiatives in Texas leaves the State well positioned to implement STW and integrate a range of complementary programs, priorities, and funding sources.
Vision: The Texas school to work vision is committed to developing a comprehensive, coherent School to Work system that engages all youth in the life long acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to pursue meaningful, challenging and productive career pathways, into high skill, high wage jobs.
Innovative Component(s): The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board mandates that all Associate of Applied Science programs in colleges incorporate work based components and connecting activities of school to work and that all certificate programs teach to industry specifications as they are produced by employer driven associations.Texas has also launched a major, multi year technology initiative supported by a large telecommunications infrastructure fund which will include such activities as the development of a "virtual community college" model designed to effectively reach rural areas.
Major Partners: The Governor's Office, Texas Workforce Commission, schools, colleges, employer/labor groups, community based organizations, parents, and employers such as Cross Timbers Oil Company, Dell Computer Corporation, Texas Commerce Bank, Sematech (a consortium of 11 high tech companies), H.E.B. (State's largest grocer), and many others.
Governance: Local Workforce Development Boards and School to Work Partnerships will be responsible for the administration and implementation of STW initiatives. A statewide roll out of STW will occur in approximately 28 regional workforce development boards, each supported by a STW subcommittee, a regional tech prep consortium, and a regional STW liaison network to facilitate STW connecting activities.