Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce

“The core problem is that our education and training systems were built for another era. We can get where we must go only by changing the system itself.”

This book, released in 2006, is one of the most thought-provoking pieces on educational reform that I have read.  The basic premise is that the k-12 public educational system is broken and cannot be fixed.  This report suggests a complete overhaul of the system, basically an educational revolution.  Such a revolution, it argues, is necessary in order for America to remain competitive in an increasingly global economy, one in which our worker skills are increasingly uncompetitive compared to most other developed countries—a condition that will not fix itself.   

The current economic crisis marks a fundamental turning point in the American economy.  It is quite likely that we will not see a recovery of lost market and housing equity in the foreseeable future and, as a result we must reassess our approach to economic issues.

http://www.skillscommission.org/pdf/exec_sum/ToughChoices_EXECSUM.pdf

Jeff Blodgett
VP of Research

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