Soul Mates: S.R. 339 &Workforce Taskforce -- What's wrong with this picture?

Duplicated with permission from "Georgia insight" news letter:

Education is being hi-jacked & changed into job training. Is it what you want for your child?

• S.R. 339, 1997, authorized a Senate Study Committee on Job Training, to which the Lt. Governor appointed Senators Henson (chairman), Balfour, Broun, Streat and Thomas. They have met twice, will meet twice more and will recommend 1998 legislation to change K-12 schools into job training centers.

  On September 29, the committee heard David Shreve, Director for Education, Labor & Job Training, of the National Conference of State Legislators, Washington, D.C., explain that legislation must be passed to permanently implant into STATE law the federal School-to-Work (STW) plan now stuck in a congressional committee. (That's where it needs to stay.)

  The insatiable thirst for FEDERAL FUNDS and GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF EDUCATION AND LABOR are driving cooperation among numerous state government agencies -- the Departments of Labor, Human Resources, Education, Technical & Adult Education and the University System -- all of which are collaborating to implement statewide STW, since it is floundering on the federal level.

  These bureaucrats are planning to restructure education and change ALL public schools into JOB TRAINING sites and put ALL students to work during class time. So, what's wrong with that you ask? Vocational-technical training has always been available for those who choose it, but STW will not give students a choice. ALL students WILL spend much of their CLASS time ON THE JOB.

  The term "re-structuring education" skillfully hides the fact that ALL students will "choose" a vocatinal-technical curriculum. Vocational or career training will no longer be a second choice in education, it will be the ONLY choice. Public schools will produce workers who have been taught entry-level skills by teachers using curricula designed by business and industry.

• Taskforce on Workforce Development, created in September by Governor Miller's Executive Order, is accountable to him only and is attached to his Office of Planning and Budget. The task force will plan the transformation of schools into School-to-Work centers. Task force members are in two categories:
  • Governmental Departments and Agencies
    • Gov.'s Office of Planning & Budget
    • Dept. of & Bd. of Human Resources
    • Dept. of & Bd. of Tech. and Adult Ed.
    • Superintendent of Education & Bd. of Education
    • Dept. of Labor & Employment and Training Council
    • Chancellor of Univ. System of Ga. & Board of Regents
  • Business and Industry
    • David C. Garrett, III (Chairman), Garrett-Dixon Development Group, Inc.
    • Martha Lee Doyle, BellSouth Corp.
    • Don M. Pope, The Boeing Co.
    • Roy Richards, Jr., Southwire Co.
    • James Yancey, Synovus Financial Corp.
    • H. Allen Franklin, Georgia Power Co.
    • C. David Moody, Jr., C.D. Moody Construction Co., Inc.
    • Arnold Tenanbaum, Chatham Steel Corp.
    • W. H. Nesmith, Jr., Community Newspapers, Inc.

  School-to-Work (STW), a plan for ALL students, not just a few.

  Under STW, high school diplomas won't mean much. Without a "Skills Certificate" high school graduates can't go to college or get a job.

  On March 18, 1996, State School Superintendent Schrenko and Georgia Department of Technical & Adult Education Commissioner Breeden signed the Joint Council for Youth Workforce Development Agreement. This and other quiet maneuvers have laid the groundwork to transform Georgia's K-12 education into job training. Students will be denied a comprehensive academic education, over-taxed citizens will fund the kind of job training employers used to do and graduates will be under-educated.

  • Students will spend as much as one-third of class time in on-the-job training (apprenticeships).
  • They may or may not be paid for their work and child labor laws will be either waived or changed.
  • From kindergarten, students will be asked to choose careers & will be slotted into training for that job.
  • School curricula, heavily influenced by business and industry, will train students for entry-level jobs.
  • Educators and industry will cooperate to divide school time between classes and on-the-job training.
  • A "skills certificate" will be required for students to go into higher education and/or to get a job.

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