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Climbing the Ladder:
Expanding Opportunity Through Training
Governor's Task Force
To Reform Adult Education
and Worker
Training
Recommendations of the Task Force
July 19, 2001
GOVERMENT
DOCUMENTS
COLLECTION
JAN 2
2003
'
University of Massachusetts
Depository copy Commonwea
th of Massachusetts
|
Honorable Jane Swift, Governor
and Chair of Task Force
v
Governor's Task Force to Reform Adult Education and worker Training
Final Recommendations of the Task Force
Table of contents
introduction and Executive Summary
1
Mission of the Task Force 4
Key Findings 5
Recommendations 7
Next Steps 12
Reference
List
Appendix A: List of Task Force Members
Appendix B: List of interviews and Discussions
Appendix C: Summary of FY01 State and Federal Funding
for workforce Development
Appendix D: Supply and Demand for Adult Basic Education and English
for Speakers of other Languages Classes in FY01
Attachment 1: Directory of Massachusetts workforce investment Boards &
One-Stop Career Centers
Task Force to Reform
Adult Education and Worker Training
July 19, 2001
Introduction and Executive Summary
In her first policy initiative as Governor of Massachusetts, Jane Swift established an interagency
Task Force to Reform Adult Education and Worker Training. The Task Force was created to
address the growing disparity between the demands of a rapidly changing workplace and the
limited skills of many workers.
This skills gap has reached alarming proportions. According to a recent study published by
MassINC1 1.1 million Massachusetts workers—fully one-third of the state's workforce—lack the
,
skills needed to perform jobs in today's technology-driven economy. In the past, this hole in
the labor market could be filled by a growing population. But today, the Commonwealth's
population growth has slowed to a trickle. What growth we do have is driven by immigrants,
many of whom lack even the most basic command of English. As a result of these factors,
critical sectors of our economy are facing limits to their growth and competitiveness, brought on
by acute worker shortages in key job categories.
The threat to our overall economic health is only half the skills-gap story. The other half is
more personal and compelling. Without a solid set of marketable job skills, thousands upon
thousands of workers and their families will face lives of limited possibilities. To be sure,
workforce development is about ensuring that Massachusetts businesses stay competitive and
stay here. But it is also about ensuring expanded opportunities for working families.
The existing workforce development system was built to serve the needs of the unemployed.
Today, that focus needs to be complemented by a new emphasis on upgrading the skills of the
many incumbent workers who do not have the competencies they need to build productive
careers in today's job market.
The broad membership of the Task Force brought together agencies involved in workforce
development and education, in order to help design an integrated system of lifelong learning
opportunities. A more coordinated approach is essential, because the single most important
thing we can do to strengthen the quality of our workforce is to address the pervasive and
persistent weaknesses in adult literacy and numeracy.
1 John Comings, Andrew Sum &Johan Uvin, NewSkillsfora NewEconomy:AdultEducation'sKeyRolein Sustaining Economic
GrowthandExpanding Opportunity. (Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth)(December 2000). Report is available at
http://www.massinc.org.
Of course, this problem is best addressed at the source, while young people are still in school.
That is why the Administration is so sharply focused on putting in place meaningful academic
standards, along with an assessment and accountability system, to ensure that all students are
given the educational opportunities they need and deserve. Workers who lack these skills
bump up against barrier after barrier in the job market, and are forced to look to adult
education programs to overcome the gaps in their K-12 experience. In short, in today's world,
competency in English and math is no longer optional. Indeed, it is the essential building block
of economic opportunity.
The workforce development system has grown up over the years on an ad hoc, piecemeal
basis, resulting in dozens of discrete, often disconnected, programs run by a wide variety of
independent, but overlapping state and local agencies. The result is a non-system that is
difficult to access for both workers and employers. Moreover, although there are many high-
functioning programs, the whole adds up to less than the sum of its parts.
The Task Force's recommendations are designed to begin the process of building an integrated
workforce development system that addresses the needs of the employed and unemployed,
alike. This theme of integration takes several forms and affects all levels of the workforce
development system:
• Integratedstatepolicy-making, through gubernatorial leadership of a strengthened
State Workforce Investment Board.
• Integratedresources, through a new competitive grant fund supporting career-ladder
programs.
• Integratedservice delivery'at the local level, through regional and cross-regional
industry teams involving multiple companies, agencies and programs.
• Integratedperformance measuresthat cut across programs and agencies.
Specifically, the Task Force recommends the following:
1. Commit to the goal of an integrated workforce development system, where each
program and agency supports a common mission and strategic purpose, with
funding resources aligned to these shared, measurable objectives.
2. Build the capacity of the State Workforce Investment Board (SWIB) to assume a
leadership role in the development of workforce policy, by designating the Governor
SWIB
co-chair (along with an appointed business leader) and by establishing a special
committee to stimulate systemic reform through the allocation of competitive grant
awards.
3. Launch the Building Essential Skills through Training (BEST) Initiative to help meet the
demand for more highly skilled workers through a model of integrated job training and
adult education services. By pulling together $3.5-to-$7.0M from a variety of
existing programs, BEST will support regional proposals that give front-line workers a
foundation of skills to achieve wage and career advancement, while reducing persistent
job vacancies in key sectors. This small pool, which will be managed by the SWIB in
collaboration with Commonwealth Corporation, is a downpayment on a $30M proposal
included in the Governor's supplemental budget bill.
Governor's Task Force to Reform Adult Education and Worker Training
4. Create consistent and meaningful performance measures that apply system-wide,
including the expanded use of wage record data to track the income effects of
various training programs.
5. Conduct a comprehensive review of existing workforce programs to evaluate program
effectiveness using system-wide performance measures and to determine how
well each program supports the core objectives of the overall workforce development
system. Such a review will also explore barriers to expanded system capacity,
including the limited access of providers to investment capital.
6. Reduce the waiting list for GED and literacy programs by enacting the Governor's
supplemental budget bill, which includes an additional $22 million for the Adult Basic
Education system.
The bottom line is that Massachusetts' future will increasingly depend on our ability to maximize
We
the potential of the existing workforce. don't have a single worker to waste.
Governor's Task Force to Reform Adult Education and Worker Training
