ERIC ED348538: Technical Education, Work Force Training, and U.S. Competitiveness. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Technology and Competitiveness of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Cong

335 Pages·1992·5.2 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
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CE 061 763
TITLE
Technical Education, Work Force Training, and U.S.
Competitiveness. Hearing before the Subcommittee on
Technology and Competitiveness of the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology. U.S. House of
Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, First
Session (September 17, 1991).
INSTITUTION
Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee
on Science, Space and Technology.
REPORT NO
ISBN-0-16-037443-X
PUB DATE
92
NOTE
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Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.)
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DESCRIPTORS
Community Colleges; *Federal Legislation; Hearings;
*Labor Force Development; *Manufacturing;
Postsecondary Education; *Productivity; Secondary
Education; *Technical Education; *Technological
Advancement
IDENTIFIERS
Congress 102nd
ABSTRACT
This document records the oral and written testimony
given at a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on
technical training and productivity. Witnesses who provided testimony
included an official of the National Science Foundation, several
administrators of manufacturing companies, a representative of
community colleges, and representatives of the U.S. Departments of
Commerce, Labor, and Education. Witnesses testified about the need
for better educated workers now and in the future, and they described
programs in community colleges and manufacturing that have been
training employees successfully and raising productivity. In general,
most witnesses supported H.R. 2936 and H.R. 3507, which would create
technical education centers and improve the technical training of
youths and adult employees. Many of those who testified stressed the
need to educate and train those youths who do not go to a four-year
college so that they will have the flexibility and the skills to
compete in the work force of the future. Most of the discussion
focused on technical skills and higher-level reading skills, rather
than on basic literacy education. (KC)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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c
TECHNICAL EDUCATION, WORK FORCE TRAINING,
AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS
HEARING
00
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
TECHNOLOGY AND COMPETITIVENESS
CO
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SECOND CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SEPTEMBER 17, 199]
[No. 851
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Officio of EdUC. litiOngl ResilUCh
and Improvement
viZ
EO CATfONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
Ibm document has been reproduced
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ongma tmg a
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docu
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OERI position or policy
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
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48-1S4
WASHINGTON : 1992
For +ale ti) the (S. ( iosenttnetit Ptintinp 011tcr
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ISBN 0-16-037443-x
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Q2
211
A CI
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
JR., California, Chairman
GEORGE E. BROWN,
ROBERT S. WALKER, Pennsylvania'
JAMES H. SCHEUER, New York
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR.,
MARILYN LLOYD, Tennessee
Wisconsin
DAN GLICKMAN, Kansas
SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York
HAROLD L. VOLKMER, Missouri
TOM LEWIS, Florida
HOWARD WOLPE, Michigan
DON RriTER, Pennsylvania
RALPH M. HALL, Texas
SID MORRISON, Washington
DAVE McCURDY, Oklahoma
RON PACKARD, California
NORMAN Y. MINETA, California
PAUL B. HENRY, Michigan
TIM VALENTINE, North Carolina
HARRIS W. FAWELL, Illinois
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey
D. FRENCH SLAUGHTER, JR., Virginia
RICK BOUCHER, Virginia
LAMAR SMITH, Texas
TERRY L. BRUCE, Illinois
CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland
RICHARD H. STALLINGS, Idaho
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
JAMES A. TRAFICANT, cht.. Ohio
STEVEN H. SCHIFF, New Mexico
HENRY J. NOWAK, New York
TOM CAMPBELL, California
CARL C. PERKINS, Kentucky
JOHN J. RHODES, III, Arizona
TOM McMILLEN, Maryland
JOE BARTON, Texas
DAVID R. NAGLE, Iowa
DICK ZIMMER, New Jersey
JIMMY HAYES, Louisiana
WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland
JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois
SAM JOHNSON, Texas
JOHN TANNER, Tennessee
GLEN BROWDER, Alabama
PETE GEREN, Texas
RAY THORNTON, Arkansas
JIM BACCHUS, Florida
TIM ROEMER, Indiana
BUD CRAMER, Alabama
DICK SWETT, New Hampshire
MICHAEL J. KOPETSKI, Oregon
JOAN KELLY HORN, Missouri
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts
RADFORD BYERLY, JR., Chief of Staff
MICHAEL RODEMEYER, Chief Counsel
CAROLYN C. GREENFELD, Chief Clerk
DAVID D. CLEMENT, Republican Chief of Staff
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY AND COMPETITIVENESS
TIM VALENTINE, North Carolina, Chairman
TOM LEWIS, Florida
DAN GLICKMAN, Kansas
DON RITTER, Pennsylvania
NORMAN Y. MINETA, California
PAUL B. HENRY. Michigan
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
RAY THORNTON, Arkansas
TOM CAMPBELL, California
TIM ROEMER, Indiana
WAYNE GILCHREST, Maryland
JOAN KELLY HORN, Missouri
CONSTANCE A. MORELLA. Maryland
RICK BOUCHER, Virginia
JOHN TANNER, Tennessee
JIM BACCHUS, Florida
DICK SWETT, New Hampshire
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
JOHN OLVER, Massachusetts
'Ranking Republican Member.
(H)
CONTENTS
WITNESSES
Page
September, 17, 1991:
Hon. David E. Price, a Representative in Congress from the State of
North Carolina
15
Luther S. Williams, Assistant Director for Education and Human Re-
sources, NSF, Washington, DC
27
Martha Quesada, Team Member, General Maintenance, New United
Motor Manufacturing, Fremont, California
49
Anthony Patrick Carnevale, Vice President and Chief Economist, Ameri-
can Society for Training and Development, Alexandria, Virginia
95
James E. Schwarz, Sr., President, OMNI-Circuits, Inc., Glenview, Illinois
118
David R. Pierce, President, American Association of Community and
Junior Colleges, Washington, DC
123
October 31, 1991:
Subcommittee markup of H.R. 2936Technical Education & Training
Act of 1991 and H.R. 3507American Industrial Quality & Training
Act of 1991
161
November 22, 1991:
Full Committee markup of H.R. 3507American Industrial Quality &
Training Act of 1991
223
Appendix: Additional statements submitted for the record:
Robert W. Scott, President, North Carolina Community College System
307
Robert M. White, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology
313
Roberts T. Jones, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training
319
Lamar Alexander, Secretary of Education
325
(In)
TECHNICAL. EDUCATION, WORK FORCE TRAIN-
ING, AND UNITED STATES COMPETITIVENESS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1991
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY AND COMPETITIVENESS,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:35 p.m. in room
2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Tim Valentine [Chair-
man of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Mr. VALENTINE. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I call the
hearing to order.
Fifty percent of the Nation's high school students are confined to
the so-called "general track." That is where the schools put young
people who are not likely to go to college, and it is there that these
students stay until they are graduated or until they drop out.
When will we in the Congress and outside of the Congress realize
that both the top third and the bottom third of our academic
achievers affect our Nation's future and ability to compete?
My staff has estimated that 4,083 young people will drop out of
the schools in my congressional district this year, and if this
doesn't frighten you by itself, multiply that figure by 435 to get
some idea of how many children will drop out nationally. The
figure comes to 1,776,105.
In America, we believe in the power of the individual. We believe
that we can pull ourselves up by our own boot straps, and I believe
that, too, and I think most Members of the Committee would share
that belief, but I must admitand I think we should admit to each
otherthat it's pretty difficult to pull yourself up by one's boot
straps if one has no shoes because his or her mother can't read
what you and I could read when we were in the third grade.
Many of the problems that we talk about around the office are
actually one problem. In this case, poverty and competitiveness are
linked. How can we solve one without first solving the other? For
example, we can fairly accurately calculate the probability that a
child will drop out of school by asking just four questions, and I
find this rather disturbing. The first question: Did your parents
graduate from high school? Do you live in an inner city? Are you
black or Hispanic? What is your family income level?
We must find a way to stop this cycle, to pull apart this entan-
glement of social problems. We must stop this endless merry-go-
round on which the Nation's "throwaway children" are riding. To
do this, our policy must focus on renewing our own people. We
2
must develop a national human resources infrastructure and policy
beyond what we can yet conceive.
On the other side of this fence is the ability of our Nation's in-
dustry to deliver quality, low-cost products to the world market-
place. The Nation's standard of living is at stake. Some individuals
do not yet believe that the Nation is facing a shortage of skilled
labor. A recent report from the Commission on the Skills of the
American Work Force makes the following point, and I quote:
"Most American employers report no shortage of people who
have [advanced] skills and foresee no such shortage. The reason we
have no skills shortage today is that we are using turn-of-the-centu-
ry work organization[s]. If we want to compete more effectively, we
will have to move to a high productivity work organization [which
does require advanced skills]."
In short, if we wish to bury our heads in the sand, then we have
no skills gap. If we wish to remain a prosperous nation, we do have
a tremendous skills, education, and literacy gap.
This hearing today we hope will permit the Subcommittee to dis-
cuss these issues and to review two bills that place emphasis on de-
veloping our national human resource infrastructure: first, H.R.
2936, the Technical Education and Training Act of 1991, which has
been introduced by our colleague, the gentleman from North Caro-
lina, Mr. David Price, who is here to testify; and my own bill enti-
tled the National Competitive Industry Work Force Act of 1991,
which we expect to introduce later this month.
Mr. Price's bill focuses on promoting public-private partnerships
to strengthen the Nation's technical education and training pro-
grams. Our bill addresses U.S. industrial competitiveness through
the creation of work force training programs tied directly to pri-
vate sector firms. Both bills strive to strengthen the Nation's train-
ing infrastructure and ensure that the proper information is col-
lected for further policy development, review, and oversight.
We are honored today by having an outstanding group of experts
to tell us more about these issues and to assess the quality of the
aforementioned bills, and we have, as I've stated, our colleague,
David Price from the 4th District of North Carolina, who will de-
scribe his legislation; and we have also Dr. Luther Williams, who is
Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources at the Na-
tional Science Foundation; and we have with us Mr. Ira Magaziner,
who is Chairman of the Commission on the Skills of the American
Work Force; Ms. Margaret Quesada, Team Member of the General
Maintenance Group of NUMMI, which stands for New United
Motor Manufacturing, and we believe that this young woman will
have a message of special interest, as she has been with her own
hands assembling automobiles for 15 years and has achieved a high
level of respect with her coworkers and has, we think, a message
from a different perspective. We also have Dr. Anthony Carnevale,
who is Vice President and Chief Economist for the American Socie-
ty for Training and Development; Mr. James E. Schwarzinciden-
tally, we do intend to finish today, but that is not required, and by
today, I mean before 12:00 tonightMr. James E. Schwarz is Presi-
dent of Omni-Circuits, Inc., which is a major supplier of Motorola
Corporation; and finally, Mr. David Pierce, who is President of the
American Association of Community and Junior Colleges.
3
other issues related to
In my statement, I mentioned a few of the
training. In reality,
the topic of technical education and work force
full of these issues
there are many more. There is in fact a "box"
bunch of coat
which I believe looks like a box which contains a
in what would
hangers all tangled up and intermeshed together
and we welcome all of you and look
appear to be hopeless disarray,
opinions and
forward to hearing your statements and ask for your
to ap-
judgment as to how we might continue to effect some way
perceive.
proach with intelligence the tangled mess which we
statement, I will
With apologies for the length of this opening
Member of our
recognize our esteemed friend and the Ranking
Florida.
Subcommittee, Mr. Tom Lewis from the State of
follows:]
[The prepared statement of Mr. Valentine
,-.
4
OPENING STATEMENT
THE HONORABLE TIM VALENTINE, (D-NC)
HEARING
TECHNICAL EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING,
AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS
SEPTEMBER 17, 1991
GOOD AFTERNOON LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN--I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THIS
HEARING TO ORDER. FIFTY PERCENT OF THE
NATION'S HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE CONFINED
TO THE SO CALLED, "GENERAL TRACK." THIS IS
WHERE SCHOOLS PUT YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE
NOT LIKELY TO GO TO COLLEGE. AND IT IS
THERE THAT THOSE STUDENTS STAY UNTIL THEY
GRADUATE OR UNTIL THEY DROP OUT. WHEN
WILL WE REALIZE THAT BOTH THE TOP THIRD
AND THE BOTTOM THIRD OF OUR ACADEMIC
ACHIEVERS AFFECT OUR NATION'S FUTURE AND
ABILITY TO COMPETE?
1
8
5
MY STAFF HAS ESTIMATED THAT FOUR
THOUSAND EIGHTY THREE YOUNG PEOPLE WILL
DROP OUT Or THE SCHOOLS IN MY
IF THAT
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT THIS YEAR.
DOES NOT FRIGHTEN YOU BY ITSELF, MULTIPLY
THAT FIGURE BY FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE TO
GET SOME IDEA HOW MANY YOUNG PEOPLE WILL
DROP OUT NATIONALLY. THAT COMES TO ONE
MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY SIX
THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED FIVE.
IN AMERICA, WE STILL BELIEVE IN THE POWER
OF THE INDIVIDUAL. WE BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN
PULL YOURSELF UP BY THE BOOT STRAPS.
I DO
TOO. BUT I MUST ADMIT, IT HAS TO BE PRETTY
DIFFICULT TO PULL YOURSELF UP BY THE BOOT
STRAPS IF YOU HAVE NO SHOES, BECAUSE YOUR
MOTHER CAN'T READ WHAT YOU AND I COULD
READ IN THE FOURTH GRADE AND CAN'T GET A
JOB.
2
6
YOU SEE, MANY OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE
TALK ABOUT AROUND THE OFFICE ARE ACTUALLY
ONE. IN THIS CASE, POVERTY AND
COMPETITIVENESS ARE LINKED. HOW CAN YOU
SOLVE ONE WITHOUT FIRST SOLVING THE OTHER?
FOR EXAMPLE, WE CAN FAIRLY ACCURATELY
CALCULATE THE PROBABILITY THAT A CHILD WILL
DROP OUT OF SCHOOL BY ASKING JUST FOUR
I FIND THIS DISTURBING.
QUESTIONS.
DID YOUR PARENTS GRADUATE FROM
HIGH SCHOOL?
DO YOU LIVE IN AN INNER CITY?
ARE YOU BLACK OR HISPANIC?
WHAT IS YOUR FAMILY INCOME LEVEL?
3