Over the past seven years, we've seen many reports assessing the state of public education. Some have been short on substance but good at rallying public interest in school reform. Other have made useful contributions by focusing on particular issues like professionalizing teaching or strengthening the curriculum. But America's Choice: High Skills or Low Wages!, an excellent, new report from the National Center on Education and the Economy, is the first to deal with the big picture: the interrelationship between the state of the economy and what goes on in America's schools. 

As America's Choice sees it, our country is facing a disaster. A poorly educated and under skilled work force is leading us to a future of low-wage jobs for workers and declining prosperity for the nation. But the report doesn't stop with the vision of America at the edge of a cliff It goes on to offer a rich and comprehensive plan for getting back on track. The proposals dealing with our forgotten young people, the ones who don't go on to college, are particularly valuable. 

The majority of American students who go to college seem to be able to find their way when it's time for them to get regular full-time jobs. But our system does not work very well for kids who go into the workforce right out of high school. Most find it difficult to get anything more than a dead-end job paying minimum wage until they are well into their twenties. And kids who did very well in school have no advantage over kids who barely got their diplomas. In other words, there is no connection between what you did -- or failed to do -- in school and the job you get as a new graduate. 

Things are different in other industrialized nations. For example, after they finish their compulsory schooling at around age 16, most young people in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark begin a two- to four-year program, paid by the government, to prepare them for their working lives. The programs provide training in a wide variety of occupations, and all involve extensive work experience. Students who complete programs have met standards set by the industries in question, so employers are glad to hire them.

But can other nations' arrangements for connecting school and the world of work be adapted to suit America's values and needs? Here are a few of the suggestions in America's Choice: 

  • The Certificate of Initial Mastery. This certificate would indicate that a student had mastered basic knowledge and skills according to a rigorous national standard and was prepared to enter the work force. All students would be required to get a certificate, but it would be especially important for young people who went right to work. These kids would now have an incentive to work hard in school because doing well would clearly make the difference between a job flipping hamburgers and the possibility of a permanent position in a good company. And such companies, knowing that students with certificates could read, write and compute to a high standard, would be willing to hire them right out of school.  The Certificate of Initial Mastery -- or enrollment in a program leading to one -- would also be a requirement for working papers. So students who wanted an after-school job would have an extra incentive to work much harder than they do now. 
  • Youth Centers. But won't the pressure to get the certificate increase the number of students who drop out? America's Choice suggests establishing local Youth Centers to accommodate the needs of these students. Many kids do poorly in traditional schools because the traditional, mostly passive method of education we use is not a good way for them to learn. The report calls for centers that would give students chances to learn in other ways. Work would be part of this package. So would a supportive, family-like atmosphere and year-round service. Kids who didn't flourish in traditional schools would get another chance to prepare themselves for a good job, and our economy would stand to get many more well-prepared workers. 
  • A System of Technical and Professional Education. We spend a lot of money on postsecondary education. We give students grants and loans; we provide money to colleges and universities. But we don't do much for students who are not going on to earn a bachelor's degree. This is unfair and it's unwise given our need for skilled workers. America's Choice suggests that we establish a system of certificates and associates degrees to provide technical and professional training that goes well beyond the level of the basic certificates. And the report calls for the states and the federal government to provide all students with four years of education beyond the Certificate of Initial Master at some time in their lives. 

All of our students have suffered from the deficiencies of our education system, and our economy is now suffering from them, too. But not group has been more consistently scanted than students who go directly from school to work. As America's Choice richly demonstrates, we must now begin to remedy this longtime failure or face the failure of our economy.