PRINTER'S NO. 193
No. 16 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY STAIRS, PERZEL, COLAFELLA, HERMAN, McILHATTAN,
NAILOR, SCHULER, T. STEVENSON, GRUCELA, MUNDY, C. WILLIAMS,
ARGALL, BARD, BEBKO-JONES, BELARDI, CORRIGAN, CALTAGIRONE,
CAWLEY, DeWEESE, FAIRCHILD, FICHTER, FREEMAN, GABIG, GEIST,
GEORGE, GORDNER, HALUSKA, HASAY, LAUGHLIN, LESCOVITZ,
MANDERINO, MANN, MELIO, MICHLOVIC, MICOZZIE, S. MILLER, ORIE,
PHILLIPS, READSHAW, RUBLEY, SANTONI, SATHER, SAYLOR, SOLOBAY,
SURRA, E. Z. TAYLOR, TIGUE, WANSACZ, SEMMEL, BARRAR, FRANKEL,
M. BAKER, J. EVANS, S. H. SMITH, HESS, FLICK, STABACK,
BENNINGHOFF, L. I. COHEN, ZUG, MAHER, PIPPY, HENNESSEY,
MACKERETH, STEELMAN, SHANER AND R. MILLER, JANUARY 25, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, JANUARY 25, 2001
A RESOLUTION
1 Establishing the Keystone Commission on Education for Employment
2 in the 21st Century to examine how best to improve linkages
3 between the Commonwealth's education and business communities
4 in order to enhance the State's economic growth and
5 development.
6 WHEREAS, Competition among states to attract new businesses
7 and high-tech workers is increasing dramatically; and
8 WHEREAS, According to a Coopers and Lybrand survey, the
9 single most important factor that determines where firms locate
10 and expand is the skill of the work force; and
11 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's ability to provide a pool of
12 employees with the educational tools necessary to meet the
13 future needs of the State's business community is critical to
14 the State's economic growth and its ongoing ability to compete
15 in national and international marketplaces; and
1 WHEREAS, The introduction of new technologies and flexible,
2 high-performance work processes requires that workers filling
3 factory jobs have more skills and more education; and
4 WHEREAS, A report by the Education Commission of the States
5 notes that more than two-thirds of jobs being created in the
6 fastest-growing sectors of the United States economy now require
7 at least some education beyond high school; and
8 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's secondary and postsecondary schools
9 must therefore graduate students who can immediately enter and
10 benefit the workplace; and
11 WHEREAS, Investing in Pennsylvania through educational reform
12 is a key economic and community development strategy, and how we
13 prepare today's students to successfully compete in tomorrow's
14 global workplace and our ability to retain Pennsylvania's best
15 and brightest students are critical to our future fiscal
16 viability and competitiveness; and
17 WHEREAS, The pace of the conversion from a more traditional
18 to a high-technology manufacturing base is beginning to exceed
19 the supply of American workers qualified for new high-technology
20 positions; and
21 WHEREAS, The Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies
22 at Northeast University in Boston, Massachusetts, recently noted
23 that "in the Mid-Atlantic states there has been a recent growth
24 of 130% in skilled labor coming from outside the U.S. and, in
25 Pennsylvania alone, there will be a shortfall of 177,000 skilled
26 workers by the year 2005"; and
27 WHEREAS, In a recent meeting between President-elect Bush and
28 high-tech business leaders, the president of Cisco Systems
29 noted: "If we don't fix... (the education system), the jobs will
30 move to where the best-educated workforce is in other
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1 countries."; and
2 WHEREAS, In Pennsylvania employers are likewise concerned
3 that many of today's graduates are entering the work force
4 marketplace with a skills gap that leaves them unemployable in
5 key industries; and
6 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has an existing educational system
7 which includes 501 school districts, 14 comprehensive area
8 vocational-technical schools, 66 occupational area vocational-
9 technical schools and 146 colleges and universities consisting
10 of 112 private and 34 public institutions, including the 14
11 universities within the State System of Higher Education and its
12 16 community colleges; and
13 WHEREAS, This educational system is the State's richest
14 resource for training and retraining its future workers, and it
15 is essential that the Commonwealth integrate its educational
16 capacity with the needs of our current and future employers; and
17 WHEREAS, Identifying the best methods to prepare students and
18 workers for jobs within the new economy requires the full
19 cooperation and involvement of the business community,
20 educational institutions and governmental leaders; and
21 WHEREAS, It is vital that Pennsylvania develop a strategic
22 plan that will link educational reform at basic and higher
23 education levels to the needs of the emerging world of work in
24 order to assure that all our students are prepared to succeed;
25 therefore be it
26 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives establish the
27 Keystone Commission on Education for Employment in the 21st
28 Century to:
29 (1) In cooperation with the Department of Labor and
30 Industry and the Pennsylvania State Workforce Investment
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1 Board, identify those careers that are most likely to show
2 growth in the next decade in Pennsylvania.
3 (2) Work with this State's business and labor
4 communities in order to identify the specific job skills
5 required by these growing occupations.
6 (3) Analyze this State's current vocational-technical
7 education system to determine:
8 (i) how well existing curricula are linked to
9 emerging needs of the business community and therefore
10 capable of providing the work force necessary to assure
11 the success of its students in the marketplace;
12 (ii) the methods of funding vocational-technical
13 education programs;
14 (iii) the availability of modern equipment;
15 (iv) how well the integration of core academic and
16 occupational skill standards is taking place in all
17 vocational-technical schools;
18 (v) current accountability measures in place such as
19 placement rates, program enrollment rates, numbers of
20 students pursuing advanced education and other competency
21 measures to assure the quality of programs being offered;
22 (vi) the adequacy of the available pool of quality
23 vocational-technical education teachers and
24 administrators; and
25 (vii) the articulation between secondary and
26 postsecondary institutions and its implications for the
27 delivery of vocational-technical education.
28 (4) Compile data on the number of Pennsylvania graduates
29 who are annually leaving this State for employment elsewhere,
30 attempt to assess the reasons for this out-migration and make
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1 recommendations for slowing this "brain drain."
2 (5) Examine this State's higher education system, with
3 particular emphasis on reviewing existing collaboration
4 between basic and higher education and programs that
5 encourage communication and collaboration between higher
6 education and the workplace, and make recommendations for
7 ways to replicate exemplary programs and improve articulation
8 among these communities.
9 (6) Meet with State leaders involved in the
10 implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
11 (Public Law 105-220, 112 Stat. 936) to review the State's
12 current plan and actions being undertaken to coordinate
13 educational efforts related to this act.
14 (7) Review exemplary vocational-technical programs,
15 business-education partnerships and career development
16 programs currently in place in schools throughout this State
17 and make recommendations on how to best replicate these
18 programs in other parts of this State.
19 (8) Review programs and strategies in place in other
20 states for integrating education and work force development
21 in order to identify the best practices being utilized and
22 their potential applicability to this State.
23 (9) Make recommendations, to include a suggested
24 timetable, for the establishment of a comprehensive strategic
25 plan for better linking education and the workplace in this
26 State;
27 and be it further
28 RESOLVED, That the commission consist of 27 members appointed
29 as follows:
30 (1) The chairman of the House Education Committee who
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1 shall serve as chairman.
2 (2) The minority chairman of the House Education
3 Committee who shall serve as vice chairman.
4 (3) The Speaker of the House of Representatives in
5 consultation with the Majority Leader shall appoint seven
6 members, no more than three of whom shall be members of the
7 House of Representatives and the remaining appointees shall
8 be: one representative of a business trades association, one
9 representative of a business-education partnership operating
10 within this State and two representatives of this State's
11 business community.
12 Legislative members shall be members of either the House
13 standing committee on Labor Relations or the Commerce and
14 Economic Development Committee.
15 (4) The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives
16 shall appoint four members, no more than two of whom shall be
17 members of the House of Representatives, and the remaining
18 appointees shall be: one member representing organized labor
19 whose union operates an apprenticeship program and one
20 representative of this State's business community.
21 Legislative members shall be members of either the House
22 standing committee on Labor Relations or the Commerce and
23 Economic Development Committee.
24 (5) The Secretary of Education or a designee.
25 (6) The Secretary of Labor and Industry or a designee.
26 (7) The Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Workforce
27 Investment Board or a designee.
28 (8) The chairperson of the State Board of Education or a
29 designee.
30 (9) Five representatives of the higher education
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1 community: the Chancellor of the State System of Higher
2 Education or a designee; one representative appointed by the
3 Pennsylvania Commission on Community Colleges; and one
4 representative from the State-related universities, one
5 representative of Pennsylvania's private colleges and
6 universities and one representative from a Pennsylvania
7 proprietary institution, all of whom shall be appointed by
8 the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities.
9 (10) Five representatives from the basic education
10 community: one area vocational-technical school administrator
11 appointed by the Pennsylvania Association of Vocational
12 Administrators, one chief school administrator appointed by
13 the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, the
14 president of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association or a
15 designee, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education
16 Association or a designee and the president of the
17 Philadelphia Federation of Teachers or a designee.
18 All appointments to the commission are to be made within 30 days
19 of the adoption of this resolution; and be it further
20 RESOLVED, That the commission may hold hearings, take
21 testimony and make its investigations at such places as it deems
22 necessary; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That the commission have the authority to adopt, by
24 majority vote of its membership, rules of operation and conduct
25 of its study; and be it further
26 RESOLVED, That the commission be authorized to hire or
27 contract for such services as it deems necessary and that all
28 expenses incurred or authorized by the commission be paid from
29 accounts under the control of the Chief Clerk; and be it further
30 RESOLVED, That the commission shall report its findings
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1 together with its recommendations no later than December 31,
2 2001.
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