Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f5QBXBf17801; Tue, 26 Jun 2001 07:33:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 07:33:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <MAEBLPCCEIIMGAKFAAAHGEKGDIAA.nsledd@famlit.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Nancy Sledd" <nsledd@famlit.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:118] NIFL Policy Update on the 21st Century Workforce Summit X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 5702 Lines: 116 21st Century Workforce Summit June 25, 2001 Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor sponsored a National Summit on the 21st Century Workforce in Washington, D.C. According to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, the Summit serves as "a wake-up call" to the nation's public and private leaders to the trends that are shaping our workforce. The Summit is the first step in Chao's 21st Century Workforce Initiative, which will focus on issues that affect the modern workforce, including education and training issues for youth and adults. The Summit featured a number of prominent speakers including President Bush, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige, organized labor leaders, and business leaders. Speakers emphasized the importance of lifelong learning, and stressed that employers need workers who can read, write, compute, solve problems, and communicate well in order for America to stay competitive in the global economy. While much of the information presented at the Summit was not new information, there were a few items that should be of interest to those in the adult education and literacy field. Highlights of the 21st Century Workforce Summit New Federal Education Initiative for Youth and Adults. Expanding on the President's "Leave No Child Behind" education initiative, Education Secretary Rod Paige announced a new partnership between his agency and the U.S. Department of Labor that will focus on youth and adults who have already been "left behind" by our nation's education system. This new initiative will include efforts to (1) enhance reading and math skills for adult workers, (2) help at-risk youth participating in Job Corps to earn high school diplomas through distance learning and local public schools, and (3) provide technical assistance to state and local agencies and Workforce Investment Boards, One-Stop Career Centers, and adult education and literacy grantees to assist them in providing expanded and improved adult education opportunities. The joint project between the Labor and Education Departments will focus on adult literacy and math skills. The project will combine grant funding for the One-Stop Career Centers run by state and local government agencies to allow those centers to refer individuals looking for work to literacy training facilities, according to Labor. The project also will assist the One-Stop centers in developing their own curricula for such adult education. In addition, the Labor Department will expand its Job Corps program to assist participants in earning high school diplomas while in the program, which currently provides training in vocational and social skills for low-income youth. Distance learning will be a major focus of Job Corps expansion. To learn more about this new initiative, visit the U.S. Department of Education web site at <http://www.ed.gov> or the U.S. Department of Labor web site at <http://www.dol.gov>. New Freedom Initiative to Assist Americans with Disabilities. In his remarks, President Bush emphasized his New Freedom Initiative. This initiative aims to help Americans with disabilities by increasing their access to assistive technologies, expanding educational opportunities, increasing the ability of Americans with disabilities to integrate into the workforce, and promoting increased access into daily community life. According to the President, this new initiative is "an important step to ensuring that all Americans with disabilities can participate more fully in the life of their communities and of our country." Bush sent the proposal for the New Freedom Initiative to Congress in February, asking for a government fund for people with disabilities to give them easier access to assistive technologies. The proposal also included tax incentives for employers who provide assistive equipment to employees with disabilities, such as text telephones and screen readers. The President's Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, a coalition of agency heads that focus on employing the disabled in government jobs, will meet July 26, 2001, to "begin laying the groundwork" for Bush's New Freedom Initiative. You can learn more about the President's New Freedom Initiative at: <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/freedominitiative/freedominitiative.html> The Office of 21st Century Workforce Established by Executive Order. President Bush also announced that he will sign an Executive Order establishing the Office of the 21st Century Workforce within the U.S. Department of Labor. According to the order, the office will "provide a focal point for the identification and study of issues relating to the workforce of the United States." The order calls for the new office to identify ways for Labor to "streamline and update the information and services made available to the workforce by the Department." The office also is expected to "eliminate duplicative or overlapping rules and regulations; and eliminate statutory and regulatory barriers to assisting the workforce in successfully adapting to the challenges of the 21st century." Information on this new office is available at <http://www.dol.gov/>. ******************************* Need more information on literacy? Please visit the National Institute for Literacy web site at <http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/policy/policy.html>. Need to update your mailing information? Send an e-mail with requested changes to staffasst@nifl.gov <mailto:staffasst@nifl.gov> or call us at 202-233-2025. Christy Gullion Senior Policy Analyst National Institute for Literacy 1775 I Street, NW, Suite 730 Washington, DC 20006 ph. 202-233-2033 fax 202-233-2050
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