Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
Reconvenes to Address New Challenges
Hispanic Scholarship Fund President and CEO Sara Martinez Tucker Named to Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) announced that it has re-established the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. The first bipartisan, blue-ribbon panel by that name issued the landmark 1990 report, “America’s Choice: high skills or low wages!,” which helped launch the standards movement in the United States and led to major state and Federal legislation.
The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce will address the implications of howthe dramatic changes in the U.S. and global economies that have occurred during the past decade have affected education in this country. While the original group concluded that America could continue to enjoy a high standard of living only if it abandoned low-skill work to low-cost countries, the United States is now being challenged by countries like China and India that are producing large numbers of highly educated people willing to work for relatively low wages. The new Commission was formed to consider how American education will have to change to prevent a decline in our standard of living in this situation. Members of the commission include former governors, senators, cabinet secretaries, business and labor leaders, civil rights leaders and education and job training experts.
Sara Martinez Tucker, President and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and a member of the Commission, said it was imperative that the U.S. find ways to improve the education of the American workforce so it can remain competitive internationally. HSF is the nation’s leading organization supporting higher education for Hispanics who are the fastest growing demographic in the country.
“Greater access to higher education for Hispanics is needed to ensure that the U.S. can meet the challenges it faces in the international arena,” said Tucker. With Latinos registering a median age of 27 and one out of three Hispanics being under the age of 18, Tucker pointed out that Hispanics represent a major sector of the country’s young workforce. With a higher education, they can contribute the kind of innovations and professional skills America needs to remain competitive.
“In a global economy where companies can get the highest skills at the lowest wages, the United States’ standard of living can be maintained only if we do a far better job of educating our citizens,” said Commission Chair Charles Knapp. “The Commission’s challenge is to figure out how to improve the performance of the American education system with little or no increase in cost. That is a formidable challenge, but we cannot afford to fail.”
“The fact that other nations are outperforming the United States in education is both a threat and an opportunity,” according to Marc Tucker, Commission Vice-Chairman and Staff Director. “The threat is the real possibility of a significant decline in our standard of living. The opportunity is the chance to learn from them by studying the world’s most effective education systems, gleaning the lessons we need to exceed their performance.”
The Commission’s work, which is being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will conclude with a final report in the next six months.
“Challenges posed by international competition make it imperative we address this issue.”
Following the 1990 release of the original report “America’s Choice: high skills or low wages!,” the Clinton and (first) Bush Administrations, Congress and several state governments adopted a series of measures that implemented nearly all its major recommendations.
A complete list of the members of the new Commission is attached.
The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
Chair Charles Knapp, Director of Education Development, CF Foundation
Former President, University of Georgia
Former President, Aspen Institute
*Vice Chair Marc Tucker, President, National Center on Education and the Economy
Morton Bahr, President Emeritus, Communications Workers of America
*William Brock, Chairman, Bridges Learning Systems, Inc.
Former Secretary of Labor, Reagan Administration
Former Trade Representative, Reagan Administration
Former Senator, Tennessee
*Anthony Carnevale, Senior Fellow, NCEE
Former Director, ETS Washington
Former Chief Economist, ASTD
Judy Codding, President and CEO, America’s Choice, Inc.
Former prize-winning high school principal
Michael Dolan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Viacom
Former Chairman and CEO, Young and Rubicam
David Driscoll, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education
Paul Elsner, President, Paul Elsner Associates
Former President, Maricopa Community College System
John Engler, President, National Association of Manufacturers
Former Governor, Michigan
Steve Gunderson, President and CEO, Council on Foundations
Former Member of Congress, Wisconsin
Clifford Janey, Superintendent, District of Columbia Public Schools
Sharon Lynn Kagan, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy and Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University
Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
Former Chairman and CEO, Bertelsmann, Inc.
Dal Lawrence, Former President, Toledo Federation of Teachers
*Ray Marshall, Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs, L.B.J. School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
Former Secretary of Labor, Carter Administration
Marc Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League
Former Mayor, New Orleans
Beverly O’Neill, Mayor, Long Beach, California
Roderick Paige, Chairman, Chartwell Education Group LLC
Former Secretary of Education, George W. Bush Administration
Thomas Payzant, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools
Former Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, Clinton Administration
Charles Reed, Chancellor, California State University System
Richard Riley, Partner, Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough, LLP
Former Secretary of Education, Clinton Administration
Henry Schacht, Managing Director and Senior Advisor, Warburg Pincus LLC
Former Chairman and CEO, Lucent Technologies
Susan Sclafani, Managing Director, Chartwell Education Group LLC
Former Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education, George W. Bush Administration
Harry Spence, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Social Services
Sara Martinez Tucker, President and CEO, Hispanic Scholarship Fund
William Wiggenhorn, President, Consulting Services, Educational Development Associates
Former Chief Learning Officer, Motorola and Cigna
*=served on original commission
Further information is available at: www.skillscommission.org