California’s EDGE

1. California’s EDGE Keeping California Competitive

2. California is at a crossroads

3. The Challenges • US no longer has the best-educated workforce • Over the last 30 years, many countries have surpassed our percentage of entering workers with H.S. diplomas • 30 years ago, US had 30% of all world-wide college students; today, only 14% • US students perform at the middle to bottom of comparative studies in mathematics, science and general literacy in advanced industrial nations

4. Global Influences • Digitized formats – no longer must people be co-located to participate in work teams • US workers in direct competition with global workers at lower costs who may have better skills • Change in US leadership from vertical integration to deconstruction • Result = outsourcing

5. Impact of Automation • Progressively less expensive to automate functions • As labor costs rise and the cost of automation falls, firms increasingly reduce or eliminate human jobs • Low-skill automation is giving way to higher-skill automation

6. Leadership in the Global Economy • Requires a technological lead, year in and year out • Depends upon creativity, leading to constant innovation • High level of preparation in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, science, history, and the arts • A base to imagine how to use things never before available • Analysis + synthesis; the ability to learn

7. California’s Competitive Advantage • Home to many of the US fastest growing & profitable companies • Per capita family incomes above those of the nation as a whole • A skilled workforce, modern infrastructure, mix of people & cultures, effective collaboration of labor, business, government and community

8. Clouds on the Horizon • Over the next 2 decades, demographic shifts will change California’s population – primarily its working population • 4 million highly skilled baby boomers will retire by 2020 • 2006 survey of California Manufacturing and Technology Association reports #1 challenge as “sustaining and/or acquiring a skilled workforce” • Growth in California’s workforce will primarily be from immigrants

9. Growth in California’s Workforce In the Next 25 Years

10. Employers Require Greater Education

11. Is Our Education System Prepared? • Campaign for College Opportunity estimates 1.8 million students will be turned away from California’s public colleges between 2004 – 2013 due to lack of space • An unacceptable number of students graduate from California H.S. – In 2000, only 70% of 9th graders graduated in 4 years; 29% of California 18 – 24 year-olds lacked a H.S. degree • Over half of all incoming community college students need basic skills math and English programs • Incumbent workers must continually upgrade their skills for job retention and advancement

13. California’s 21st Century • EDGE Campaign is a non-partisan coalition of groups who believes that: • California’s future economic growth rests on the skill level of its workers • A strategic effort is required to develop an integrated system of talent development • Both employers and workers face economic decline without this effort • California cannot address its workforce challenges in piecemeal fashion

14. A Policy Agenda • Invest in Regional Workforce & Economic Development Strategies • Provide All Californians Access to Education and Skills Training • Provide Working Adults Opportunities to Move Up a Skill Ladder • Link Workforce Programs & Institutions to Crete Pathways to High Wage Jobs • Align Program Goals & Measures to Achieve a Shared Vision

15. Invest • Expand funding & incentives for regional workforce planning and partnerships • Invest in regional capacity to connect employers & education institutions • Link workforce & economic development initiatives

16. Education & Skills Training • Maintain broad access to 2 and 4 year colleges • Recognize & fund the multiple roles community colleges play in workforce education • Invest in career/tech. in H.S. & college • Expand access to apprenticeships • Expand career counseling at all levels • Develop targeted programs for at risk students

17. Skill Ladders for Working Adults • Support programming for working adults [accelerated, off-hours, on-site] • Improve access to financial aid • Expand targeted support services [child care, counseling] • Expand non-traditional training options • Maximize flexibility in uses of federal and state funding

18. Pathways to High Wage Jobs • Provide clear pathways that allow progression over time to higher levels of skill = career with a future • Link basic skills and career prep programs [VESL] • Align H.S. career/tech education with postsecondary levels

19. Shared Vision • Develop regional and state goals and a tracking system to measure results • Establish appropriate performance targets • Provide public reports on progress

20. Community CollegesStand at the Center of Change

21. Further Reading • www.californiaedgecampaign.org[California’s EDGE Campaign] • www.ncrel.org/engauge/intro/intro.htm[enGauge 21st Century Skills] • www.workforcestrategy.org/publications[Career Pathways: Aligning Public Resources to Support Individual & Regional Economic Advancement in the Knowledge Economy] • www.skillscommission.org/executive.htm[Tough Choices or touch Times]