JOBS, EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE

ADDRESSING AMERICA’S SKILLS GAP

WHEREAS, there is a general consensus among public and private sector analysts that the demand for skilled workers in the U.S. economy has been outpacing the supply, and that the demand for skills will continue to grow rapidly in the years ahead; and

WHEREAS, 90 percent of mayors reported that training the workforce to stay competitive in a changing economy is a challenge and 72 percent of mayors reported that this challenge has grown over the past decade in The U.S. Conference of Mayors June 2000 survey, Examining Skills Shortages in America’s Cities; and

WHEREAS, in the same survey, 77 percent of mayors reported that the shortage of highly-skilled workers (workers with graduate degrees or undergraduate degrees, managerial and/or technical skills and work experience) has increased over the past five years; and

WHEREAS, in the same survey, 86 percent of mayors reported that the shortage of skilled workers (workers with associate degrees, other post-secondary training, job-specific technical skills or some work experience) has increased over the past five years; and

WHEREAS, in the same survey, 76 percent of mayors reported that the shortage of low-skilled or unskilled workers (workers with no post-secondary training or little or no work-related training or experience) has increased over the past five years; and

WHEREAS, skilled workers are critical to a thriving economy and employers only want to locate where they can find skilled employees and training to develop skilled workers; and

WHEREAS, nearly half of CEOs of the nation’s fastest growing companies report inadequate numbers of information technology workers to staff their operations according to Coopers and Lybrand in 1996; and

WHEREAS, 36 percent of job applicants lack the reading and math skills to perform the jobs for which they are applying – up from 19 percent of job applicants two years earlier according to the American Management Association in 1998; and

WHEREAS, 88 percent of America’s manufacturers report difficulties in finding qualified workers, from unskilled production-line positions to highly technical computer programmers, according to the National Association of Manufacturers in 1998; and

WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Department of Labor there are 13 million unemployed Americans – 6 million who are unemployed and looking for work, four million more who have stopped looking but want to work and another 3 million who are working part-time but want a full-time job; and

WHEREAS, it is critical to both ensure that low-skilled or unskilled workers get into the labor market, and that all workers receive the education and training that will allow them full and continuing participation in the thriving economy; and

WHEREAS, studies show that most children who cannot read well by the end of the 3rd grade never catch up. Students that are deficient readers often lack the confidence or enthusiasm for other subject matter. Poor reading is a key indicator of school failure and future dropouts,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress and the Administration to help build a competitive workforce for the 21st century economy by providing directly to local governments flexible block grant funding to be used in partnership with the private sector to reduce the skills gap and create internships to couple skills development with necessary experience, link workers to regional jobs, address youth unemployment, tap into the central city labor force, and help move people from welfare to work; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Workforce investment System and the utilization of One-Stops insure universal access to quality coordinated education and training, information and services and facilitates entry into the labor market; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress and the Administration to invest in the skills development of the hardest to serve welfare recipients, by adopting the Welfare- to- Work extension which is currently before Congress, thus extending the Welfare-to-Work program and provide additional investments in moving people from welfare to work; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress and the Administration to invest in addressing the skills gap by providing direct funding to cities as part of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization and fully invest in the Workforce Investment System; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon the Congress to fully fund the President’s FY 2001 budget request; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress and the Administration to provide greater investments in skills upgrade training for incumbent workers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress and the Administration to provide increased funding for training under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress and the Administration to provide greater resources to train our teachers to identify and teach our kindergarten through 3rd grade children, who are at risk of not reading at grade level by the end of their 3rd grade year.