Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the conference agreement on H.R. 2884, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. This legislation is designed to bring together partnerships of employers, educators, workers, and others for the purpose of building a high quality school-to-work transition system in the United States. Such a system will prepare this Nation's youth for careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs. It has become an all too well-known statistic in recent years, that only about 50 percent, or approximately 1.4 million of this Nation's youth enter some form of postsecondary education the fall after they graduate from high school. Of these, only about half successfully complete a baccalaureate degree. For the reminder, representing three out of four U.S. youth, a rough and often painful transition to a career begins. Yet our U.S. educational system continues to be disproportionately geared to meeting the needs of college-bound youth. There is simply no mechanism in most of our schools to link young people to employers.”