{"id":10245,"date":"2013-10-22T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/statescoop.scpnewsgrp.com\/governors-kick-off-2014-program\/"},"modified":"2018-10-18T13:03:29","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T13:03:29","slug":"governors-kick-off-2014-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scoopmedia-develop.go-vip.net\/statescoop\/governors-kick-off-2014-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Governors kick off 2014 program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy Discuss Education and Workforce Issues, Call for a New Minimum<\/a><\/p>\n

National Governors Association (NGA) Chair Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, along with co-host Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, brought together state teams to discuss her year-long effort \u00a0America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow\u2019s Jobs<\/i>.<\/i> The initiative focuses on improving state education and workforce training systems and aligning those systems with the needs of individual state economies.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeveloping a highly educated workforce and closing the skills gaps in our states is essential to ensuring our children\u2019s futures and strengthening our economies,\u201d Gov. Fallin said. \u201cBy bringing these state teams together to share best practices, we are creating a national dialogue about how we can best prepare America\u2019s students to get good jobs and stay competitive in a global economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing more critical to securing the economic future of all Americans than preparing our workforce for tomorrow\u2019s jobs,\u201d said Gov. Malloy. \u201cTo do this, Connecticut has made unprecedented investments in education \u2013 from pre-k through college. We have aggressively pursued 21st<\/sup> Century jobs, and the investments we are making in education will ensure that we have the workforce to fill those positions in the coming years. I\u2019m glad to join Gov. Fallin in this worthwhile initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifty years ago, more than 75 percent of all jobs required only a high school diploma or less and most paid a good wage, Fallin noted. Today that number has dropped to less than 40 percent for jobs available to high school graduates and dropouts\u2014and more than two-thirds of those jobs pay less than $25,000 a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cA high school diploma just isn\u2019t enough for most people to find a good job and enter the middle class,\u201d continued Gov. Fallin. \u201cThe \u2018new minimum\u2019 for success is either a two-year or four-year college degree or a career technology work certificate. My goal is to use this initiative to develop policy tools that can assist lawmakers as they work to increase educational attainment in their states, thereby helping American workers find good-paying jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow\u2019s Jobs<\/i><\/a> will specifically focus on four key elements to help states overcome the gaps between their education and training systems and the workforce those systems are preparing young people to enter:<\/p>\n