[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 45 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, later today, after we have completed 
action on the bankruptcy bill, the Senate will take up the conference 
report on the school-to-work opportunities legislation. This important 
legislation is intended to help ensure that all students, particularly 
the 75 percent of young people in this country who do not complete a 4-
year college program, enter the work force equipped with the academic 
and occupational skills required in our increasingly competitive 
economy.
  At this time, I do want to acknowledge the leadership of my friend 
and colleague, Senator Simon, who has been a force in terms of both our 
committee and in the Chamber in developing the legislation and also in 
terms of the debate in the conference committee.
  I want to also acknowledge the strong bipartisan support that we have 
had on this legislation, and Senator Durenberger also has been 
indispensable in terms of bringing us to where we will be later on in 
the day.
  The purpose of this legislation, the School-to-Work Act, establishes 
a national framework for the Development and Expansion of Programs that 
integrate academic and practical education by allowing students to 
combine classroom learning with actual work experience.

  In my own State, we are experimenting with a number of different 
programs that provide those kinds of opportunities for young people. 
And we have seen concrete evidence of the positive impact a well-
designed School-to-Work Program can have on the lives and communities 
of the people we serve.
  I want to share with my colleagues this morning the experiences of 
three young men and women enrolled in innovative programs in different 
communities in Massachusetts that demonstrate the basic principles of 
this bill in practice.
  Toni Dunn is an 18-year-old African-American from the Uphams Corner 
area of Dorchester. She is enrolled in Project Pro-Tech in Boston, 
which currently serves 200 students at four different high schools in 
the city. The program provides paid work-based learning opportunities 
with 14 participating employers at leading hospitals and financial 
service companies. These employers contribute over $1 million a year in 
student wages, scholarships and staff. Pro-Tech is widely considered to 
be one of the Nation's most successful examples of active business 
involvement in School-to-Work Programs.
  Toni is a senior at Brighton High School, and will graduate this 
June. She has participated in Pro-Tech Health Care for the past 2 
years, working in the operating room of New England Medical Center. 
Pro-Tech has provided her first real job, and she has performed well. 
She works regularly with nurses, scrub technicians, anesthesiologists, 
and surgeons. Toni was visited by Secretary of Labor Robert Reich last 
year, and their visit was part of the NBC Brokaw report--``The Lost 
Generation''--that aired last July.
  Toni came into the program knowing she was interested in the medical 
field, but unaware of the different occupations and what steps to take 
to become certified to do the work. Thanks to Pro-Tech, she has decided 
to attend the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she will 
pursue a degree in nursing. She credits Pro-Tech with her ability to 
manage her time and balance the demands of school and work.
  Felix Vazques is a 19-year-old from Worcester who participated in the 
Career Beginnings Program, a nationally recognized School-to-Work Model 
Program brought to Worcester 4 years ago by the Thom Mcan Shoe Co., 
which is headquartered there. Career Beginnings provides at-risk high 
school students with an 18-month program in their junior and senior 
years. The program includes monthly meetings with mentors, private 
sector summer jobs, individual counseling and career advice, and job 
skills workshops. Nearly 200 students have participated in this 
program, 54 percent are minorities, and 87 percent of their parents did 
not attend college.
  Before participating in Career Beginnings, Felix was taking classes 
in electrical trades at the vocational high school and had no thought 
of going to college. Career Beginnings gave him his first work 
experience. The program built his skills, taught him how to present 
himself during an interview, gave him a mentor and built his self-
confidence. With the help of his mentor, he decided to pursue a 
technical career--and give something back to his community. Felix is 
now a freshman at Worcester State College studying physical therapy. He 
is a first generation college student, and his family is extremely 
proud of his achievements.
  Jose Guadalupe is a 16-year-old participant in the Pa'Lante 
Neighborhood Employment Training Program in north central 
Massachusetts. Pa'Lante is designed to train bilingual youth to be 
employable as medical translators and to provide the academic 
preparation necessary for participants to enroll in postsecondary 
education and training programs in the health professions. 30 young 
people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are currently 
participating in a wide variety of work experiences at hospitals and 
other facilities affiliated with the health alliance in Fitchburg and 
Leominster.
  Jose's family moves from Puerto Rico to Fitchburg 3 years ago. He was 
unable to speak English and was enrolled in the English-as-a-Second 
Language [ESL] Program at Fitchburg High School. Today Jose works with 
the Pa'Lante Program in the physical rehabilitation department of 
Leominster Hospital where he serves as a bilingual medical interpreter. 
His work in school has improved and in less than 1 year, he has been 
placed in the regular program of Fitchburg High School.
  These three stories demonstrate the human face of the School-to-Work 
bill. This country has the best higher education system in the world. 
But we have under-invested in non-college-bound youth. In today's 
highly competitive international economy, we can't afford to give other 
nations that kind of advantage. The School-to-Work opportunities act 
will enable us to do a better job of preparing large numbers of young 
Americans for productive careers. And in doing so, we will be building 
a stronger economy for the future.
  Madam President, I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Minnesota.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Minnesota is 
recognized.
  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, will the Senator withhold for just one 
moment so that I may make a unanimous consent request?
  Mr. DURENBERGER Yes.
  Mr. LEVIN. I wonder if the Senator from Massachusetts would be 
agreeable. After yielding that time to the Senator from Minnesota, I 
understand then the Senator from Illinois will be yielded 5 minutes, 
and I ask unanimous consent that I be yielded 4 minutes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I make that request, Madam President.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURENBERGER. Madam President, I rise to offer my full support for 
the conference agreement on the School-to-Work Opportunities Act that 
will be voted on later today.
  The School-to-Work Opportunities Act provides seed money and 
technical assistance to States and communities in order to encourage 
and facilitate locally developed, locally operated, and locally 
administered school-to-work transition programs.
  It builds on existing programs and removes existing barriers that 
States, communities, employers, and educators now face in teaching job 
skills.
  It will help U.S. companies attract the skilled workers they need to 
thrive in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.
  And it brings together employers, educators, government, and labor--
in a true partnership--to prepare our Nation's young people for higher-
skill, higher-wage jobs.
  I want to thank my colleagues Senator Hatfield, Senator Jeffords, and 
Senator Bond who, through their cosponsorship, helped make this a 
bipartisan initiative. I also want to commend the distinguished 
chairman of the Labor Committee, Senator Kennedy, and my colleague from 
Illinois, Senator Simon, for their leadership on this issue, and for 
working with me and my staff through conference to make sure that the 
input I received from the people of Minnesota was incorporated into 
this final conference agreement.


                            Minnesota Input

  Madam President, I especially want to acknowledge the many Minnesota 
business, labor, education, and government leaders who gave their 
knowledge, enthusiasm, commitment, and time to help make the School-to-
Work Opportunities Act an even better reality than we had anticipated.
  Based on recommendations from Minnesota we strengthened several 
provisions of the bill to encourage cooperation and collaboration among 
all key players, but ensure that State Governors bear ultimate 
responsibility and accountability for State school-to-work plans.
  We added language to broaden the definition of ``school-to-work 
opportunities'' in order to make clear that career exploration and 
workplace learning programs should begin much earlier than high school, 
and that school-to-work opportunities can be linked to part-time 
employment and emerging community service and service learning 
initiatives which Minnesotans consider an integral part of education 
reform.
  We added a section to the bill creating a Federal clearinghouse in 
order to encourage replication of successful programs and interstate 
collaboration in program research, evaluation, and development.
  We added a section to the bill that makes it easier for States and 
communities to waive Federal program mandates.
  Madam President, the many Minnesotans who offered their guidance on 
this bill should be very proud that their contributions are now an 
integral part of this final conference report.
  One of my State's strongest backers of this legislation has been the 
Teamsters Service Bureau, which is the prime sponsor of a new charter 
public school that's focusing its curriculum on young apprenticeships. 
The bureau's director, Jean Dunn, calls the new high school ``a real 
world learning center.'' ``Instead of writing papers on Shakespeare,'' 
she says, ``you'll write papers on the workplace.''
  Tom Triplett, president of the Minnesota Business Partnership, is 
another strong supporter of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. The 
reason is Minnesota employers can't find enough qualified people for 
entry-level positions.
  Tom says that this legislation will help students develop the skills 
they need to succeed in today's workplace, ``especially the `forgotten 
half' who aren't going on to college, but still will need a good paying 
job.''
  And John W. Mercer, Minnesota's Deputy Commissioner of Education and 
a member of the State's Education and Employment Transition Council, 
wrote to tell me how the School-to-Work Opportunities Act will help in 
allowing Minnesota to pursue its goal of developing a high-quality 
education and employment transition system.
  During January Recess, I met with two other Minnesota groups who will 
be greatly helped by the School-to-Work Opportunities Act.
  These groups include educators, labor officials and hospital 
officials in the Twin Cities and in the Duluth-Cloquet area who are 
designing new youth apprenticeship opportunities in several different 
health care occupations.
  Members of this body know of my strong interest in health care 
reform. And I must say that I was convinced, as I visited with these 
groups, that the fundamental changes this legislation helps make 
possible in the way we prepare Americans for work will be critical to 
our ability to achieve the kind of cost savings and other changes we so 
desperately need in America's health care system.
  Madam President, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act presents an 
important step forward in public policy in supporting State and local 
initiatives that change the way we teach and the way we learn. I hope 
my colleagues will join me in supporting this important legislation. I 
thank my colleagues, Senator Simon, Senator Kennedy, and my Republican 
colleagues who supported this as well.
  I yield the floor.

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