[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]

 
                  THE SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES ACT

  Mr. SIMON. Madam President, I thank my colleagues, particularly 
Senator Kennedy, the chairman of the committee, and Senator 
Durenberger, who has been very helpful on this, as well as other 
things. We would not have the Direct Lending Program today but for 
Senator Durenberger's help. And also I thank Senator Wofford, who has 
been very helpful in this.
  We are talking about ``hire'' education here--spelled h-i-r-e. 
Seventy-five percent of those who go to high school will not end up 
with a bachelor's degree. Yet, we have focused a great deal of 
attention on the other 25 percent, and not very much on the 75 percent. 
This is an attempt to do so with the School-to-Work Program. It does 
not involve a new Federal agency. We will give seed money to 
California, New Hampshire, and to other States that need it, to get 
these School-to-Work Programs going.
  Senator Kennedy and I visited a school in Chicago, where young 
people--many of whom would have dropped out of school, frankly--were 
working with metal working firms there, and all of a sudden, as they 
work and go to school, they see that their math is important. They have 
to fill out a form, and they see that English is important. School 
takes on a new meaning: It is extremely important.
  I visited a plant in the Milwaukee suburbs where I saw the same 
thing: schools and business people working together. Sears and the 
Chicago Tribune in Chicago have a program. This is a program, I am 
pleased to say--one of the unusual programs, Madam President--that is 
supported by both business and labor. Everybody says it makes sense. It 
pulls people back to school, also, who have already dropped out.
  We are in the process of discussing a crime bill, and one interesting 
statistic we should not forget in this whole business of discussing 
crime is that 82 percent of those in our prisons today are high school 
dropouts. If we want a really strong anticrime bill, let us build our 
schools. This is a chance to do it.
  Let me tell you just about a few people here in the remainder of the 
time I have left. This picture here is of Willie Carson, who is 19 
years old. Two years ago, as a student at Dunbar Vocational High School 
in Chicago, Willie was uncertain about his future. Today, he is an 
apprentice machinist with a steady paycheck, interesting work, and a 
future that could equip him with a $30,000-a-year job as a journeyman 
machinist.
  Gwen Mingo had been out of school for 20 years before she found her 
way back to the School-to-Work Program based at Kennedy-King College in 
Chicago. Partners in the program, such as Eastman Kodak, 3M, and 
Dupont, have donated state-of-the-art equipment that the students use 
in their classroom training. Gwen says that the program was a turning 
point for her, and now she is well on the way to a much better future.
  Nevie Edwards looks proud in this picture, and I will tell you why 
she is proud. She earned the GED certificate through Chicago's Jobs-
for-Youth Program, another successful School-to-Work Program.
  Three years ago, Nevie dropped out of high school in her senior year. 
Now she is on the way. She is a travel information specialist job with 
Advanced Telemarketing, a private firm that handles the information 
hotlines for the Regional Transit Authority in the Chicago area.
  Steve McDonald is a high school senior, and now he has a career plan 
for his life. He wants to be a master tool and die maker. Two years 
ago, the odds were heavily against Steve reaching a goal like that. 
Today, the odds are excellent.
  Steve's success proved that School-to-Work Programs change lives. 
Students are given the opportunity to prove themselves, and they are 
given the chance to see, feel, and experience the world of work, what 
it means for their future. And most of these young people respond, and 
they respond eagerly.
  School people tell me that if you get a student interested in one 
subject, you can grab them.
  I see that I am getting the signal for time.
  Madam President, I am pleased that we will be working on this later 
today, and we will have the conference report and pass a step forward 
for this country.

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