U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Labor to improve adult and young adult education opportunities. Paige joined U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao in signing a memorandum of understanding during the National Summit on the 21st Century Workforce, in Washington, D.C.

The agreement between the agencies defines a partnership to develop and promote education opportunities for adults who are using labor department programs to prepare themselves for the demands of the modern American workforce. "Today, our departments create a partnership to serve the adult and young adult populations who need better skills," Paige said. "The memorandum of understanding we sign today will bring the Departments of Labor and Education together to give workers better access to better jobs and better tomorrows."

Paige said the two departments will work together to:

• assess the reading and math needs of local labor markets and of local labor pools, as well as available adult education resources, in order to establish a referral program for workers in need of reading and math skills training;
• give at-risk youth access to a high school diploma through partnerships between the Labor Department's Job Corps centers and public schools, distance learning programs and online course providers; and
• provide technical assistance to state and local education agencies and Workforce Investment Boards, One-Stop Career centers, and adult education and literacy grantees to assist them in providing expanded and improved adult education opportunities. That technical assistance may include curriculum development, teacher training in reading and math skills instruction, program development, program expansion, and the creation of partnerships to support instruction.

The Education Department's Offices of Elementary and Secondary Education, Vocational and Adult Education, Post-Secondary Education and Educational Research and Improvement and the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration, particularly its Offices of Youth Services, Workforce Security and Policy and Research, will be involved in providing support for the partnership.

At the summit, Paige described the role of President Bush's No Child Left Behind plan for education reform in preparing our children to be the workforce of the 21st century. "But as we prepare for this great effort - ensuring that from now on in America, no child will be left behind - we must also recognize that over the last 30 years, our lack of effective reform did leave millions of children behind," Paige said. "Some of these children are now in the workforce. Others are just entering it. And others are trying to get in. But all are held back by the skills they weren't taught, and the knowledge they didn't learn." The partnership between the Labor and Education Departments is intended to address the ongoing needs of these adults by expanding the reading and math skills training opportunities that are made available to them, and preparing them for a meaningful role in America's workforce.