Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce by National Center on Education and the Economy, National Center on Education and the Eco (Manufactured by)

From the Publisher

Tough Choices or Tough Times calls for first redesign of the American education system in a century.  This report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce shows how the dynamics of the global economy will lead to a steady decline in the American standard of living if this country does not undertake the first thorough overhaul of its education system in a century. It shows how our country can graduate 950f our students (not two-thirds, as it does now) after 12 years and the majority after only 10 years of grade school. It reveals how billions of dollars can be saved by changing the way students progress through the grades and how the money saved could be used to build high quality early childhood education systems, attract the best and brightest teachers, and provide the resources for even the most disadvantaged students to reach world class standards. This hard-hitting analysis describes the kind of economy needed to sustain our current standard of living and kinds of skills and knowledge that American workers need to make that economy work. It also details the dramatic changes in governance, finance, organization, and management of the American education and training systems that are needed.

Tough Choices or Tough Times was written for anyone concerned with the future of this country and the state of our schools and our job training systems. It provides a well-researched analysis of the issues and a compelling set of proposals for changing our system of education.

A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 2007

National Center in Education and the Economy (NCEE) is a not-for-profit organizationdedicated to providing young people with the world-class skills that will allow them to succeed in a global economy. The 26-member commission includes former Cabinet secretaries of labor and education, Senators, Members of Congress, school superintendents, CEOs of major firms, union leaders, and governors.

What People Are Saying

"Anyone who hopes to hold a job in the next several decades should read—if not memorize—this extraordinary report."
—Norman R. Augustine, Retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Chairman, The National Academies' Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century

"This penetrating, scary analysis and astute, far-reaching recommendations amount to A Nation at Risk for the next generation, a brave, clear call for top-to-bottom reforms in U.S. education . . . . Tough Choices sketches a bold and efficient new vehicle for equipping 21st century Americans with the skills and knowledge they will need—and that the nation needs."
—Chester E. Finn Jr., Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and President, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation

"Bold, inventive, analytic, and piercing, the report's recommendations stand to make a huge difference in how America thinks about and enacts its educational enterprise for all—including its youngest—students."
—Sharon Lynn Kagan, Virginia & Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy,Teachers College, Columbia University, and Codirector, The National Center for Children and Families

"Tough Choices or Tough Times is must reading . . . . The Commission advances thought-provoking recommendations that should stimulate debate and then galvanize every sector of society . . . to muster the will and the wherewithal to ensure that America's workforce is the best educated and prepared in the world."
—Hugh Price, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and Former President, National Urban League

"[O]ur students are falling further behind and the people of this nation do not seem to be alarmed. This report lays out the kind of drastic change to the system that is crucial if we are to remain a viable economic and political leader in the world."
—David P. Driscoll, Commissioner of Education, Massachusetts

Product Details

• ISBN: 0470267569
  
• ISBN-13: 9780470267561
• Format: Paperback, 219pp
• Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
• Pub. Date: March 2008
• Edition Description: Revised and Expanded
• Sales Rank: 117,418

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents