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

From the Publisher

Tough Choices or Tough Times, the 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. This new revised and expanded version of Tough Choices or Tough Times includes:

• An updated Introduction
• A summary of the Commission's proposals
• Commentaries on the proposals by Denis Doyle, Lawrence Mishel, Michael Petrilli, Diane Ravitch, and Richard Rothstein, with responses from members of the Commission.

Tough Choices or Tough Times provides a well-researched analysis of the issues and a compelling set of proposals for changing our system of education.

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

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents