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Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao
Remarks to the
United States Conference of Mayors
Detroit, Michigan
June 25,
2001
Thank you, Duane, for that kind introduction. I appreciate
your efforts at Nationwide Retirement Solutions to help working families plan
for a secure and prosperous future.
And thank you, Mayor Coles, for your leadership at the
Conference of Mayors and your work to improve the lives of America's families.
It is a pleasure to join you today.
And Mayor Archer, thanks so much for welcoming all of us to
your city — it's great to be here. And of course, it's always a pleasure
for me to have a chance to see my hometown Mayor — David Armstrong of
Louisville — as well as Bill May of Frankfort.
For nearly 70 years, the Conference of Mayors has engaged
the challenges of our communities with an entrepreneurial spirit. And, for just
as long, the Department of Labor has been your partner in these efforts.
We have rolled up our sleeves together. We have worked side
by side with civic groups, places of worship, schools and businesses for a
common goal: to renew America's cities through the greatness of their
citizens.
What excites me about your vision for America's future is
that your agenda focuses on investing in the human capital of the city.
When you look at cities, you don't just look at infrastructure, you see
people as the most valuable asset cities have.
In that respect, your agenda is my agenda: preparing
citizens to be productive in the workplace of the 21st century.
At the Department of Labor, we think of our job training
and educational programs as providing "venture capital for the workforce"
— as engines of hope and opportunity for workers who have traditionally
been left out of the workforce.
That's part of what President Bush has brought to
Washington — a pragmatic approach to government, focused on creating
opportunities for people who need a new chance in life.
President Bush has also shown what can happen when people
stop pointing fingers and start pointing the way. The American people don't
want political debates or turf battles; they want results. And we can get
results — the kinds of results that matter to working families — if
we work together, across party lines, and across disciplinary lines.
The Department of Labor needs to work with the Department
of Education, and we both need to work with state and local leaders like you,
as well as the private sector.
That kind of pragmatic cooperation enabled President Bush
to pass historic education reform and tax relief in just five months — and
that's the approach we intend to take at the Department of Labor.
In that same spirit of cooperation, President Bush and I
created a new office within the Department of Labor, an Office of the 21st
Century Workforce. This is an office dedicated to uniting America in a common
effort to meet the challenges of the 21st century economy.
Last Wednesday, we kicked off this initiative with a Summit
in Washington that brought together President Bush, Fed Chairman Alan
Greenspan, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Secretary of Commerce Don Evans,
Michigan Governor John Engler, Congressman Pete Hoekstra from Michigan and
other members of Congress, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Hotel and Restaurant
Employees International Union President John Wilhelm, United Mine Workers
President Cecil Roberts, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners President
Doug McCarron - and my friend Anthony Williams, the mayor of our nation's
capital.
This 21st century workforce initiative will focus on
closing the skills gap, responding to the labor shortages projected in the
future, and making America's workplaces more responsive to the realities of how
people work in today's economy.
As always, America's cities have been leading the way. I
was particularly pleased that the Department of Labor was able to be a partner
of the Conference of Mayors in sponsoring the Mayors' Skills Summits held
recently in Boston, Long Beach and New Orleans, and we look forward to joining
you at the next Skills Summit in Kansas City.
Closing the gap between high-skilled jobs and low-skilled
workers is a top priority for the Department of Labor, and for mayors across
the country.
In recent years, our economy has been transformed by the
growth of technology. The Department of Commerce predicts that within five
years, nearly half of all American workers will be employed in Information
Technology industries. This trend creates new challenges and new opportunities
for every American worker.
On the one hand, the New Economy offers well-paying jobs
with limitless potential for advancement. But on the other hand, these new jobs
require greater skills, and all too often, employers can't find workers
qualified to fill the jobs that they have created.
The bottom line is that the skills gap requires real
answers, right now — for people who need better opportunities in life, and
for employers who need more skilled workers.
Ultimately, I want people to measure our success at the
Labor Department not by what was said, but by what was done. I
want to measure our success by the number of lives we changed, not by the size
of our budget or the number of new programs we create.
With that yardstick in mind, I have some exciting news to
announce today, but I want to begin by telling you a story that will put my
announcement in proper perspective.
I want to tell you about a young man who lives just a few
miles from here. His name is Schuyler.
At an age when most teenagers are in their first year of
college or entering the workforce, Schuyler was lost and alone. His mother was
in jail. He never knew his father. When he got caught up in the world of drugs
and gangs, his high school expelled him. Schuyler had few places to turn.
Thankfully, he made his way to a Youth Opportunity office
in his neighborhood.
Using a Department of Labor grant, the Youth Opportunity
Center in Detroit is working to prepare young people like Schuyler for a better
life — helping them get an education, acquire new skills, develop
personally and pursue employment. The program is a one-stop center for life,
helping youths get a fresh start on their future.
Since coming to the center, Schuyler has worked to finish
high school. And next year, he will be the first person in his family to walk
across a stage and receive his high school diploma. What an achievement!
Schuyler will tell you that because of the Youth
Opportunity program, he has a sense of direction and focus for his future. In
fact, he's planning on attending college — a goal that not long ago, he
thought was unimaginable.
I asked Schuyler to join us today. Schuyler, would you
please stand? Thank you so much for coming here today, and allowing me to share
your story.
I asked Schuyler to be here today because I think it's
important to remind ourselves that when we talk about educational reform and
skills development, these aren't abstractions — we're talking about real
people, and how to give them a better chance in life.
And so, as promised, I do have an announcement today. I am
very pleased to tell you that the Department is renewing the second year of
funding for Youth Opportunity grants in 35 cities, towns and reservations,
worth more than $222 million in total, so that more kids like Schuyler get a
second chance.
But as I do this today, I want to lay down a challenge for
the recipients of these grants.
As we prepare our workers, and our future workers, for the
21st century, we are pursuing a two-pronged approach.
First of all, we need to address the issue at the root,
which is our nation's schools. We all know that much of the problem of
under-skilled workers and unprepared youths begins in our schools, which must
do more to educate every child.
The president has sent the message loud and clear across
America: No more excuses. No more delays. No more children left behind.
At the Summit on the 21st Century Workforce, Secretary
Paige and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Departments of
Education and Labor to enhance literacy for Job Corps.
But we also need to do more to help those who are being
left behind right now — students and workers who need to catch up in a
world that is threatening to pass them by.
That's where our Youth Opportunity grants come in, as well
as other Labor Department programs that help train and retrain workers in a
wide variety of ways.
The Youth Opportunity program is designed to achieve three
things:
- First, increase the high school graduation rate,
- Secondly, increase the college enrollment rate,
- And third, increase the out-of-school youth employment rate.
As successful as this program is already, I want it to work
even better.
The more I look at workforce issues, the clearer it becomes
to me that no one can afford to miss out on an education in our 21st century
economy.
The earnings gap between those with a college degree and
those who just have a degree from high school has increased to 70
percent. The unemployment rate for high school drop-outs is four
times greater than it is for those with a college degree.
It used to be that if you didn't have an education, you
could still do all right. That's not true any more, and it will be even less
true in the future.
So I want to lay down a challenge: to focus these Youth
Opportunity grants specifically on helping young people get through high school
— successfully — and go on to get the further training they need to
succeed, whether that be a university or a community college or high-skilled
vocational training.
We need to work to give more kids a shot at earning a high
school diploma, not just a GED. We have to provide opportunities to make up for
deficiencies in math and reading skills.
And I want to see us direct more Youth Opportunity funds to
alternative schools, building on the success of our current program in Los
Angeles. We may want to fund more night schools for youth, based on the success
of programs in Denver and Boston.
In addition, we're going to fund intensive programs to
increase academic achievement among in-school youth, based on what we're seeing
in Cleveland, Memphis, Washington, D.C., and Louisville.
In keeping with the President's Faith-Based Initiative, I
would encourage our Youth Opportunity cities to open the doors to groups that
minister to both hearts and minds.
If we're going to put everything on the line to help young
people and change lives, we want everyone's help.
Once again, this is an area where cities have been leading
the way, using faith-based programs to reach out to young people, from the
streets of Philadelphia to the barrios of East Los Angeles.
And just so you know: when these grants come up for renewal
next year, I am going to be looking to see: Did more young people graduate from
high school? How many went on to get further training to help them succeed? Did
we get young people into decent jobs?
If we spend our money just entertaining them, that's a
tragic waste — not of money — but of the human capital of young
people's lives.
It's a lot of work to reclaim the strength of America's
cities through the greatness of its citizens.
But this has always been the secret of America. There's no
question that this is a land of great natural resources. But our greatest
resource, our greatest asset, has always been our people.
As President and CEO of United Way of America, I saw
first-hand that people often need a little help to become a productive asset.
That's what all of you do, and that's what we do through these Youth
Opportunity grants: give people a little help — and as a result, give them
a lot of hope.
I look forward to continuing the strong, successful
partnership between our nation's cities and the Department of Labor. Thank you
very much.
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