A few short decades ago, many young Americans could expect to move directly from high school into well-paying, secure jobs that required minimal training. But today's workplace is computerized, automated, and ultramodernized, while our schools have fallen far behind. The result has been a rapidly growing number of high-school graduates who are utterly unprepared for the demands of today's global skilled-labor market.Making the Grade presents Maine governor John R. McKernan's solution: to encourage a new kind of cooperation between schools and employers that gives high-school students the edge they need. Drawing on his experience with Maine's new youth apprenticeship program, as well as on his extensive knowledge of European programs, McKernan presents a practical, step-by-step plan for educational and vocational-training reform, an unprecedented way for students, parents, schools, large and small businesses, unions, and all levels of government to work together for the common and essential goal of producing a skilled workforce that will be able to compete in the global economy of the twenty-first century. Read Less