Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is urging the New York Board of Regents to approve two initiatives [1] that he says will improve graduation rates and reduce young adult unemployment, the Huffington Post reports. The two proposals — one tailored for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and another for career and technical education (CTE) — are intended to better prepare and train workers for the state’s high-tech and manufacturing sectors. The programs would be alternative paths toward high school graduation.
“The local workforce does not have the skills needed to fill these jobs,” Schumer said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “A high school graduate with proper training coulee easily fill these positions.”
Schumer’s proposal comes as a handful of sectors struggle to fill more than 3 million open positions [2]. Despite the more than 20 million people who are unemployed in America, companies can’t find workers to fill positions in areas like STEM and manufacturing due to a lack of skilled workers…