Faced with the challenge of preparing today's students for success in an increasingly global economy, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, April 21, announced the development of a first-of-its-kind Center for 21st Century Skills.

The Center will be run from the governor's office by the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE). Educators and business leaders across the state will work in tandem to redesign existing curricula, improve teacher professional development efforts, and implement assessments designed to track statewide student progress. The Center will collaborate with K-12 school systems, community colleges, and teacher education institutions to develop and pilot its programs, but specific details were not available at press time.

Joining forces with the nonprofit Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that brings leaders from education and the business community together, Easley said that he hopes the effort will lead to the development and adoption of a new model for teaching and learning in schools from coast to coast.

"We must continue to reform our public school system to meet the growing demands of the new global economy," Easley said. "The new Center for 21st Century Skills will ensure that students graduate from our educational institutions with the skills they need to compete and succeed in the workplace."

In an interview with eSchool News, Karen Bruett, who chairs the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and is the director of education and community initiatives for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc., said the goal is to create "a public-private partnership that will better prepare students for their future."

The partnership's framework for 21st century education emphasizes competencies such as information and communication technology (ICT) literacy, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, global awareness, and business, economic and civic literacy--skills today's executives say are critical to success.

Easley's 2005-07 budget includes an appropriation to NCBCE of $250,000 in the coming fiscal year and $500,000 the following year for the creation of the Center. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills will work with North Carolina's Center to match the state's commitment with private contributions. The first company to participate is Dell Inc. which has made a commitment of $50,000.

In recent months, the cry for reform has intensified from educators and business leaders who want a radical redesign of the nation's antiquated education system--one critics argue has put American students at a disadvantage compared to tech-savvy graduates from nations such as China and India, where a single school has sometimes granted more engineering and technical degrees than every U.S. college and university combined.

The outcry reached a crescendo in late February when the nation's governors, including Easley, met in Washington to develop a plan that would restore credibility to the high school diploma and make schools accountable for the students they graduate. State leaders were buoyed in their discussions by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who branded the nation's high schools "obsolete" and called on policy makers to institute reforms that embrace the teaching of practical, job-related skills. (See "Gates, governors: Upgrade high school").