The General Assembly finds and declares the following:

1. (1) Approximately half of Illinois high school graduates enrolling as full-time freshmen in Illinois public community colleges require remedial education.
2. (2) Illinois employers report that recent high school and postsecondary institutional graduates often lack the critical skills necessary to succeed in high-demand and growing occupational areas and that they are unable to find qualified workers to meet their industry needs.
3. (3) Student readiness for postsecondary education and careers cannot be reduced to a single metric, but must instead be understood as a multi-faceted set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that allow students to successfully meet the challenges of postsecondary education and career and live healthy, productive lives.
4. (4) Enabling high school students to engage in career and postsecondary education development activities and incentivizing achievement in career-oriented education, particularly in high-demand industry sectors, promotes postsecondary and career readiness and facilitates better-informed postsecondary education decisions.
5. (5) In response, Illinois should deploy a number of strategies to prepare more students for meaningful career opportunities by supporting postsecondary and career planning, promoting and incentivizing competency-based learning programs, reducing remedial education rates, increasing alignment between K-12 and postsecondary education systems, and implementing college and career pathway systems.
6. (6) Aligning supports from State agencies, school districts, postsecondary education providers, employers, and other public and private organizations will lead to the development and implementation of a robust and coordinated postsecondary education and career readiness system in Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 99-674, eff. 7-29-16.)