The General Assembly finds:

1. (a) Even though more than half of the state's high school students do not go on to college but seek to enter the job market, South Carolina has no clear system for school-to-work transition. Low-skill jobs are quickly disappearing. The job market increasingly demands that employees enter the work force with middle-skill or high-skill capabilities, but educational experiences typically leave high school graduates ill-prepared for the work place. The absence of a coherent system has harmful effects for both business competitiveness, school effectiveness, and quality of life standards.

   Merely "tuning up" the high school "general track" will not be enough to meet these demands. The combination of unchallenging classes, low expectations, and isolation from the adult work place results in too many students lacking the skills, motivation, and connections that lead to successful and productive adult lives.

2. (b) Nations which compete internationally with the United States help their students acquire academic and occupational skills that are essential for success as we approach the twenty-first century. The specific approaches vary by country but, typically, they include:

   1. (1) quality schooling,
   2. (2) career exploration,
   3. (3) work-site experiences, and

   4. (4) work-based teaching and apprenticeships.

      In these countries, schools and employers work together to facilitate a young person's entry into the work force.

3. (c) South Carolina's secondary education system does not provide these steps in educating and preparing our youth for work. Our nation has traditionally divided students into college-bound and noncollege bound. While college-bound students are required to follow a challenging and clearly defined curriculum, the noncollege bound have entered the "general track" which is less academically challenging and is often cited as preparing students for "nothing in particular". In South Carolina, fifty-two percent of our students are in the "general track" while twenty-eight percent of the students are directed into the academic college-prep track, and the other twenty percent of the students are placed in the vocational track. "General track" students receive little preparation for higher education and little guidance on how to move into a career that can support an acceptable quality of life. Their reading, writing, math, and communications skills are generally inadequate for the demands of today's quality employers and for higher education.