City of Philadelphia - File #: 130756

• File #: 130756
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 10/17/2013
• In control: CITY COUNCIL
• Final action: 10/17/2013
• Title: Authorizing Council's Committee on Education and the Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy to investigate and develop a pilot Vocational Education and Training (VET) program and to recommend a legislative framework to implement a City-wide program.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
10/17/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass
10/17/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar
10/17/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED

Title
Authorizing Council's Committee on Education and the Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy to investigate and develop a pilot Vocational Education and Training (VET) program and to recommend a legislative framework to implement a City-wide program.

Body
WHEREAS, Council's Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy held a series of public hearings on Philadelphia's global competitiveness on October 9-10, 2012, February 25, 2013, and February 27, 2013; the expert witnesses offered a common theme of concern for a lack of skilled workers and a lack of work ethic or foundational skills required for entry-level positions; and

WHEREAS, Council's Committee on Education and the Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy held a joint hearing on June 17, 2013 to examine best practices in education on a global basis that resulted in similar findings identifying a lack of skilled workers in Philadelphia compared to countries where VET programs are common in their education systems; and

WHEREAS, According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, since 2007, approximately 20,526 students dropped out of Philadelphia public high schools and youth unemployment rate in Philadelphia has climbed to 21.9%; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia is challenged by three critical workforce development needs: 1) a shortage of technological skills in the labor force; 2) a large pool of low-skilled labor, including young people who must be trained with new skills; and 3) roughly 300,000 ex-offenders requiring re-entry training and employment; and

WHEREAS, The dual system of Vocational Education and Training (VET), combining part-time classroom instruction with a part-time apprenticeship at a host company, has been proven highly effective in lowering unemployment and developing solid workforce pipelines for meeting the skills demanded by local companies. Some of the best pra...