Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce

According to this report from the National Commission on Adult Literacy, our nation’s failure to address the education and workforce skills needs of its citizens is putting the country in great jeopardy and threatening its standard of living and economic viability. The commission found that between eighty-eight and ninety million adults are not prepared to meet the demands of today’s global economy or secure a job that will pay a family-sustaining wage. It also found that these individuals face at least one “educational barrier to economic success:” eighteen million Americans do not have a high school diploma, fifty-one million have not gone to college, and eighteen million are not proficient in their English language and literacy skills.