I heard former assistant secretary of labor, Emily Stover-DeRocco, make this remark at a breakfast meeting. This sort of sounds like “No Child Left Behind” but in the context of her remark, it was the idea of opening new career opportunities for workers who have either lost their jobs or are embarking on new careers with new skills. Often, we spend much of our recruiting capital on high school students. Often, it is an uphill battle to overcome perception of technical jobs. Many of these former workers have “life” skills that high school graduates do not have. How valuable is that? Let’s think about a “re-career” option that combines credit for prior-learning with focused upskilling courses that provide math skills (for credit) in the context of industry sectors. I am interested in other ideas for “no worker left behind”. What are yours?

Mike Lesiecki