On May 31, 2000, Governor James H. Hodges appointed a 40-member Task Force on Workforce Education to examine the gap between the needs of South Carolina*s business community and the dwindling supply of qualified employees--today's students. Mr. Don Herriott, president and general manager of Roche Carolina Inc., chaired the Task Force.

The Task Force found that, while South Carolina*s public schools have done a great deal to adapt to the drastic social changes of the past 50 years, they have not kept pace with the business world. In fact, the workplace is changing at a rate many times faster than schools. There is a marked mismatch between the educational goals of our students and reality of what today*s jobs require, as well as a mismatch between many of the skills taught in schools and those required in the workplace. Nine specific recommendations are offered within the report.