Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton’s legislation to transform high schools and prepare students for the jobs of the future was signed into law by Gov. Bev Perdue. The Joining Our Businesses and Schools JOBS Commission will bring together education and business leaders in an effort to link the courses taught in high schools with the economic development needs in North Carolina communities.

“Our focus will be on creating schools where students get a head start on the jobs in their communities and where businesses can tap into the educated workforce they need,” Dalton said. “Using innovative strategies to link our economic development needs with the classes in our schools is a win-win for our students and our communities. That’s a true partnership of education and business, and the road to a bright future for our young people in the global economy.”

The JOBS Commission is a grant-funded legislative commission that will encourage development of curriculums that more closely track career paths while engaging communitylevel dialogue in developing new innovative highs schools or converting existing schools to new models. The Commission will build on the success of the state’s award-winning Learn and Earn schools, which give high school students a head start on a college degree, an associate’s degree or a job. Dalton authored the 2003 Innovative Education Initiatives Act, which led to the establishment of more than 70 Learn and Earn High Schools across North Carolina.

The Commission’s work will create themed schools that match the economic development needs in a community. Many of these will likely match with the workforce needs for the emerging, technology-based economy, including schools focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Schools could also focus on workforce shortage areas like nursing and teaching.

The Commission will seek broad input from the University system, the North Carolina Community Colleges, the Microelectronic Center of North Carolina’s NC STEM Community Collaborative and others with knowledge and expertise in preparing students for the jobs of the future. Additionally, the Commission will work with the N.C. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Community Collaborative to further integrate the needs and desires of the community into education and economic development programming.