Employers Talk about Building a School-to-Work System: Voices from the Field.

This document contains background information on the school-to-work (STW) movement and 20 essays written by employers and intermediaries involved in STW program planning and implementation. Four points are highlighted: (1) it takes time to assemble an STW system; (2) the number of students participating in structured work-based learning remains small; (3) STW marketing is required; and (4) brokers between education/training and employers are needed. The following essays are included: "'Skilled Workers Needed" (Rene Craft); "Stepping Forward and Stepping Up to New Roles" (Lee Doyle); "'Sheer Necessity'" (George H. Kaye); "School-to-Careers: A New Revolution" (Larry Stupski); "Clear Links to Core Business Goals: A Necessity!" (Dave Johnson); "Sustainable Strategy for the Next Century" (Renee Lerche, Mike Schmidt); "Building New Bridges" (Michael Bzdak); "Trust Is the Elixir of Commitment" (Lisa Goldberg); "WOMP: Give Them Something to Talk About" (Rogercarole Rogers); "A Sustained and Evolving Commitment" (Sharon Knotts Green); "Links in the Education Chain" (Jere Hess); "Merging the European and American Systems" (John P. Tobin); "Giving Students a Solid Start" (Kevin Healey); "Building a Support Structure Takes Time" (Mary Dodd); "The Connection for All Students" (William Diehl); "Spanning a Revolution: Can It Happen?" (Robert Gordon); "Developing a Sequence of Actions" (Jeffrey M. Vega); "New Service Innovations Are Required" (Mimi Bushman); "Block by Block Builds Success" (Neil Sullivan); and "Why School Intermediaries Are Needed" (William Bloomfield). (MN)