34:15E-2. Findings, declarations
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. To succeed in the face of intensely competitive conditions, the economy of New Jersey requires the creation of a growing pool of highly trained, technologically sophisticated young workers, which can be achieved, in part, by providing greater opportunities and incentives for youths who in the past have not sought college education or even completed high school;
b. The potential value of work-based, hands-on learning to create that growing pool has been demonstrated by the high quality of the training and education provided by existing registered apprenticeship programs;
c. The benefits of apprenticeship training in creating a highly-skilled workforce, however, are limited to less than 3% of the workforce of the United States or this State, compared to more than two thirds of German workers;
d. In this State, as well as in this nation, most participants do not enter apprenticeship programs until six or more years after their graduation from high school;
e. Education and training for careers in skilled trades are unattractive to many high school students and their parents, because workers in those trades are rarely provided with the opportunities for lifelong occupationally relevant learning and ongoing advancement that are commonplace in professional occupations;
f. The experience of German and Japanese schools and employers clearly demonstrates that all youth need a strong educational foundation in order to have the flexibility to succeed in the face of rapid economic change and that work-based learning is a necessary supplement to, but not a substitute for, high academic standards;
g. It is therefore an appropriate public purpose to establish a Youth Transitions to Work Partnership to establish new apprenticeship programs for high-wage, high-skill, labor demand occupations and link those new programs and existing apprenticeship programs with secondary schools and institutions of higher education to provide effective transitions for high school graduates into those programs, while sustaining or enhancing educational standards, and to create opportunities for lifelong occupationally relevant learning and ongoing career advancement for front-line workers, thereby motivating youth to greater success in secondary and post-secondary education.
L.1993,c.268,s.2.