A Crisis Situation

• A major technical skills gap exists in the local supply-and-demand dynamic. Employers in Santa Ana and adjacent areas are having difficulty filling jobs because of a lack of workers with adequate workplace-specific skills, abilities and knowledge.
• The problem is compounding in local industries projecting high growth including automotive, business services, construction, health care, manufacturing, and new media, which will need even more skilled workers in the coming years. Competition for the limited number of available skilled workers is leading to wage inflation.
• Santa Ana and central Orange County are lagging behind the rest of the county in job growth, wages and completed education levels. If this trend is allowed to continue, the central and most densely populated part of the county will drag down future economic growth in overall Orange County. An unskilled workforce may lead to a relocation of existing businesses to other areas. The issue is therefore urgent.
• In its own interests, the local business community must help solve this situation.

A Daunting Challenge

Because very little technical training is available in our public schools, and because of a local secondary school drop-out rate higher than the state average, many local youth fail to obtain a high school diploma, considered a minimal hiring qualification by most employers. This negatively impacts local businesses.

The challenge is not to augment public education but to develop a new kind of high school with:

• Career-oriented, industry-specific student training sufficient to acquire sustainable jobs.
• Concurrent fulfillment of state graduation requirements through integrated classes, and concurrent opportunities to qualify for class credits at local community colleges.
• Encouragement of entrepreneurship through project-based student portfolios.
• A sufficient return on investment to attract and retain private investors.