Labor Secretary says Governor’s proposal is crucial to first-rate workforce
MADISON – In an address at the University of Wisconsin-Madison today, Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman said Governor Jim Doyle’s proposal for a 3rd year of math and science in high school is essential in preparing the workers of tomorrow for successful careers in a high-tech global economy.
“All students will benefit from greater proficiency in math and science, whether they continue their education in college or technical school, or enter the job market right after high school,” Secretary Gassman said. “The days of low skill, high wage jobs are long gone. Such emerging industries as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and advanced manufacturing demand greater skills, and all of us will benefit by having a first-rate workforce able to compete, succeed, and sustain our economic growth.”
Secretary Gassman delivered welcoming remarks at the Virtual Symposium on Nanotechnology and Biotechnology. The UW-Madison Office of Education Outreach sponsored the symposium at the Pyle Center, and about 100 K-12 math and science teachers from across the state took part, many of them over the Internet.
“Another year of math and science will better prepare our students to analyze, problem solve, and work more efficiently, creatively, whatever their career,” Secretary Gassman said. She said the additional graduation requirement and other items in Governor Doyle’s education agenda will ensure Wisconsin’s workforce remains second to none in a high end, knowledge based economy.
Secretary Gassman cited Governor Doyle’s strong commitment to research and noted his leadership in support of research facilities, such as the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Construction will begin early next year on the UW-Madison research complex, the centerpiece of the Governor’s effort to capture 10 percent of the stem cell market by 2015.
Besides the UW-Madison complex, she said Governor Doyle has supported bio-medical research facilities at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa and a nanotechnology center at Chippewa Valley Technical College.
“Discoveries at these research facilities will keep Wisconsin at the forefront of a knowledge-based economy and create rewarding career opportunities for students with a solid education in math and science,” Secretary Gassman said
