Texas employer and business groups, complaining that entry-level job applicants don’t have the skills for successful employment, have formed a coalition to urge lawmakers to do something about the situation. The Texas Coalition for a Competitive Workforce, formed by the Texas Association of Business, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Texas Institute for Education Reform, the Governor’s Business Council, and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, has already begun to invite employers to policy briefings outlining its plans to encourage lawmakers to put more emphasis on career and college readiness in public schools.

Specifically, the group plans to ask lawmakers to impose serious consequences on school districts and schools that don’t meet accountability standards or experience a decline in their ratings; raise curriculum standards to reflect the knowledge and skills students need to be ready for college or career training; and base school performance ratings on the percentage of students who are either on track for college or career readiness, or who will be on track for college readiness in 3 years. To meet the higher curriculum standards, the group would like to see lawmakers phase in new goals over a 3-year adjustment period.

According to Jim Windham, chairman of the Texas Institute for Education Reform, 65 percent of the nation’s new jobs through 2014 will require higher levels of education and training. The vast majority of Texas students, however, fail to meet readiness benchmarks.