If there's one idea that New Democrats have relentlessly promoted over the last few years, it's that the advent of a knowledge-based New Economy places an enormous new premium on lifting the education and skills levels of the American people. But while education reform continues to be a hot-button issue at every level of government, much less attention has been paid to how, exactly, we can move towards a system of skills training that can equip both individuals and communities with the qualities that will breed success in the New Economy.

Now, Progressive Policy Institute Vice President Robert D. Atkinson has produced a handy guide to good ideas for workforce development. Building Skills for the New Economy: A Policymaker's Handbook should be on the desk of every state or local official involved not only in skills training initiatives, but also in education, technology, economic development, or long-range planning.

Atkinson offers 19 specific steps policymakers can take to build workforce skills:

1. Target limited training funds to firms that are upgrading technology and skills, or to firms that are training workers in transferable skills.
2. Shift support from individual firms to regional skills alliances that target employers with similar needs in a locale.
3. Design incumbent worker training programs that encourage firms to become "learning organizations."
4. Engage employers in the design of the curriculum.
5. Connect high school to work.
6. Create math and science charter or magnet schools.
7. Invest in developing curricula at colleges and universities in science, math, and information technology.
8. Establish state "SciTech Scholars" programs.
9. Support Workforce Investment Act training vouchers.
10. Reimburse colleges for noncredit student enrollments.
11. Establish a tax credit for company investments in remedial education, literacy training, and English As a Second Language.
12. Develop "report cards" on training providers.
13. Develop "report cards" on colleges and universities.
14. Build a national, real-time occupational/employment data system.
15. Use technology to automate services and improve quality.
16. Create "learning stores."
17. Develop employer-focused education and training systems.
18. Develop true customer service response systems.
19. Integrate job training with adult education.

There's bountiful detail on all of these recommendations, plus the basic principles they are based upon, in the full report. But there's one underlying, urgent message: providing world-class skills for every American is no longer just a moral imperative, but is becoming an economic imperative. We should no longer tolerate a small, bureaucratic training system that is isolated from both schools and employers, and that is designed to serve as little more than a stopgap for temporary labor market dislocations. Radically changing this system is a fertile ground for every state and local elected official who wants to make a real difference.