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OUR NATION OF BUILDERS: TRAINING THE 

BUILDERS OF THE FUTURE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, MANUFACTURING, 

AND TRADE 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND 

COMMERCE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

NOVEMBER 15, 2013 

Serial No. 113–97 

( 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

energycommerce.house.gov 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE 

FRED UPTON, Michigan 

Chairman 

RALPH M. HALL, Texas 

JOE BARTON, Texas 

Chairman Emeritus 

ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky 

JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois 

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania 

GREG WALDEN, Oregon 

LEE TERRY, Nebraska 

MIKE ROGERS, Michigan 

TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania 

MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas 

MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee 

Vice Chairman 

PHIL GINGREY, Georgia 

STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana 

ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio 

CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS, Washington 

GREGG HARPER, Mississippi 

LEONARD LANCE, New Jersey 

BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana 

BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky 

PETE OLSON, Texas 

DAVID B. MCKINLEY, West Virginia 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

MIKE POMPEO, Kansas 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

BILLY LONG, Missouri 

RENEE L. ELLMERS, North Carolina 

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California 

Ranking Member 

JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan 

FRANK PALLONE, JR., New Jersey 

BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois 

ANNA G. ESHOO, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GENE GREEN, Texas 

DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado 

LOIS CAPPS, California 

MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania 

JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois 

JIM MATHESON, Utah 

G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

DORIS O. MATSUI, California 

DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, Virgin Islands 

KATHY CASTOR, Florida 

JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa 

PETER WELCH, Vermont 

BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico 

PAUL TONKO, New York 

JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, MANUFACTURING, AND TRADE

LEE TERRY, Nebraska 

Chairman 

LEONARD LANCE, New Jersey 

Vice Chairman 

MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee 

GREGG HARPER, Mississippi 

BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky 

PETE OLSON, Texas 

DAVID B. MCKINLEY, West Virginia 

MIKE POMPEO, Kansas 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

BILLY LONG, Missouri 

JOE BARTON, Texas 

FRED UPTON, Michigan (ex officio) 

JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois 

Ranking Member 

JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

PETER WELCH, Vermont 

JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky 

JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan 

BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois 

JIM MATHESON, Utah 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, Virgin Islands 

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California (ex officio) 

(II) 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hon. Lee Terry, a Representative in Congress from the State of Nebraska, 

opening statement ................................................................................................ 1 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2 

Hon. Janice D. Schakowsky, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Illinois, opening statement .............................................................................. 3 

Hon. Leonard Lance, a Representative in Congress from the State of New 

Jersey, opening statement ................................................................................... 5 

Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida, opening statement ........................................................................................ 5 

Hon. Bill Johnson, a Representative in Congress from the State of Ohio, 

opening statement ................................................................................................ 6 

Hon. Jerry McNerney, a Representative in Congress from the State of California, opening statement .................................................................................... 6 

Hon. Henry A. Waxman, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

California, prepared statement ........................................................................... 67 

WITNESSES

Jennifer McNelly, President, The Manufacturing Institute ................................. 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Answers to submitted questions ...................................................................... 69 

Allyson Knox, Director of Education Policy and Programs, Microsoft Corporation ........................................................................................................................ 15

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 17 

Answers to submitted questions ...................................................................... 73 

Sandra Westlund-Deenihan, Chief Executive Officer and Design Engineer, 

Quality Float Works, Incorporated ..................................................................... 36 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 38 

Answers to submitted questions ...................................................................... 78 

Lazaro Lopez, Associate Superintendent, Township High School District 214, 

State of Illinois ..................................................................................................... 43 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 45 

Answers to submitted questions 1 ................................................................... 85 

Catherine Hill, Director of Research, American Association of University 

Women .................................................................................................................. 52 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 54 

Additional material for the record 2 ................................................................

1Mr. Lopez did not answer submitted questions for the record by the time 

of printing. 2The report ‘‘Women In Community Colleges: Access to Success’’ submitted 

by Ms. Hill is available at http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20131115/ 

101480/HHRG-113-IF17-Wstate-HillC-20131115-SD001.pdf. 

(1) 

OUR NATION OF BUILDERS: TRAINING THE 

BUILDERS OF THE FUTURE 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, MANUFACTURING, AND

TRADE, 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:35 a.m., in room 

2123, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Lee Terry (chairman of 

the subcommittee) presiding. 

Members present: Representatives Terry, Lance, Blackburn, 

Guthrie, Olson, Pompeo, Kinzinger, Bilirakis, Johnson, Long, 

Schakowsky, McNerney, and Barrow. 

Staff present: Charlotte Baker, Press Secretary; Kirby Howard, 

Legislative Clerk; Nick Magallanes, Policy Coordinator, Commerce, 

Manufacturing, and Trade; Brian McCullough, Senior Professional 

Staff Member, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade; Gib Mullan, 

Chief Counsel, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade; Shannon 

Weinberg Taylor, Counsel, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade; 

Michelle Ash, Democratic Chief Counsel, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade; and Will Wallace, Democratic Professional Staff 

Member. 

Mr. TERRY. Good morning. Thank you. I want to welcome all of 

our witnesses, and I will introduce you as a panel after the opening 

statements just before we start your testimony. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LEE TERRY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 

So I am going to go ahead and begin my statement and welcome 

all of our witnesses here. This is the sixth installment in ‘‘Our Nation of Builders’’ series. And the subject matter we are discussing 

today brings together a common thread from all of our witnesses 

who have previously testified, that the demands for middle- or 

semiskilled workers within the manufacturing industry is an 

across-the-board issue. I will be blunt—everyone testified that they 

have job openings that they have difficulty filling in today’s advanced manufacturing because of the lack of middle-skilled workers. 

So with that, we have seen a variety of different ways of creating 

their own. We had Toyota here, who created their own community 

college, on campus, to be able to teach the skills that are necessary 

in operating today’s more modern equipment. 

2 

I visited in Omaha an old tool-and-die shop. That when I was 13, 

my brother-in-law and his dad had a tool-and-die shop, and I—my 

job was to sweep up all the metal shavings. That was really my 

first—well, it wasn’t really a real job. But they would also teach 

me how to run one of the lathe machines. In today’s world, if you 

walk into a similar tool-and-die shop, like I did at Tri-V, a familyowned tool-and-die shop, you would see that everything has computer screens and keyboards to operate them. 

And they talk about how many job openings, and they found— 

they introduced me to a high school girl from Bellevue West High 

School, a senior, that is in a Dream It. Do It. program, and they 

have told her if she works for them, they will pay for her 2 years 

at the community college, Southeast Community College, one of the 

couple that are left. 

So business is trying to figure out a way around this. But we 

have identified this, and Jan has particularly been dogged on this 

issue, what can we do in Congress to make sure that those folks 

coming out of high school today have the requisite skills to walk 

into any manufacturing and have a job and can be successful in 

that job? 

Why it is so important is, A, I think just our basic economy. If 

we aren’t making things, then where—where is our middle class 

going to come from? Historically the middle class has come from 

the manufacturing sector. Everyone that testified, the small foundry in Jan’s district or the fabricator in my district, they walk in in 

Omaha, Nebraska, and start at 40,000. We learned in the automobile industry and the steel industry, you walk in, you are earning $77,000 to 80,000 with those skills. That is what built America, 

that is what builds our economy, and that is what builds families, 

frankly. That is a successful family when they can walk into a 

manufacturing plant and earn 70- or $80,000 a year. 

So we need to get that back in this country. The Great Recession, 

we lost 5 million manufacturing jobs. Fortunately, we have regained 500,000 of that, mostly through the energy, steel, automobile industries. But a question lingers: If we can successfully get 

4.5- new manufacturing jobs in this United States, how do we get 

the labor? So while this strengthens families and provides hope for 

people with—that don’t want to go to school that—to college that 

they can have a successful job and raise their families, and meet 

their expectations, where are those people going to come from? 

And so we have educators here today. We have a variety of people that are involved in STEM education, because all of the folks, 

manufacturers who have testified before this said it really comes 

down to our STEM education in the United States. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Terry follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. LEE TERRY

Good morning and welcome to today’s hearing-the sixth installment in our Nation 

of Builders series. 

The subject matter we will be discussing today brings together a common thread 

that appeared in almost all of our manufacturing hearings: the demands that our 

manufacturing renaissance is placing on our workforce-especially workers trained in 

science, technology, engineering and math-is resulting in a current and future shortfall of workers. 

3 

Several witnesses testified-whether it was the local foundry or Toyota-that they 

are having problems finding skilled workers with the requisite STEM skills to fill 

21st century manufacturing jobs. More concerning was the fact that many of these 

companies said the problem only gets worse in the future. If the United States cannot supply the type of labor needed to fill these good jobs, these companies may 

choose to operate in a nation that can. When a company cannot find the workers 

it needs to fill certain jobs, we are hamstringing productivity, potential for growth, 

and competitiveness. 

According to the Manufacturing Institute, STEM jobs are projected to grow by 17 

percent between 2008 and 2018. 56 percent of manufacturing executives already believe that the skilled workforce shortage we are experiencing will increase over the 

next 3 to 5 years, culminating in a projected shortage of as many as 700,000 unfilled 

skilled jobs by 2020. 

The good news is that this problem hasn’t gone completely unnoticed. As many 

as 252 STEM education activities or programs are currently being run by several 

different Federal agencies. Yet we are still facing a reality where technology companies like Microsoft cannot find trained computer technicians and the local foundry 

in Omaha cannot fill openings it has for welders. Clearly there is work to be done. 

As Dr. Hill aptly points out in her testimony, many of these STEM jobs are 

′′middle-skill′′ jobs that require more than a high school education but less than a 

bachelor’s degree. And on average, these middle skills jobs earn 40 to 60 percent 

more than non-STEM positions. The same distinction is true for other STEM workers, who earn 26 percent more than their respective counterparts. These are good 

jobs that provide employees great benefits, and ample on the job training so they 

can keep moving up in the 21st century economy. 

Congress needs to come up with fresh ideas on how we can continue to train the 

next generation of builders, programmers, manufacturers, technicians and entrepreneurs. There is surely going to be more than one answer, and working with the 

private sector to leverage our potential will be a must. I would like to thank today’s 

witnesses for attending and I look forward to your testimony. 

Mr. TERRY. So I want to thank all of our witnesses, and I am 

going to recognize our ranking member of the subcommittee, who 

has probably at least once a week since we started this said, ‘‘When 

is our STEM hearing?,’’ Jan Schakowsky. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, A 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. And here we are. So thank you very much, 

Mr. Chairman. 

I want to thank all of our witnesses that are here today, but I 

take special pride in welcoming Dr. Laz Lopez, who I would like 

to say is a friend, but also, since I have met him, as an outstanding 

educator. Before taking over as now associate superintendent for 

teaching and learning for School District 214, Dr. Lopez spent 6 

years as principal of Wheeling High School, a neighborhood public 

school. He implemented the STEM for all initiatives, ensuring that 

all students graduate with a Diploma Plus, so that they can compete for 21st century jobs. Over his time as principal, Wheeling 

High School set the highest ACT scores in the school’s history and 

improved its performance on Advanced Placement tests. 

Wheeling High School is recognized for its outstanding STEM 

program by our Governor Pat Quinn and many educational organizations. Last year Dr. Lopez was recognized as the Illinois Principal of the Year. And I am so glad to have him here, and I know 

his insight is going to be tremendously valuable as we consider how 

to prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow. With total respect, I say, if Wheeling High School can do it, we can do it everywhere in this country. 

4 

In our previous hearings the series of ‘‘Nation of Builders,’’ we 

have heard from home builders and steelmakers and automakers 

and other manufacturers. Many witnesses have expressed a demand for more American workers who are able to handle the advanced manufacturing jobs of the future, really of today and the future, jobs that require STEM literacy. A well-educated workforce is 

a basic requirement for a strong domestic manufacturing sector. 

The U.S. manufacturing sector is growing, but that can’t continue 

if we do not adequately prepare our workforce especially as we face 

increased competition from nations around the world. 

My congressional district is home to the Illinois Science and 

Technology Park, where innovative companies are hard at work developing nanotechnology, biotechnology, and flexible electronic 

products, among others. Those companies represent the future of 

advanced manufacturing in America, and their employees have to 

have strong STEM backgrounds. 

The State of Illinois has been a leader in STEM education and 

training through the State’s Illinois Pathways Race to the Top program. The Illinois Science and Technology Institute was chosen to 

lead a learning exchange focused on STEM education. The 

learningexchange will last 3 years, allowing students and their 

teachers to work collaboratively with businesses—I think that is a 

key to the program I hope we will hear more about—to improve 

STEM education and expand opportunities for hands-on STEM experiences for students. 

The Federal Government has also played a role in STEM. The 

Obama administration has made significant efforts to develop tomorrow’s workforce, engaging in public-private partnerships to improve STEM, encouraging more girls, women, and minorities to 

pursue STEM courses and careers, and recognizing and rewarding 

the best teachers in the STEM fields. Congress has supported 

STEM training through the passage and reauthorization of the 

America Competes Act, among other efforts. And I am hopeful that 

the bipartisan focus on STEM that you are going to see here today 

will continue. 

I think we all agree that preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs should be a priority. I look forward to hearing from our 

witnesses representing high schools, universities, large corporations, and small businesses that are leaders in STEM education 

and employment. I hope to learn about how their successes can be 

replicated, and how their remaining challenges can be addressed. 

I really am hopeful that this subcommittee is going to take the 

lead; that we are going to provide a blueprint for the rest of our 

colleagues, for the rest of the Congress, on how we can meet the 

challenges of our students, of our businesses and of our economy 

in the United States. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. 

Now recognize the gentleman from New Jersey, the vice chair of 

this subcommittee, for his 5 minutes. 

5 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LEONARD LANCE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY 

Mr. LANCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to the 

distinguished panel. I apologize if I am in and out; there is also a 

Health Subcommittee hearing this morning. But let me say I consider this to be an extremely important topic to the future of the 

Nation. And this is the way Congress should work, in a completely 

bipartisan fashion, because we are all deeply concerned about this 

issue, and it affects the middle class, and we all want a strengthened middle class. 

The so-called STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math 

sector, plays an integral role in New Jersey, the State I have the 

honor of representing. According to a study commissioned by the 

Public Policy Institute at Georgetown, New Jersey will need a total 

of approximately 248,000 STEM jobs by 2018, up from approximately 223,000 in 2008. This represents an 11 percent increase in 

STEM jobs, and 93 percent of these jobs will require postsecondary 

education and training. 

In New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District, the STEM field 

plays a particularly important role in the economy. The pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and manufacturing companies in the 

district I serve employ STEM graduates. Institutions such as Union 

County Magnet High School prepare students to compete for these 

high-paying, high-quality STEM jobs. 

However, despite the gains of manufacturing jobs the United 

States has seen recently and the increase of STEM jobs, there are 

many questions as to whether or not we will be able to meet the 

demand for STEM jobs in the future. Hence, today we examine the 

skills gap the United States faces between the number of qualified 

STEM candidates for jobs and the vacancies employers have for 

these jobs, a gap that is almost certain to widen if a solution cannot be found. This gap threatens the ability of the United States 

to compete with other countries around the world in these important fields now and certainly in the future. 

Today’s panel is distinguished in academic, manufacturing, and 

technological worlds, on the front line to narrow the skills gap in 

this country and realize the Nation’s vision of being at the forefront 

of 21st century innovation. I look forward to hearing from your perspectives on this critically important issue, and I am certainly welcome to yield time to Mr. Bilirakis from Florida. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. 

Thank you for holding this hearing as well, Mr. Chairman. 

Successfully training the builders of the future is vital to the economic well-being of our country. This training should focus on indemand industries; enhance opportunities for individuals to be 

placed in quality, well-paying, private-sector jobs; and respond to 

the needs of employers so economic growth can be sustained. One 

area of promise is on-the-job training and apprenticeships for students. 

6 

Earlier this year a delegation of leaders from the business and 

economic development communities in the Tampa Bay area visited 

Germany to learn how that country’s dual vocational and apprenticeship program successfully connects students at technical training facilities with job-creating companies. That delegation brought 

back some important lessons about helping the future Tampa Bay 

workforce compete in a global economy. If young Americans can simultaneously acquire job experience, technical training, and work 

ethic lessons while completing their education, it is my belief that 

the American economy will continue to prosper. 

As a father of four sons who will soon be entering America’s 

workforce, I am interested in exploring how we can help equip our 

younger generations with the necessary tools for success. I welcome 

thoughts from our panel today—thanks for being here—on how to 

provide students with the crucial technical skills and professional 

work experience at earlier stages in their education. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding the hearing, and I yield 

back. 

Mr. LANCE. Thank you. 

And I yield the balance of my time to Mr. Johnson of Ohio. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BILL JOHNSON, A 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO 

Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you. 

And, Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing as well. 

I represent a region of Ohio, Appalachia, Ohio, that has been 

devastated with the loss of its manufacturing base. Steel industry 

has pretty much left, and of my 18 counties, 14 of them are in the 

top one-third of Ohio’s highest unemployed counties in the State. 

So jobs and the economy are a big thing to the people that I represent. 

There is a prosperity boom coming, though, with oil and natural 

gas, and trying to stay on the front side of that curve and provide 

the education that our young people need to prepare them for those 

kinds of jobs is a big challenge. So workforce development is huge. 

There is not a week that goes by that I am in my district that I 

don’t get questions about how can my son or daughter prepare 

themselves for some of these oil and gas jobs. And as manufacturing begins to come back and take advantage of that nearly 

boundless source of energy, the opportunities are going to be there. 

I want to make sure my young people are ready to go. 

So thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. 

I now recognize the gentleman from California for 5 minutes. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MCNERNEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 

Mr. MCNERNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you 

holding this hearing today. 

Mr. Johnson took away some of my fire here, but there is an interesting trend happening. Because of increasing production of oil 

and natural gas, manufacturing is beginning to move back to this 

country from other sources, from other places. That is a tremenVerDate Mar 15 2010 14:04 Feb 13, 2015 Jkt 037690 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\113-97 STEM BUILDERS-AWAIT SCANS\113-97 STEM BUILDERS PENDING WAYNE
7 

dous opportunity for us, but if we don’t have a skilled workforce, 

we are not going to be able to take full advantage of that opportunity. 

Now, putting environmental concerns aside, we want—for the 

time being, we want to make sure that there is enough workforce 

out there. So your input is appreciated. The cooperation across the 

subcommittee and the full committee is appreciated. 

And with that, I am going to yield to the ranking member. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Thank you. Just a minute more. 

I think, as the chairman alluded, I am sort of obsessed about this 

issue. But I also want to make an observation. You know, the hearings that we have in this committee and other subcommittees, 

often the room is full, and cameras are all over the place mainly 

documenting conflict, one side of the aisle and the other. 

I happen to think that cameras ought to be loaded in this room; 

that this is where it is at for our country right now, that the kind 

of work that we are trying to do and to establish a framework of 

how government—how we—can be a partner to make our economy 

boom right now, and prepare our students, our American students, 

for the jobs of the century. And I hope as I said earlier that we can 

press forward with this kind of bipartisan effort to put it front and 

center. So I don’t want to take any more time from our witnesses 

other than to just say how important I think your presence here 

today is and how important you are to our country. Thank you. 

Mr. TERRY. I think all of us echo that. That was very good, Jan. 

So at this point we are going to start our testimony from our 

grand witnesses here. We have Jennifer McNelly, president of the 

Manufacturing Institute; then next to her, Allyson Knox, director 

of education policy, and programs with Microsoft. Then we have 

Sandra Westlund—is it Deenihan? 

Ms. WESTLUND-DEENIHAN. Yes. 

Mr. TERRY. Chief executive officer, Quality Float Works Incorporated; Lazaro Lopez, that Jan mentioned in her opening statement. He is associate superintendent for teaching and learning, 

Township High School District 214, State of Illinois—not Illinois; 

Catherine Hill, Ph.D. director of research, American Association of 

University Women. 

I thank all of you for being here and sharing your expertise and 

insight. 

We give each witness 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, there’s a sign up 

here that if it is a red light, I am going to start tapping the gavel, 

and that means sum up quickly. 

So, and we will go from Miss McNelly—Nelly? Neilly?—— 

Ms. MCNELLY. Nelly. 

Mr. TERRY [continuing]. To Dr. Hill. 

And now you are recognized for your 5 minutes, Ms. McNelly. 

8 

STATEMENTS OF JENNIFER MCNELLY, PRESIDENT, THE MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE; ALLYSON KNOX, DIRECTOR OF 

EDUCATION POLICY AND PROGRAMS, MICROSOFT CORPORATION; SANDRA WESTLUND–DEENIHAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND DESIGN ENGINEER, QUALITY FLOAT 

WORKS, INCORPORATED; LAZARO LOPEZ, ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT, TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 214, 

STATE OF ILLINOIS; AND CATHERINE HILL, DIRECTOR OF 

RESEARCH, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY 

WOMEN 

STATEMENT OF JENNIFER MCNELLY 

Ms. MCNELLY. Thank you, Chairman Terry, Ranking Member 

Schakowsky, Vice Chairman, and members of the committee. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of The 

Manufacturing Institute, the national authority on the attraction, 

qualification, and development of world-class manufacturing talent, 

an affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. 

Manufacturing remains an important economic force in regions 

across the country, but confronts a serious challenge: access to talent. In our most recent skills gap report, 82 percent of manufacturers report a moderate to serious shortage in skilled production 

labor. Today companies, especially smaller businesses with fewer 

training and HR resources, cannot afford the luxury of time-intensive training programs for their workers. They need employees who 

have knowledge and skills and can contribute right away. 

The best way to address this challenge is to align education, economic, workforce, and business agendas. As representatives of the 

manufacturing industry, we found a solution that meets the needs 

of our businesses, while working within the existing secondary and 

postsecondary education structure. 

Our solution, called the Skills Certification System, is a series of 

nationally portable, industry-recognized credentials based specifically on employer-identified skills. These credentials, used by companies across the country, clearly lay out a training required for a 

career in manufacturing. 

However, success is not attained merely by designing a system; 

it must create results. In the past 2 years, we have helped to ensure that employers have access to over 173,000 individuals with 

the needed skills to enter into and advance in manufacturing careers. In our Return on Value survey, over 90 percent of the manufacturers using certifications believe they make a difference in validating the skills of their employees. 

These outcomes are what we need to support and strengthen 

manufacturing and put individuals back to work, but we can’t certify workers without a pipeline. 

In addition to skill certification, we need to address the common 

misperceptions about manufacturing. While 7 out of 10 parents 

want manufacturing in their community, only 3 out of 10 want 

their children to be that manufacturer. We need to make manufacturing cool again. 

On October 4th, over 800 of our Nation’s manufacturers opened 

their doors on National Manufacturing Day and invited parents, 

students, teachers, and counselors in. One of those manufacturers 

9 

is T.R. Raimondo of Behlen Manufacturing in Columbus, Nebraska. 

Behlen is addressing the image issue by engaging its employees 

under the age of 30 as the voice of manufacturing to the next generation of job seekers. T.R. Is leading Dream It. Do It., a community-based network that aims to promote manufacturing as a toptier career choice. With over half the country engaged in Dream It. 

Do It., the network is working to attract the next generation of 

workers. 

The Manufacturing Institute is also targeting midcareer workers, 

including veterans and women, people like Daniel Brewer, a Cincinnati native who entered the Navy after graduation and received 

aviation electrical training. After deployment in Afghanistan, Daniel returned to civilian life with no formal job training and drifted 

from job to job. In February, Daniel joined the inaugural class of 

Get Skills to Work at Cincinnati State Technical and Community 

College and participated in a 4-week skill-certification program, 

ending as a certified production technician. Daniel’s training and 

participation in Get Skills to Work led to employment with GE 

Aviation. 

For many years, postsecondary success was defined as a 4-year 

degree, when, in fact, a valid industry-based credential can be the 

gateway to a well-paying job and a solid middle-class career. As a 

Nation, we need a new strategy for our manufacturing workforce 

grounded in industry standards with a new and renewed cooperation between industry, education, economic development, and the 

publicly funded workforce investment system. We need men, 

women, and children to view manufacturing as a top-tier career 

choice and have a path towards that career. Developing that path 

is good for manufacturing and good for the Nation. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. We look forward 

to working with you to build the next generation. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. McNelly follows:] 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

Mr. TERRY. Ms. Knox, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF ALLYSON KNOX 

Ms. KNOX. Good morning, Chairman Terry, Ranking Member 

Schakowsky, and all the members of the subcommittee. Thank you 

for exploring the national skills gap and for inviting me to be a 

part of these hearings. 

My name is Allyson Knox. For 10 years I worked in the fields 

of education, workforce development, and economic development in 

Michigan at the local, and regional and State levels. Nine years ago 

I began my work for Microsoft and currently serve as director of 

education policy and programs. 

This morning I would like to focus on the skills gap facing this 

Nation, particularly in respect to computer science, ways in which 

Microsoft is addressing these challenges, and conclude with brief 

recommendations. 

Each year for the next 10 years, this country will generate 

120,000 jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree in computer science, 

while at the same time our country graduated just 52,000 students 

with a bachelor’s degree in computer science last year. This deficit 

of 70,000 degrees annually defines the challenge facing not only 

Microsoft, but all industries. 

All companies are software companies. Think of it. In manufacturing we need people who can design and use simulations to improve products. In health care we need people who can explore vast 

quantities of data produced by DNA sequencing techniques. In the 

arts we need people who can design new special effects for movies. 

Through numerous public-private partnerships, Microsoft is 

working to ensure that all students have the skills to compete in 

the global economy. There are three in particular that I would like 

to highlight for you this morning. First is our initiative to broaden 

access to computer science education at the high school level. 

Today only 8 percent of high schools in the U.S. offer AP computer 

science courses, and just 2 percent of all the AP exams taken last 

year were in this critical subject area. This is in part driven by the 

fact that only 15 States reward students who take computer 

science with a credit that will help them graduate from high school. 

We are working with Governors and legislators across the country in order to expand the number of States that recognize the importance of computer science courses. At Microsoft we are also 

partnering with schools to help increase the number of students 

who take AP computer science exams through our TEALS program. 

‘‘TEALS’’ stands for Technology Education and Literacy in Schools. 

TEALS places computer science professionals in the high school. 

TEALS volunteers to teach basic and Advanced Placement computer science courses with teachers. Today the TEALS program is 

operating in 70 schools in 12 States. This school year more than 

280 volunteers will teach 3,000 students, and this model continues 

to grow very rapidly. 

A second initiative called Partners in Learning supports all 

teachers as they help students integrate technology into their 

learning. This is a 15-year, $750 million worldwide commitment. 

Over the last 10 years and in the United States, Microsoft invested 

$50 million in specific Partners in Learning programs, such as the 

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Innovative Teachers program, the Partners in Learning Network, 

Innovative Schools, the Microsoft Innovative Educator program. We 

have reached 1 million U.S. teachers and students through this initiative. 

The third initiative is called the Microsoft IT Academy program. 

This program ensures that students and adults can access technology certifications. ITA is designed to provide students and 

adults with college and career-ready technical skills, including network administration, databases, and collaboration skills. Its 250 

courses are offered online, in person, or a hybrid version. Microsoft 

works directly with State government leaders to systematically deploy the ITA program to citizens throughout the State. 

To conclude, there are three areas we hope Congress continues 

to focus on: number one, support teachers. Through our partnerships we see firsthand the dedication and determination of teachers 

striving to help their students be successful. And while we commend the States for aligning K–12 standards to skills necessary for 

college and careers, we recognize that teachers and schools need 

additional support. 

Number two, help students complete postsecondary education. 

Our Nation must also address the fact that too few students enter 

STEM subjects in college, and of those who do, too few are successful in completing that degree. We need more of a national focus on 

helping students enter and complete these subject areas. 

Number three, strengthen our Nation’s job-training system. The 

fact that so many individuals are unemployed while employers simultaneously face such difficulty in finding the right skilled workers to fill a variety of high-paying jobs points to a skills mismatch 

that must also be addressed through better integrated technical career and job-training systems. 

I have elaborated on these recommendations in my written testimony, and I would be happy to discuss them in more detail during 

questions and answers. Thank you again for the opportunity—— 

Mr. TERRY. Appreciate that. 

Ms. KNOX [continuing]. To testify, and I look forward to your 

questions. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you, Ms. Knox. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Knox follows:] 

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Mr. TERRY. Ms. Westlund-Deenihan, you are now recognized for 

your 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF SANDRA WESTLUND–DEENIHAN 

Ms. WESTLUND-DEENIHAN. Thank you, Chairman Terry, Ranking 

Member Schakowsky, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today to testify on 

behalf of Quality Float Works Incorporated at our hearing on ‘‘Our 

Nation of Builders: Training the Builders of the Future.’’ My name 

is Sandra Westlund-Deenihan, and I am the CEO and design engineer of Quality Float Works Incorporated, the premier manufacturer of floats and assemblies used in gas, oil, plumbing, and agricultural applications across the globe. 

In 1915, my grandfather started a manufacturing company out 

of his home on the southwest side of Chicago. Today, more than 98 

years later, our company remains a third- and fourth-generation, 

family-owned-and-operated business. I run the company, and my 

son works with me, Jason Speer. 

Our company currently exports its products to such locations including Europe, Asia, Australia, and several locations throughout 

Latin America and the Middle East. In fact, in 2013, we were honored by the U.S. Small Business Association as Illinois’ Small Business Exporter of the Year. And I am happy to report that due to 

our efforts, to diversifying and expanding globally, Quality Float 

Works is thriving. Overall sales have increased roughly 200 percent 

over the past decade, with international sales skyrocketing from 3 

percent to 37 percent of our business. 

So ‘‘Quality’’ isn’t just in our name, it is also in our product. Our 

floats are engineered to the most exacting standards and built with 

the know-how of skilled craftsmen. Moreover, we custom-design 

many floats and have a built—a best-in-class reputation among 

customers and the industry. 

To maintain this level of quality, we need a workforce with the 

skills and the knowledge to understand precision instrumentation 

and production. Our customers demand and expect precision manufacturing, and precision manufacturing requires a basic knowledge 

of STEM competencies, science, technology, education, and math, 

yes, even for the entry-level worker. It always amazes me how 

many times I have had to teach a member of my team how to use 

a ruler, utilize fractions and decimals, and if I didn’t have a digital 

clock on the wall, they might not know how to tell time. 

The skills gap is real and poses a serious economic threat to 

American competitiveness. The bottom line is if we as employers 

cannot find qualified applicants for jobs, it impacts our business 

and our profitability. 

Please understand, this is not just about educating students to 

fill our positions; it is also about making sure our children have the 

opportunity and the tools to get a quality education, a good, highpaying job, and the ability to achieve their dreams and to become 

self-sufficient. Unless we and the industry leaders engage ourself 

personally in the solution, nothing is going to change. 

It would be easy for me as the CEO of a company to complain 

about the quality of the applicants, blame the education system, 

and put the onus on someone else to fix it, but I know that is not 

37 

going to change anything. We need to find solutions that get results, both short and long term. We need to partner with our 

schools to create a system that meets the immediate needs of employers today, adequately trains and prepares the workforce of the 

next 5 to 10 years, establish a solid educational foundation for our 

children, and mentor young people on the benefits of manufacturing and STEM careers. 

It is for this reason I am excited to be serving on the newly created National Association of Manufacturing Board of Directors 

Task Force on Competitiveness and the Workforce. Our mission is 

to take a serious look on the workforce problems, skills gap, and 

STEM education programs across the country. And I am proud to 

be working with the NAM on this effort, as the organization is 

truly committed to the success in this area. 

Modern manufacturing is no longer a dirty job, but as a leader 

in the industry, we need to get our hands dirty to fix the skills gap 

problem. Industry-recognized credentials and mentoring, business 

leaders need to get engaged with educators. Those are two approaches that are working for me in Illinois. Quality Float Works 

may be a small business, but we are determined to make a large 

impact by changing our education and skills pipelines to create 

more opportunities for the next generation of the United States 

workforce. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Westlund-Deenihan follows:] 

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Mr. TERRY. Dr. Lopez, you are now recognized for your 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF LAZARO LOPEZ 

Mr. LOPEZ. Thank you, Chairman Terry, Ranking Member 

Schakowsky, and members of the subcommittee. 

The High School Survey of Student Engagement conducted by Indiana University has surveyed now more than 350,000 students 

across 40 States and found what parents of teenagers already 

know, that many of them are bored. So when Wheeling High School 

was redesigned as a comprehensive high school with a STEM focus, 

we wanted our school to be engaging by being relevant to our students in a way that prepared them for life beyond high school. So 

to engage students from the moment they enter our school, our conversations had to change. We didn’t ask them, what do you need 

to graduate? Rather, we asked, what do you want to do with your 

life? And the answer to that question serves as the basis from 

which a school can embrace each student through the purposeful 

selection of electives within a career pathway, provide cocurricular 

activities that supports them, and partner with local businesses to 

facilitate external experiences that inform, all before they graduate 

high school. 

By graduating students with a Diploma Plus, the choice is theirs 

to make. Whether the student transitions directly to a 2- or 4-year 

college, trade school, the military, as I did, or begins a meaningful 

career out of high school and returns to school at a later date. The 

student is in control because they have options. 

There are three nonnegotiable principles that drove the work in 

the development of these pathways: One, a sequence of courses 

that led beyond high school on each one; external experiences that 

provide students a real-world understanding of career areas 

through internships, problem-based learning experiences; and, 

three, an opportunity to earn college credit or an industry certification. Students graduating with a Diploma Plus leave high school 

more competitive, already building her or his resume. 

In examining the value of the career pathways as an effective 

education model, we want to understand how it impacts students. 

So I want to talk to you about Francisco. Francisco grew up in one 

of the tougher parts of town. He got into his first year of trouble 

throughout his time at school, and the deans all knew him by 

name. His teachers knew he was smart, but his path to graduation 

was far from assured; that is, until Francisco discovered the 

school’s manufacturing program where something finally clicked. 

Francisco worked extremely hard, staying after school at least 3 

days a week to get one-on-one time on the machines. Francisco took 

the MSSC and NIMS certification exams, earning entry-level credentials, and he landed his first job at Holbrook Manufacturing in 

Wheeling. And since his graduation last December, after 4 1⁄2 years 

in high school, Francisco is regarded by Holbrook as a model employee. And today Francisco is thrilled about being in manufacturing. He was proud to share with us that he’s able to contribute 

financially to his family, noting that he was actually making more 

money than his mom. He’s had multiple raises in the last 6 months 

and has already bought his first car. And he plans now to continue 

44 

his education at Harper College and earn an associate’s degree specializing in CNC machining. 

Now, while some students enter high school at risk, others may 

be successful academically, but need direction in discovering and 

fostering that passion. So think of our own college experience and 

how anxious you were to get to your major coursework. If we can 

connect the dots between what students are excited about in their 

future and the classes they take today, students are more engaged 

in class, more motivated to do the work, and more likely to challenge themselves with rigorous coursework, such as honors or Advanced Placement. We know students who self-identify with a specific career in mind prior to leaving high school are 80 percent 

more likely than their counterparts to earn a certification or degree 

6 years post-high school. 

So in this other example, Mallory entered the engineering/manufacturing program with a small spark of interest in how things are 

made. Her experiences in the Project Lead the Way Computer Integrated Manufacturing class; Robot Rumble, which we host locally; 

and the opportunity to design and manufacture her ideas into reality led her into an internship at Swiss Precision Machining. Even 

as she currently attends the University of California pursuing a degree in aeronautical engineering, she returned to Swiss in the summers to work, and she informed her teacher that it was one of the 

greatest opportunities she had; that in the summer, she did a lot 

of price quoting, figured out the most efficient way to machine 

parts, and she actually got to run the machine. 

Today Mallory boasts an internship with the Air Force Research 

Laboratories in California. She says, ‘‘I feel like the biggest reason 

why I got that job was because of the machining experience I had. 

My boss was impressed with that opportunity at Swiss.’’ 

So the goal at Wheeling High School is to make the school relevant. That is why we house a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, a hospital lab with a senior care facility, a nanotech research 

lab, and currently developing a business incubator lab. Our goal is 

to maximize the value of their high school experience. 

And the work is scalable. Keep in mind, Wheeling High School 

is a nonselective Title 1 public school with a poverty rate now at 

45 percent, and over half the incoming freshmen identified at risk. 

That means more than half are coming in at about a fifth-grade 

reading and math level. Yet in the last 6 years, we have grown by 

80 percent and 24 AP courses, and ranked as one of America’s best 

high schools, and designated as the national model for manufacturing/engineering education, with an SME prime designation. 

School leaders must develop public-private partnerships that 

bring the outside world into the school and give students authentic, 

real-world experiences to practice 21st century skills in the context 

of their future. That was Francisco and Mallory’s journey and the 

pathway out of boredom for students at the 24,000-plus high 

schools across America. 

Thank you. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lopez follows:] 

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Mr. TERRY. And our last witness before questions, Dr. Hill, you 

are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF CATHERINE HILL 

Ms. HILL. Thank you. Chairman Terry, Ranking Member 

Schakowsky, and remembers of the committee, thank you for this 

opportunity to speak with you today about the Nation’s future 

workforce. My name is Catherine Hill, and I am the Director of Research at the American Association of University Women, and 

those university women include many community college members 

as well. 

Mr. Chair, I would like to request that our report ‘‘Women In 

Community Colleges: Access to Success’’ be entered into the record. 

Mr. TERRY. So ordered; no objections heard. 

[The report is available at http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/ 

20131115/101480/HHRG-113-IF17-Wstate-HillC-20131115- 

SD001.pdf.] 

Ms. HILL. On behalf of our 170 members and supporters, I am 

pleased to share our perspectives with you today about this very 

important part of our educational system, including over a third of 

the college students today who are at community colleges. And 

more than—more and more, we are seeing the students attend directly to community colleges, and that part of the student body is 

growing. Echoing a comment made earlier, we are going to need to 

make manufacturing cool to these new community college students, 

including women, who often see manufacturing as a guy thing. 

Science, technology, engineering, and math is often discussed in 

terms of the college-educated workers and the Ph.D. workforce, but 

STEM is much more than that and includes many middle-skilled 

jobs, as you no doubt know. And to keep our competitive edge, we 

need to use all of our brainpower to fill these positions, including 

both men and women. Too often women aren’t at the table, not at 

the lab, not on the manufacturing floor or the construction site, and 

we do need to change that. 

AAUW believes that the community colleges could play a critical 

role in moving women into these roles and ending the shortage of 

women and workers in these STEM fields. By engaging our educators today, we are going to better be able to reach builders of tomorrow. 

Women are nearly half of the U.S. workforce; they are only about 

a quarter of the STEM workforce. And women make up a very 

small fraction of many of our skill trades, such as electricians and 

mechanics. And many of these job, these middle-skill jobs, require 

either a little more than high school education, but less than a 

bachelor’s degree, and there are about 29 million of these jobs in 

the country today. And we have many graduates coming into those 

positions, but we need more. Obviously, the career and technical 

system that trains people for this kind of a job is going to be really 

critical for our future. 

So there are two major problems I want to mention today. One 

is that employers often discuss this mismatch in preparation and 

skills. And, second, we have very few women being prepared for 

some of these jobs. 

53 

Community colleges can provide solutions to both of these challenges. Workforce development has always been at the center of 

community colleges’ mission, and they are well situated today with 

growing populations to be able to help serve this function in the future. 

We see gender segregation at community colleges just as we do 

in the workforce, particularly in the STEM fields and some of these 

middle-skill credentials, and we know that community colleges can 

do better. Some of the research that we did found that community 

colleges are an especially good training ground for STEM and nontraditional fields. And we found that actually more women use 

community colleges at some point in their path to a STEM degree 

than men. So these are especially important to women, and I think 

that cost is a big part of that picture, because you can take a few 

classes inexpensively in a community college before making a commitment to the field. And this is important for people who are 

somewhat unsure of the field, but might, in fact, become very successful as they learn more about it. 

There are a number of ways that we can reach out to women, 

recruiting them into some of these new programs. That includes 

things like childcare services, supportive learning environments, 

participation at a number of other kinds of events. We have more 

of these information on these recommendations in our report and 

in our written comments. 

One last hurdle I wanted to mention before closing. Community 

colleges do not have the same level of data-rich information at we 

have for our 4-year programs. Our IPEDS data, our Federal data 

sets, don’t cover all of the students in community colleges. And in 

particular, they have not been good in the past in talking about 

part-time students, who are a majority of our community college 

students. 

If we want to know how community college students are faring, 

we need to know about all of the students at community colleges 

throughout their careers; so those are who part time, those who are 

full time, those who take longer than 2 years, and those who take 

even up to 4 or 6 years, and also those who transfer. We are getting better in this area, but it is something that we desperately 

need to see more work done so that we can better understand the 

program and better evaluate the programs so we know what is 

working. 

In closing, I would like to say the community colleges are critical 

for educating the workforce in our manufacturing and building 

fields, and they are especially important to women who benefit 

from these opportunities that are not traditionally considered appropriate for them. If we want to build a strong future workforce, 

we need to ensure that both men and women are at the table and 

at the construction site. 

Thank you for this opportunity, and I am happy to take your 

questions. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you, Dr. Hill. Appreciate your testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Hill follows:] 

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Mr. TERRY. It is now our time to ask you questions. Each Member has 5 minutes to ask questions and have a colloquy with whoever they choose to ask questions to. 

So I am going to start off with more of a general question, but 

set up by Ms. Knox within your testimony was some alarming statistics about the lack of computer science teachings within our 

schools. But there also seems to be, at least looking around where 

I live, a lack of teaching trade skills anymore. And it comes back 

to what Ms. McNelly said in that we have become a culture that 

says basically—and I will admit I am guilty of this with my three 

sons. Since they have been able to talk, I have asked them questions like, ‘‘What college are you going to?’’ We have this culture 

that if you are a high school, and you are not placing X amount 

of people in great colleges, then you are not a good high school. Or 

community colleges that are now advertising come to us, and we 

can provide you the affordable first 2 years, get all of your basic 

core college classes out of the way cheaper, and have pushed some 

of the trade education that was once within their jurisdiction out 

to make room for the more affordable 2 years of college. 

So how do we break through this attitude that parents have, that 

has permeated into both our K through 12 and our community college? So, Ms. McNelly, I wanted you to say something, and then 

I am going to come back to Dr. Hill and then Dr. Lopez. 

Ms. MCNELLY. Thank you, Chairman Terry. 

I think there was a common theme here in measuring what matters. And actually to your point that not just parents do we have 

an expectation, but equally within counselors, how they counsel 

students as to what an important performance outcome is. And I 

do think within the jurisdiction of Congress there should be a way 

in which to look at what performance outcomes in an education environment actually truly mean, to Dr. Hill’s point that somebody 

who’s a part-time student and actually is working full time or gets 

an industry-based credential and gets a job is actually considered 

a negative outcome within the education system. Therefore, it is 

shadowed either off on the side without credit, customized job 

training, or it is considered a negative impact. 

And I think there probably is some action that could look at connecting the data points and what defines success, because certainly 

from a manufacturing perspective, you measure what matters. And 

if getting a job matters, then we need to be able to count that, too. 

Mr. TERRY. Well, I appreciate that. 

Dr. Hill, particularly focusing on the role of community colleges 

and maybe the trend away from tech, technical skills. 

Ms. HILL. Absolutely. I will point—you are absolutely right that 

people are now looking at community colleges as the inexpensive 

first 2 years of their 4-year programs. We also want to see our associate degree programs and our certificate programs to be well utilized. And I think you do have a level of—little bit of a PR problem 

maybe where we need to start talking about those credentials with 

greater—I will say the word ‘‘respect,’’ and seeing those as really 

adding and contributing to our societies. 

Mr. TERRY. Can a community college be both a tech school and 

the first 2 years? In a way, don’t those themes conflict with each 

other, at least through public perception? 

61 

Ms. HILL. Certainly. There is a wide variety of community colleges in our systems. And as I am sure most of you have interacted 

with various community colleges throughout your careers, you can 

see that some—they really try to talk about the current work site 

and workforce needs in their communities. And this new system— 

we do ask our community colleges to be all things to all people, and 

sometimes we may need to make some hard choices. 

Mr. TERRY. Well, I respect that. 

I am going to unfortunately not have time for you, Dr. Lopez, but 

I think that this is an important area, and you will get asked a lot 

of questions on it. But I will get one editorial comment in defense 

of community colleges, and I think the movement to being the first 

2 years is an unintended consequence of how high tuition rates 

have really become. 

At this time I recognize the ranking member, Jan Schakowsky. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. First I want to say to Ms. Westlund-Deenihan, 

I should have been welcoming you as an Illinois manufacturer, 

but—and close to my district, not in it. But I think one of the 

points that you are making is that, instead of importing workers, 

we need more companies that export products made by American 

workers. I am hoping I can rely on you in my district to talk to 

some of my smaller businesses about exporting and how we can— 

that would be great. 

Dr. Lopez, I wanted to talk to you about Wheeling. I am thinking—as you talk, I am thinking about other high schools that are 

in my district and going into them, and I am not seeing laboratories, I am not seeing machines. You are a Title 1 school. This is 

not a privileged school. How did you manage to bring in the nanotechnology lab? I know that Secretary Duncan came to visit you 

last month. How can I help the other schools in my district to develop for their students who fit your demography pretty well to 

have the same kinds of things? 

Mr. LOPEZ. You know, the first thing I would say is the reason 

we have the facilities, certainly they are—they are great to have 

and they are cool, but the real reason is is because we need to 

bring the outside world in, especially in the communities who ‘‘I 

don’t have an uncle who is an engineer, I don’t have a family friend 

that can take me to the hospital.’’ So we need bring that into the 

schools. So that really was a driving factor, and also exposing kids 

to what is possible. When you live in a secluded environment, and 

all you know is your neighborhood, you don’t know what is possible. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Well, where are the resources to bring it in? 

Mr. LOPEZ. So in order to pull that—what I will tell you is that 

I am a second-career educator and spent a lot of time in business, 

and what I did is—you have to partner. You have to go out and 

tell your story to every business and every government agency that 

will listen to you. So we partnered with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and they did invest heavily in 

our facilities and I know they are willing to—— 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. That is an Illinois agency. 

Mr. LOPEZ. That is an Illinois agency, Illinois Department of 

Commerce and Economic Opportunity. As well as the Illinois 

Science and Tech Coalition, who is a private foundation supporting 

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science and technology development in Illinois, who have a vast 

array of industry partners that can come to bear and help support 

through experiences and internships. 

But I will also say that you have to believe that absolutely anything is possible, and you have to go out there as I have to emphasize the role of the school leader. They have to go out there, and 

they have to sell their school, and they have to make it happen, 

and they have to bring those businesses and sell them that their 

students can provide a win-win relationship with them so that they 

have an opportunity to partner and have future employees for their 

companies. 

So there is—— 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. So you said that it is scalable, meaning—— 

Mr. LOPEZ. Yes. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY [continuing]. That it is not just the fact that 

you are such a dynamic leader, but that we can do this in other 

places. 

So how do we teach the leadership of these schools to be able to 

do this? 

Mr. LOPEZ. You know, what I will say is that the school leaders 

today really need to be sensitive and understand the economic realities in their community and then in their broader region so that 

they know what are the strengths of that community, and that is 

what you begin to build on. 

And so we do need our school leaders to recognize that they don’t 

work in a vacuum anymore. It is not about giving the kid just a 

high school diploma; it is about preparing them for life. So they 

have to be engaged with the same network of Chambers and business communities so they know what they can do so that their kids 

have a future once they leave, and be creative, and think outside 

the box, and believe and make things happen. And I think it is certainly possible. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. OK. Ms. Knox, looking at—your written testimony has so much, it is just a wealth of information. One of the 

charts I am looking at, 15 States that count computer science toward high school graduation requirements, that is really just a few, 

and I notice my State is not among them. So are you saying that 

the State boards of education, et cetera, require that? Tell me more 

about that. 

Ms. KNOX. In the States that do count it, it is basically the State 

is rewarding the student with either a math or science credit which 

is counted toward high school graduation. In the cases where it is 

not counted in that way, if you were to take computer science as 

a student, what happens is you receive an elective credit. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I see. 

Ms. KNOX. And in many States, that would be like taking cooking class. 

There are seven of you here right now, and five of the States 

don’t count it that you represent. And we are actually actively in 

those States right now with State boards of education, State superintendents. We would love your partnership and help in raising the 

issue and asking for this simple—not requirement, this way of rewarding students for taking computer science. 

63 

I want to just add that we have had focus groups with students 

and asked them why they are not taking computer science, and 

they have said, well, that is where the dumb kids go. And when 

you ask them, why do you think it is where the dumb kids go, they 

said, well, I want to go to college, and I need to take as many math 

classes as possible. This isn’t a math class; this is an elective class. 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Yes. Let me just say, I don’t know if you mentioned in your testimony, that, Ms. Westlund-Deenihan, you are 

also chair of the Illinois State Board of Education’s Gender Equity 

Advisory Committee, and I would like to talk more—I am out of 

time, but I would like to talk to you more about that as well. We 

do need more girls to take these classes and more women involved 

in STEM and in manufacturing. Thank you. 

Mr. TERRY. Mr. Guthrie, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. GUTHRIE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And thank you guys for being here. I appreciate it very much. 

This is very near and dear to me. I worked in manufacturing before I came here. My family has an aluminum foundry, automotive 

supply business, and I can tell you what you are talking about— 

trying to find skilled workers, machinists, tool and die makers—is 

just extremely difficult to do. And they can make really good incomes. And almost all of our managers—like, middle-level and 

some higher-level managers—came to us from a tech school background and just worked their way through the system of the company. So not only is it good entrance level for wages, but it also 

is a great forward-level rise for wages. 

So it is something that has been near to me, and I have got a 

bill out called the REBUILD Act, which is about American manufacturing, reducing employer burdens, unleashing innovation, and 

labor development is the LD part of it. And it has got a lot of different principles or parts to it, but one is the America Works Act, 

and that we are trying to push forward. 

And, you know, a couple—one thing I was going to ask you, but 

we are about out of time, so I just want to get straight to the other, 

is what can the government do, how we are getting in the way. 

But one thing of it is—and, Dr. Lopez, I do want to say that I 

was in the State legislature on the education committee, and tried 

to find schools that you wouldn’t predict being successful that were, 

because I don’t think you point at failure, you try to find success 

and replicate and scale it, and it was always a school leader. Not 

saying they didn’t have great staff, they didn’t have great teachers, 

they didn’t have a great system backing them, but you could have 

all of that and a poor school leader, and the school was failing. So 

that is what we have to replicate actually, strong leadership at the 

school level. 

But the one thing that I have always kind of wondered, I cannot 

walk into a manufacturing plant—I love to go in them, so I go in 

every one in my district—without the manager saying or the 

human resources person, ‘‘We cannot find skilled labor. We can’t 

find it. We can’t find it. We can’t find it.’’ And this is not $10-anhour jobs. These are the up-in-the-$20-an-hour jobs. 

So, for some reason, in this level of employee, the market is failing, because the market—the jobs or the supply or the demand is 

there, they are paying pretty good prices for it, particularly what 

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some of these people get anywhere else, but for some reason the 

market is failing to develop that skill of worker. 

Does anybody have an idea why the market is failing to do that, 

what is competing with that market, and where these kids are 

going? Yes. Any of you. I just open up to the—— 

Ms. WESTLUND-DEENIHAN. Well, I would blame that on business, 

because business has not been talking to the community colleges 

in the past and not really telling them what our needs are as far 

as where the real jobs are, what curriculum is important and relevant to the workforce. 

And I think that addressed something that Chairman Terry said 

before. You know, if—why are these being turned away, these jobs? 

I think a lot of it is responsibility of business. We have not been 

working with community colleges. It is important for us to talk 

about it. In the past maybe we have tried to throw money at it, 

a scholarship, or we have given some piece of equipment that is— 

doesn’t have all its parts and is not relevant to real workplace jobs. 

And it is more important for business to provide—to mentor, to 

talk to community colleges and tell them, you know, regionally 

what are the skill sets that are needed for the jobs that you have 

available, provide internships. 

And, for example, we even have a—for high schoolers we provide 

a program that is a work-study program to have kids that are good 

with hands-on to come in to work—go to high school in the morning and in the afternoon come and work—and get paid to be able 

to have skill sets so that they will be able to graduate with a vocational training and, you know, go on. 

Mr. GUTHRIE. Yes. I think Dr. Lopez looks like he wants to answer. But the bill that I am working with and am part of, that it 

is a business majority, the Workforce Investment Board has to be 

a business majority, business quorum so that when Federal money 

flows, it is flowing to people—to say these are the people we want. 

These are who we are going to put to work and to hire. 

Dr. Lopez, I think you were anxious to jump in. 

Mr. LOPEZ. And I will just take a couple of seconds. Can I just 

say this is a space where Perkins and CTE funding really has had 

a significant impact at schools being able to buy that equipment 

and be innovative, and that that is certainly an area that is needed 

for support? And schools across the country were closing these facilities down. They were closing their manufacturing facilities. And 

I think there has been a lot of work by SME and by NAM to encourage high schools to go back and open those spaces and buy 

modern equipment so that it is relevant, and engaging and available to their local community. 

Mr. GUTHRIE. It is strange, because showing up in a manufacturing plant with maybe just your high school diploma and saying, 

‘‘I am here to go to work,’’ it is hard for a company to afford to be 

able to—your productivity level to afford to pay. Those are the jobs 

that we have lost. But if you show up with a skill—— 

Mr. LOPEZ. Yes. 

Mr. GUTHRIE [continuing]. And you can program a machine, you 

can make a middle-class income in manufacturing today on the factory floor if you have those skills. So that is great that we are here. 

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. 

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Mr. TERRY. I would give you a little leeway, but we have 5 minutes and 12 seconds to go vote, of which Mr. McNerney is going to 

use 5 minutes of that. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. Or less. 

Mr. TERRY. You are recognized for 5 minutes, and then we are 

going to adjourn. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I really appreciated Ms. McNelly’s comments about making manufacturing a cool pathway for a career, and I think what Dr. Lopez 

is talking about helps that. I mean, if you see that as cool, or if 

you see it as relevant to your life, you are going to put a little more 

into it. You are going to make it cool. So we need to hear more 

about how to do that. 

Having your institutes where you can learn about different 

things that are relevant is very important. It is something that we 

need to focus on, I think, empowering our schools to do that. 

Schools in my district that do that are having a good deal of success. 

But something that Ms. Knox said is that we need to support 

teachers. I think we need to make teaching cool, because if we don’t 

get the best teachers out there, if we don’t have good teachers out 

there, and I don’t say we don’t—but we need the best teachers out 

there. We need to make teaching cool. So that is something we 

need to focus on a little bit, too, in my opinion. 

Any way we can attain that goal, Ms. Knox? How do we get that 

support out to teachers? How do we make them feel like that is 

where they want to be? 

Ms. KNOX. We have done a little research here, and one of the 

key areas is that the incoming student to the teacher preparation 

program needs to feel that they can actually make a difference. 

And so there is a campaign that is being launched. It is a publicprivate partnership among many different players called Teach.Org 

to attract people into the teaching profession, but also I think we 

can make sure that we are supporting Title 2 of the Higher Education Act, because there is a piece in there to make sure that 

teacher preparation is strengthened. 

So you want to go into a field, want to be attracted to a field 

where you are not isolated, where there is a career ladder, where 

you feel like you can make a difference. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. And prestige in the community as well. 

Ms. KNOX. Yes. I mean, there are some great books on this right 

now, ‘‘The World’s Smartest Kids and How They Got That Way.’’ 

And there is a comparison of three different countries with the 

United States, and the way that teachers are revered in other 

countries and the way they are attracted into the profession is 

radically different than in America. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. I would venture to guess that just about everybody on this committee had a teacher that made a difference in 

their lives. 

Ms. KNOX. Sure. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. Ms. Hill—— 

Ms. HILL. Yes. 

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Mr. MCNERNEY [continuing]. One of the things that I understand 

is that there are more women graduating from university now than 

there are men. 

Ms. HILL. Absolutely, yes, at the 4-year level and at the 2-year 

colleges. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. But there is still a huge income gap. 

Ms. HILL. Oh, yes. What we see happening is that women and 

men are going into different fields, and women are not going into 

some of these middle-skills fields that they feel are somehow not 

important or just simply not for them. And one of the things that 

we do is look at some of the stereotypes and bias that all of us 

carry around with us, and yet we can ask ourselves to look again 

at those biases and help women look at fields that are not traditional for them. And there are a number of different techniques 

and programs that are helping to do that today among educators, 

as well, and among young women, because, of course, we have 

these internalized. 

But one of the challenges that I wanted to mention in any of 

these programs is that I have seen community colleges say that 

they don’t have enough people who want to take these classes in 

middle-skill jobs, the, you know, electrical jobs and the welding 

jobs, that they don’t have—and so they don’t offer them, which 

means that then, of course, people don’t look to them to provide 

those jobs. So someone is going to have to get it started. And I 

think for women, getting them excited and interested in these programs can be as simple as having them in a brochure. 

And this idea of active recruiting is something I want to stress. 

I think a lot of programs at colleges, professors don’t think they 

need to recruit students. I mean, that isn’t something that they 

have done in the past. But when we have areas where we really 

want more students going into these areas, we do need to recruit 

them actively. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. And that does conclude our hearing. And 

the committee has the right under our rules to submit questions 

to you. I don’t know if any will be, but if there are, we would appreciate a 2-week turnaround in answering those. 

I do have a feeling that our staffs will be reaching out to you. 

Jan and I are very passionate about finding a solution, but we are 

going to need your continued advice, and counsel and direction. 

I want to thank you all for coming here and providing your testimony and your answers, and you have been of great assistance to 

us. We are adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:45 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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