{Association of Bay Area Governments} {trends and challenges}


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Job Training :

22. Encourage businesses to offer their employees financial and other incentives to continually upgrade their work skills.

23. Negotiate linkage agreements with private employers and unions in key growth industries that pay a livable wage (e.g. construction) to hire and train unemployed and/or low-income workers from impoverished inner-city neighborhoods.

24. Advocate for a federal educational loan program that would facilitate efforts by low- skill/low-wage workers to train for higher skill/higher paid positions, particularly in fields with staffing shortages.



Employment :

25. Encourage businesses to institute “reverse commute” subscription services. These vans or minibuses would provide inner city employees, including low-wage workers unable to afford a vehicle, transportation from designated pick-up points to jobs in outlying employment centers.

26. Encourage citizens, business groups and local governments to pressure financial institutions to invest in housing and employment developments in the low-income communities they serve, to provide in-store branches in smaller markets serving those communities, and to maintain branch offices in all communities.

27. Advocate for state funding to implement strategies developed by consortiums including local governments, businesses, economic development consultants, social service providers, and community organizations that would increase the quality and quantity of better paying jobs, and opportunities for advancement.

28. Press for a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to boost the incomes of the state’s working poor. The state EITC would be based on a family’s size and income and would complement the federal EITC.

29. Explore the possibility of raising the minimum wage in the state to a “bare bones” level that would allow households to pay for their basic needs. Link the rate to the cost-of-living index.

30. Increase the number of daycare centers at primary and secondary schools to better serve working parents; provide incentives to employers to provide on-site daycare.

31. Encourage open discussion on the seek resolution of the racial/ethnic problems in all aspects of community life, including housing and employment. This should be a broad-based effort involving schools, lenders, business and civic organizations, religious and community organizations and real-estate community.


The Next Generation :

32. Promote techniques that encourage more parental involevements in schools.

33. Boost grade-school academic achievement and per-pupil spending so that California ranks among the top 10 states on both measures.

34. Reward businesses that partner schools , particularly those schools where students are performing below regional averages.

35. Strengthen existing partnerships between business schools, school districts and community colleges, and expand the quality, quantity and variety of vocational training courses to ensure that students graduate with the skills they need for better paying, future-oriented jobs.

If you think education is expensive,
try ignorance.

Derek Bok, President Emeritus,
Harvard University


{Diversifying the Region's Housing Options} {table of contents} {Using What We Have More Wisely}