🔎 What was missing from last night’s #VPDebate with Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz? A plan to help workers thrive in a shifting job market, prepare learners for career success, and ensure there are #NoDeadEnds on the road to a better life.
Last night’s vice presidential debate was a refreshing return to policy in an election season that’s been largely devoid of details on how either party plans to address the issues voters care about. Vance, the Republican VP candidate from #Ohio, and Walz, the Democratic VP candidate from #Minnesota, appealed directly to low- and middle-income families on how their party platforms would make the American dream more attainable. What was sorely missing was any discussion of the vital role that education and skills training play in expanding economic opportunities.
Walz emphasized the Biden-Harris Administration's economic policies, including clean energy investments that are creating good jobs and improving housing availability. But what he didn’t outline was a plan to ensure that workers have the skills they need to access those jobs. The new investments in the infrastructure, clean energy, and semiconductor sectors may help create 14 million jobs, but will there be enough trained workers to fill them?
Vance focused on reviving American manufacturing and energy independence, touting tax cuts and deregulation as drivers of economic growth. But he, too, missed the mark by failing to address how these jobs will be filled without investing in upskilling and #workforcedevelopment.
Walz could have elaborated on Harris’ skills-first priorities in her #OpportunityEconomy plan, while Vance could have explained how a second Trump term would prioritize skills, given the former president’s first-term efforts on #skillsfirsthiring and #apprenticeships.
In our June 2024 voter survey, less than half of voters told us they are satisfied with the attention that candidates are giving to education and employment issues this election year. And in our newest voter survey from September, 85% of registered voters say improving economic opportunities for workers and their families is a high priority, while one-third of independents said they don't trust either party to act on these issues.
At JFF, we know that job creation is just one piece of the puzzle. What voters demand—and what the next president must deliver—is a plan to transform our nation’s #education and #workforce systems. The future of work depends on all workers getting the skills, guidance, and support they need to succeed. That’s why JFF’s national policy campaign, No Dead Ends, lays out a road map for fixing the broken systems that leave millions of Americans without a path forward and urges candidates to center education and workforce policies in their #Election2024 campaigns.
🔗 Learn more about No Dead Ends, our policy recommendations, and how you can help by joining the movement, regardless of who’s in the White House: https://hubs.la/Q02RW_cv0
Transformative Leader | Associate Vice Chancellor | Innovator | Access & Equity Champion
3moLooking forward to it. It looks like a great line-up.