National concern about U.S. competitiveness in the world market has focused attention on the need to improve the work force. The two major 1992 presidential candidates have included training programs as important planks in their campaigns. President Bush has issued two proposals. Initially, he has charged in the Job Training 2000 proposal that the federally supported training programs are ineffective. At issue is administrative overhauling, not funding. In "The New Century Work Force," President Bush calls for additional funds for training programs. Governor Clinton's proposals advocate full funding of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Head Start programs as well as achieving a world-class education and helping disadvantaged parents build an ethic of learning at home. The recommendations for a comprehensive training system proposed in this document are the following: full funding of prenatal care, WIC, and Head Start; parenting training for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), WIC, and Head Start parents; reviving career education emphasis in public education; expanding cooperative education and tech prep programs; assessing the feasibility of national education standards and skill certification systems; expanding existing Job Training Partnership Act and displaced worker efforts; funding a work-based welfare system buttressed by public sector jobs for AFDC recipients and other hard to employ persons; and mandating employer provision of employee and youth training. (YLB)