This paper is intended to guide small groups of vocational educators in discussions regarding work force education issues for the next century. The following work force issues are suggested: the aging work force; vocational education's role in reforming K-12 education; distance education for technical education programs; the labor shortages resulting from lack of interest in job training; work force preparation for the Knowledge/Imagination Age, which will follow the Information Age; and the lack of career selection in the middle schools. Presented next are selected comments from a labor economist regarding needed types of work force education. The next section is devoted to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which calls for the following: locally based work force development programs; key role for local elected officials; private sector-led work force investment boards; "one stop" systems with required partners; adult education and literacy, welfare-to-work, postsecondary, veterans, and older worker programs; and community service block grants. Concluding the paper is a brief description of the school-based work force education program offered at Horry County Academy for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (MN)