While preparing for reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act, the United States Department of Education is looking at the inadequacies of the present law: overemphasis on process and accountability resulting in its being administratively burdensome, inadequate provision for basic skill development, and no provision for improving and developing new training programs, particularly in areas of critical skills shortages--areas necessary to economic revitalization. The Vocational Education Act needs to be refocused in the direction of cooperation between schools and employers and provision of federal incentives without federal coercion. One of the greatest needs in promoting productivity is to improve the delivery of vocational education skills and vocational education students to the employer. Management problems in the delivery system include unclear definitions of the vocational education mission at national and state levels and a need for delineation of roles and responsibilities for all partners in vocational education. The Department of Education considers the reauthorization an opportunity to target the program to high school youth; out-of-school, unemployed youth in depressed urban and rural areas; postsecondary and adult vocational students; and prisoners in penal institutions and also an opportunity to address national problems that hinder economic revitalization. (Questions and answers are appended.) (YLB)