Responsibility for the declining quality of the work force is evenly distributed among managers, schools, students, and the government. What is required is a new publicly sponsored partnership linking the nation's enterprises, schools, and workers. Primary responsibility for improving the quality of the work force lies with the enterprise. The firm needs to develop a flexible portfolio of worker skills, capable of quick adjustments in production aims and methods. Enterprises should be responsible for determining skill requirements and communicating those needs to educational suppliers. The nation faces a dual challenge: to prepare future workers by improving the nation's schools and to reequip the current labor force through work-related education and training. Schools need to focus more on product, less on process and to teach core competencies: mathematics, communication skills, and citizenship. The success of retraining efforts depends on the emergence of local markets that link corporate customers with educational suppliers. Too many workers lack the information and confidence to build effective skill portfolios. Individuals must be comparison shoppers for educational purchases, invest in broad-based skills for long-term payoff, and build a productive partnership with the employing firm. Public agencies must improve public schools, facilitate local market linkages, and evaluate federal funding of proprietary education. (YLB)