The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a)
A consensus exists among employment training professionals, economists, and industry experts concerning the serious mismatch that has developed between labor force skills and the needs of employers.
(b)
Workplace skills training is most effective within a real workplace environment.
(c)
Private sector industry internships and apprenticeship models successfully focus employment training on a specific job or set of skills, thereby meeting the precise needs of the labor market.
(d)
Many high-growth industries, such as new media and biotechnology, are particularly suited to worksite-based learning because skills required by those industries involve the use of costly equipment and require continual upgrading.