Rebecca M. Blank

States can help their residents work their way out of poverty through the establishment of effective job training programs, argues Rebecca M. Blank in the following viewpoint. Blank maintains that job training programs can succeed if the programs counsel their clients about the realities of the job market, such as low wages and angry bosses. In addition, she contends, successful programs will offer access to further training and provide public sector jobs. Blank is a social scientist and the author of It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty, from which this viewpoint is taken.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What other kinds of assistance should be combined with employment programs, according to Blank?
2. According to the author, what was the employment rate for high school dropouts in...