Your experience may be different, but a strong majority of hiring managers report high school graduates aren't prepared to enter the workforce, and they believe today's graduates are less prepared than previous generations, according to a recent report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and College Board.

Meanwhile, many recent college graduates also report feeling unprepared for the workplace. They say college effective taught "hard skills," but didn't do so well in teaching "soft skills" such as oral communication and listening, critical thinking and problem solve, collaboration and teamwork, according to a study by Workplace Intelligence, that also found 77% of recent grduates say they learned more in six months on the job than in their entire four year education.

The Trump Administration took steps Tuesday to fix this by transferring several programs from the Department of Education to the Labor Department.

The general press will describe this as steps toward "closing" the Department of Education. That's the political spin by both parties. But we suspect you're more interested in whether this program will result in better-prepared workers applying at your business.

The Education Department says it will continue its statutory responsibility while Labor will "manage competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate ED’s programs with the suite of employment and training programs DOL already administers. ED will maintain all statutory responsibilities and will continue its oversight of these programs."

Will it work? We don't know, and frankly neither do any of the politicians you'll hear pontificate about this move. I spend some time teaching communications in a community college, and what I do know is two things.

First, the problem in high school begins with the number of disruptions to the classroom day. Students are pulled out of class for pep rallies, for testing of one type or another, etc. Some courses – math, for example – are building block courses, and to miss a single day can result in missing an important component and never quite catching up.

Second, one can successfully pass a high-school class just by reciting back to the teacher what one read in a textbook or read in a textbook. That doesn't mean one can apply it.

True confession: I was an absolute failure in math all through grade school and high school. I was able to avoid a math course in college. But I did learn math as a student at the U.S. Army Intelligence School because my job as a photo interpreter among other things required me to b able to estimate the size of a coal pile outside an electric plant – and then estimate how many days coal supply the plant had on hand. Effective education involves being able to apply the material learned in a practical sense, but most education materials aren't geared toward doing that.

Second, students are on their phones/tablets/laptops all the time. There needs to be a flat-out ban on students having electronic devices out during class.

Here is a list of the programs and grants which will be administered by Labor under an agreement with the Education Department:

• Title I, Part A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies
• Title I, Part B: Improving Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged—State Assessment Grants
• Title I, Part C: Education of Migratory Children
• Title I, Part D: Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who are Neglected, Delinquent or At-Risk
• Title II, Part A: Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants
• Title III, Part A: English Language Acquisition State Grants
• Title IV, Part A, Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE)
• Title IV, Part B 21st Century Community Learning Centers
• Title V Small, Rural School Achievement and Rural and Low-Income School Programs
• Impact Aid
• Education for Homeless Children and Youths

The following competitive grant programs are included:

• Comprehensive Literacy State Development
• Innovative Approaches to Literacy
• Supporting Effective Educator Development
• Charter Schools Program • Assistance for Arts Education
• Washington D.C. Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act
• Ready to Learn Programming
• Teacher and School Leader Incentive
• Teacher Quality Partnership Grant
• American History and Civics
• Statewide Family Engagement Centers
• Promise Neighborhoods
• Magnet Schools Assistance Program
• Full-Service Community Schools

What do you think? Tell us in the comments.