This article discusses the implications of the findings of "The Workforce Readiness Report Card." The survey, which was released in September, reveals how the U.S. new workforce entrants are "woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today's--and tomorrow's--workplace." The study also reveals that employers place much greater value on the applied skills of leadership, critical thinking, and problem solving than on more traditional basic skills such as reading comprehension or mathematics. The "Workforce Readiness Report Card" sounds a serious alarm for the current state of education in the United States. The implications touch numerous areas in today's education policy, procedures, and theory and presage serious "ripple effects" for the country's domestic and international standing. The study looks at two basic solutions to ensure that the nation's students are prepared to successfully meet the demands of the 21st century workplace: (1) Schools must find ways to teach applied skills integrated with core academic subjects; and (2) The business community must be more active in defining the skills they need from their new employees and then partner with schools to create opportunities for students to obtain them. (Contains 2 tables.)