At the meeting, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis echoed Duncan's remarks, saying that other countries paid more attention to funding educational systems.
Solis used the forum to announce that her department is making $122 million available for grants to community colleges. The grants would focus on so-called career pathway programs that would help people pursue careers in in-demand occupations, such as health care.
Those looking for work deserve access to the kind of training that will help them secure full-time employment in this century's economy, Solis said. "We have to educate our way to a better economy," she said.
The funds are in addition to about $2 billion in grants being made available to support the development and improvement of community-college programs during the next four years. The Obama administration announced the availability of that money late last year.
Duncan said that President Obama had drawn a line in the sand, saying that by 2020, the United States must lead the world in college graduates.
The way to a better-educated, higher-functioning workforce is through community colleges, Duncan said, calling them unpolished, unrecognized gems. "I hope that community colleges feel it's their moment in the sun," he said.
Solis and Duncan offered the deflating news that 90 million Americans are at or below basic math and reading skills.
Elementary and high schools must improve, Duncan said, so that colleges of all kinds can effectively educate and get out of the remediation business.
Too often, educators have said, colleges are left to do the basic reading and math work that should have been taught and absorbed in kindergarten through 12th grade.
