For many years, U.S. manufacturers have identified innovation as the most critical factor in their ability to compete in the global marketplace, and an educated and skilled workforce as the most important component in their business success. Yet educational deficits, including the education system's slow response to the innovations shaping the business world, continue to threaten manufacturers' viability and growth. At a time when the U.S. manufacturing industry demands highly skilled workers, this failure of education risks both the future success of the U.S. industrial sector and the overall competitiveness of the U.S. economy. Manufacturers are now taking action.