If Congress passes legislation consolidating federal funding for vocational education, job training, and adult education, states will be free to combine federal funding with state programs to create more coherent and effective systems. If such legislation is stalled, states have the power to reform the patchwork that now exists, but doing so requires a vision of such a system. The continued proliferation of separate training and education programs has created concern about waste and duplication. A second, more serious consequence involves small effects from small programs. Another problem is the basic assumption underlying most job training programs--that job finding is the basic problem. Most job training programs are also completely ignorant about good teaching. The separation of training from adult education has been counter-productive. One way to develop a more effective education and job training system would be to recombine now-separate programs--to link job training with educational programs systematically. A coherent system does the following: arrays programs in a progression or ladder of increasing sophistication and skill; links existing job training efforts to the education system, with community colleges as the linchpin between the two; and proposes that adult education provide the academic or remedial instruction complementary to occupational training. This vision can build on principles that have already been articulated in the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. (YLB)