By Suzanne Potter/PNS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The U.S. does a poor job of steering students toward good jobs, according to a new study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

The study found schools focus too much on getting kids to the next level, and not enough helping them choose a career path.

Anthony Carnevale, research professor and director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and the report's lead author, said the country needs an "all-one-system" approach that works to help students find the best path.

"There really is no career counseling apparatus of any strength," Carnevale contended. "Where somebody will ask you who you are, what kind of work you value and want to do and then, help you put together some sort of education or training plan."

Education advocates say the Build Back Better reconciliation proposal would fund programs that have already proven effective to putting kids on a better path to success, including universal pre-kindergarten, more funding for K-12 schools and community colleges.

California already has free community college for recent high school graduates, and Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget would expand transitional kindergarten to all four-year-olds.

Carnevale acknowledged the state is a leader in the school-to-career pipeline.

"In California we have early college, we have dual enrollment. Huge investments in linked learning that tries to figure out what you're going to do in the labor market."

The study also found the current system is deeply inequitable. It said high-achieving students from low-income families have only about a 30% chance of getting a good-paying job by the time they hit their thirties.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.