and know what they are voting on and carry the other burdens of the citizenship, serve on juries and do all the other things that citizens must do; to prepare them for work, have a choice for work, to be competent in that work, to be able to grow in that work as work changes and to be competent as individuals * * *.” On cross, Dr. Mills also stated “[the regents set the learning standards] at a rigorous level. yes.” (1249). This was in response to a question that asked whether the Regents set the standards “at a very rigorous level.” 23 The Learning Standards are relatively numerous and lengthy, but to get a general sense of what they require, the first standard for English Language Arts states as follows: “Language for Information and Understanding * * *. Students will listen, speak, read and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts and ideas; discover relationships, concepts and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply and transmit information.” According to Commissioner Mills: “[T]he math Regents competency test is only arithmetic; and while some people may think that's enough, you can't get into an apprenticeship program without algebra; you certainly can't do college level work; you can't understand technology; you can't even deal with the daily newspaper without something more than arithmetic. So it is not minimal_-it is not minimally acceptable.” 25 The Task Force also found that “[r]ecent decades have seen a restructuring of the City's economy from one based on manufacturing to one driven by services. Finance, insurance, and real estate dominate the market place and account for disproportionate shares of income. Along with medical services, business services, and communications and entertainment, these are the prime sources of good jobs. Advanced technology counts for an increasing share of the City's employment * * * Each of these sectors of job growth is relentlessly competitive, requiring a high-level of academic skills for success. * * * with certain exceptions such as tourism, traditional jobs requiring less education are declining. Jobs in manufacturing have been dropping at about the same rate as jobs in services have been