These three essays are intended to provide an overview of southern efforts to help increased numbers of young persons make a successful transition from school to work with a future. The first paper, "Smoothing the Path from School to Work: A Promising Venture in Structural Change in a Southern State," by Peter B. Edelman and Myrtis H. Powell, examines the relationship between school reform and the school-to-work transition, placing special emphasis on new South Carolina statewide initiatives in both areas as well as their interrelation. Harvey Pressman's essay, "Equity Advances in Vocational Education in North Carolina," analyzes the role of vocational education as an element in the search for ways of dealing with high unemployment among youth from families living at or below the poverty level. In his paper entitled "Gubernatorial Leadership in Employment and Training: Opportunities in the Job Training Partnership Act," David Mundel discusses the role of governors in making federal employment legislation work effectively against a background of some 20 years of changing federal legislation. (The article by Pressman includes a six-page bibliography.) (MN)