Last month, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce released “2007 State of the Business,” a report whose critical finding was that approximately 80 percent of the District’s personal income and commercial tax revenue is derived from just 3,000 well-heeled individuals and 7,000 businesses. In a city that boasts more than 580,000 residents and 26,000 businesses, these numbers are troubling.

But if District government officials were surprised by the numbers, they should not have been. They were obtained directly from the city’s chief financial officer.

The fragile state of the District’s tax base and our future economic stability are the strongest arguments for recreating the city’s long- departed middle class. In our view, the restoration of a middle class is a matter that is well within the capacity of the District government, in partnership with the D.C. Public Schools and members of the business community.

For many years, the school system moved away from vocational education (now called career and technical training). Recently, with the establishment of the Academy of Construction and Design at Cardozo Senior High School, a public-private partnership was created that will provide an outstanding training ground for District students and place them within the middle class of our city upon graduation.

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But we must clear up two misconceptions. First, career and technical training is not related in any way to special education. Students in career and technical training classes take the same math, English, science and social studies classes as any other high school student.

Second, careers in construction are not limited to digging ditches and banging nails. This year’s Cardozo graduates received jobs as electrical, carpentry and plumbing trainees — with an average salary of $12 to $14 an hour.

In addition, successful candidates are expected to enroll in the District’s first apprenticeship at the Cardozo Academy. The program represents another partnership between the Department of Employment Services’ Apprenticeship Council and the same foundation that established the academy, the D.C. Students Construction Trades Foundation Inc. Graduates who complete the apprenticeship program can make between $50,000 and $80,000 a year or better.

If you think the construction boom is over, think again. In the next decade, the District will likely develop the Anacostia Waterfront, Walter Reed Army Base, the Old Convention Center site, New Town and others. The city is also about to embark on a $2 billion school renovation program, and plans were recently announced to develop McMillan Reservoir. The magnitude of this work and the opportunities it presents should not be lost on the District and its citizens.

We call upon the government to do everything in its power to support training for our citizens for the jobs that will soon become available, and to foster free and open competition so that we can get the best prices for the work that will be bid out.

Billions of dollars, thousands of jobs and much-needed tax revenue are all at stake. It is imperative that our elected leaders lay the proper foundation so that the District and its citizens are the primary beneficiaries of the construction work that will be done within the city’s borders.

Ted Trabue Jr. is executive director of the D.C. Economic Empowerment Coalition and an appointed member of the D.C. State Board of Education.