(Updated Below)

The 2012 Republican platform was released today. For what it’s worth, it implicitly endorses the approach that Republicans in the House took with their Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization bill, H.R. 4297. This bill, which was passed by the House Education and the Workforce Committee in June, would consolidate all of the different WIA funding streams and convert them into a block grant program for states. H.R. 4297 isn’t mentioned specifically in the Republican platform, but consolidation of federal workforce programs is explicitly endorsed (see page page 7):

It is critical that the United States has a highly trained and skilled workforce. Nine federal agencies currently run 47 retraining programs at a total cost of $18 billion annually with dismal results. Both the trainees in those programs and the taxpayers who fund them deserve better. We propose consolidation of those programs into State block grants so that training can be coordinated with local schools and employers.

UPDATE 8/29/12: It’s also worth pointing out that, unsurprisingly, the GOP platform says nothing about adult education or adult literacy—with one exception: it offers explicit support for family literacy programs (See page 36):

Because parents are a child’s first teachers, we support family literacy programs, which improve the reading, language, and life skills of both parents and children from low-income families.