Federal Policy

WIA Authorization – All the Drafts, All in One Place

/ The Old Crank / 1 Comment

The National Skills Coalition (NSC) has recently updated their extremely thorough and helpful Workforce investment Act (WIA) page with the 2013 Senate HELP Committee’s recently-released draft bill.

Of particular interest for adult education and adult literacy people:

NSC notes that while there are some differences between the 2011 and 2013 drafts, “the new staff draft has generally remained relatively similar to the 2011 draft.” That is consistent with what I’ve heard from others who have read through it (I have not read any of it other than Title III). NSC also reports that “it is our understanding that certain key issues—including potential consolidation language—are still being negotiated (and may or may not be included in a final draft of the committee bill).” That’s consistent with some off-the-record comments I’ve heard from people involved in WIA reauthorization going back to last year.

National Skills Coalition Calls for Strong Investments In Skills to Accompany Comprehensive Immigration Reform

/ The Old Crank

Recently I had the opportunity to work with the National Skills Coalition (NSC) on developing a proposal to significantly expand federal investment in adult education and training as part of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Most of us who work in adult education or workforce development think it’s likely that CIR will cause a significant increase in demand for adult education—not just by currently undocumented immigrants seeking to learn English, but also for many U.S. citizens and legal residents in the current workforce who will be under increasing pressure to upgrade their skills in response to the labor market changes that CIR will produce. Our report, Comprehensive Immigration Reform: A Proposal for a Skills Strategy that Supports Economic Growth and Opportunity, was released earlier this week.

NSC is, naturally, very employment-focused in their view of adult education. What I think is unique about this proposal, and something I’m particularly proud of, is how we attempted to outline an overarching strategy that recognizes the need for an integrated approach to meeting this likely growth in demand. So, for example, the report calls for expanding English language learning for all immigrants while investing more in integrated basic skills and vocational training for the existing workforce—and to do it in a systematic way that leverages the adult education system we have now.

The report also proposes to accomplish this within the framework of the current Senate immigration reform legislation, but without increasing the overall cost of the bill.

It was a pleasure to work with NSC on this proposal. If you have any comments or questions about it, I’d love to hear from you.

Sequester Cuts Begin to Affect Availability of Adult Education

/ The Old Crank

From The Salem News (Missouri):

Those who want to study for the General Educational Development certificate will no longer be able to do it in Salem.

Salem’s Adult Education and Literacy program will be forced to close its doors Friday because state funding has been denied.

AEL Community Liaison Jackie Hobaugh said the program will end after about 30 years here. The nearest alternative class site is in Houston in neighboring Texas County.

The grant from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was denied because of the federal sequester, according to Hobaugh. Seven sites, including those in Dent, Phelps, Maries and Crawford counties, were targeted for closure.

Local phone service has already been disconnected.

“The DESE grant is our only source of funding,” she said. “These classes are needed now more than ever. At a critical time in our local communities, a way for individuals to pull out of poverty and move to self-sustainability is being eliminated. This should not be allowed to happen.”  (my emphasis)

Houston, Missouri is about 40 miles from Salem. For those of you in D.C., like me, this would be like being told that your GED class was closing, and then being referred to a program in Baltimore.

Something to remember as programs close is that they don’t just reappear overnight when/if funding is restored. Facilities are re-purposed, teachers move on, etc. The sequester isn’t just about cutting services in the present, but also, in some cases, will result in the permanent loss of infrastructure needed for the future.

Witnesses Announced for This Thursday’s HELP Committee Hearing on WIA Reauthorization

/ The Old Crank

(Updated Below)

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will be holding a hearing on on WIA Reauthorization this Thursday, June 20 2013, at 2:30 PM.

It’s been widely reported that Senator Murray (D-WA) and Senator Isakson (R-GA) have been working on a bi-partisan WIA reauthorization bill, and that they are getting close to the finish line on a draft.

Here is the witness list:

UPDATE 6/18/13: The final witness was announced late yesterday; I’ve amended the post above accordingly. Also, the WIA bill itself may be released as early as June 25th. The hope is that they might get it passed out of committee shortly after the July 4th recess.