Job Training and Education

  • Federal policies that invest in the skills of our nation’s workers – especially those who are low-income or unemployed – make good civic, economic, and social sense. Education and training are central components of the American work ethic, facilitating wage progression and job growth. Educated and adequately trained workers can better support their families while also helping businesses better compete in the economy.

    In 2004, several federal workforce related programs were due to be reauthorized, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. None of these programs have been reauthorized as of September 2003.

    Over the past several years, cuts in job training funding have strained the nation-wide system. These cuts coupled with a slowly recovering economy that is producing too few jobs have hurt the economic stability of millions of Americans. Cuts in job training programs do not invest in the future of America, but rather hasten the deterioration of skilled Americans who can adequately fill jobs in the 21st Century.

    For more information on this issue, visit CHN’s Public Policy Priorities, 2013-2014.

    Advocacy Organizations

    AFL-CIO
    Center for Law and Social Policy
    Economic Policy Institute
    National Employment Law Project
    The Workforce Alliance