Ending Job Corps a short-sighted move by White House [View all]
By The Herald Editorial Board
For a president who has saddled American families and the U.S. economy with tariffs and threats of higher tariffs in pursuit of bringing back American manufacturing, the Trump administration seems less concerned about who will work in U.S. industries and trades, even as the nation already faces a shortfall of qualified workers.
Late last month, President Trump’s Department of Labor announced its plans to wind down the operations of Job Corps, the more than 60-year-old program that provides residential education and job training for low-income people between 16 and 24 years of age. Currently, the program serves about 25,000 people nationwide — some 4,500 who were previously homeless — at 120 Job Corps centers across the nation. The program is meant to aid those who have struggled to earn high school diplomas and obtain further training and jobs, while providing housing and health care.
Four Job Corps centers are located in Washington state, including the Cascades Job Corps program with about 250 participants in Sedro-Woolley, west of Mount Vernon, with an administrative office and career training services based at Everett Station. Along with classes offering general education degrees, the Sedro-Woolley center offers training in office administration, medical office assistance, security, culinary arts and computer technology. In its 40 years, the Cascades Job Corps Center has helped more than 10,000 low-income young adults complete trade certificates and college credits.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced a “pause of operations,” last month with the intention of winding down the program by June 30, ending training programs and displacing participants. The Trump administration in its recently released budget proposal is seeking to end the program permanently, with the attempted closure hoping to get a jump on Congress’ decision.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-ending-job-corps-a-short-sighted-move-by-white-house/
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