Martha J. Kanter, U.S. under secretary of education, told appropriators at a hearing on Thursday that Congress has a real opportunity to strengthen adult education by finally reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act this year.
She said the act, which has been awaiting reauthorization since 2003, should be changed to allow more individuals to benefit from its education and job-training programs, especially people who need basic-skills education. Those types of skills can prepare adult learners for further education, advanced training, and jobs, she said.
She and other Education Department and Labor Department officials spoke before a House Appropriations subcommittee that has jurisdiction over labor and education. The hearing focused on jobs, training, and education.
As she has done on other occasions, Ms. Kanter stressed that both she and Jane Oates, assistant secretary for employment and training administration at the Labor Department, continue to work collaboratively in laying the legislative groundwork for the act’s reauthorization. They have been listening to public comments about the law through a number of community conversations held in eight states. Ms. Kanter said five broad themes have emerged from the feedback, including a desire for the government to help professionalize the field of adult education by, among other things, ensuring that students are taught by highly effective instructors.
Budget Proposals for Education
Ms. Kanter said one way the Obama administration plans to stimulate improvements in adult education is through the proposed Workforce Innovation Fund. The $108-million fund would be used to support competitively awarded grants for projects to create and evaluate ways of providing improved job training and placement services to a larger population of workers at a low marginal cost.
The Education Department also wants to build a pipeline of students who are ready for college and careers, Ms. Kanter said.. The administration’s proposed budget for the 2011 fiscal year includes $14.5-billion for the College- and Career-Ready Students program, which would focus on getting every high-school graduate fully prepared for college or a career through the adoption of common state standards.
“I want to emphasize that when we talk about college and career readiness, we are not talking about two separate tracks,” Ms. Kanter said.
Research conducted by Achieve, a nonprofit group that advocates educational reform, as well as others, shows a “convergence in the expectations of employees and colleges in terms of the knowledge and skills that high-school graduates need to be successful after high school,” Ms. Kanter told the appropriators.
The administration’s proposed education budget also includes about $910-million for the federal TRIO programs and $323-million for Gear Up, both of which help prepare financially needy students for college. Ms. Kanter told committee members that the programs are integral to achieving President Obama’s goal for the United States to be first in the world by 2020 on measures of college completion.
But Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, asked why there were no increases in the president’s budget for TRIO and GEAR Up. He is concerned because a lot of students are supported by the programs.
Ms. Kanter said the thought was that the student-loan bill that was passed by Congress on Thursday would have met those needs. Though that won’t be the case now, the department just went ahead and requested the same amount as last year.
“We can’t ask for everything,” she said.