[Budget of the U.S. Government]
[V. Creating Opportunity, Demanding Responsibility, and Strengthening Community]
[2. Investing in Education and Training]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
2. INVESTING IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING
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I want to build a bridge to the 21st Century in which we expand opportunity through education, where computers
are as much a part of the classroom as blackboards, where highly-trained teachers demand peak performance from
our students, where every eight-year-old can point to a book and say, I can read it myself.
President Clinton
August 29, 1996
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Today's most successful workers are those with skills and a firm
educational footing who continue to learn throughout their careers in
order to compete successfully in this fast-changing economy.
In recent years, education and wages have become increasingly
intertwined. Generally, those with the best skills and education have
made steady progress, enjoying higher living standards. Those without
the requisite skills and education have fallen behind. Tomorrow's
workers face an even greater challenge. As the very nature of work
changes with technological innovation, employers will demand even more
highly-skilled and flexible workers. The best-paying jobs increasingly
will go only to those with education and training beyond high school.
For the most part, our Nation places responsibility for education and
training on State and local governments, families and individuals, and
the private sector. Nevertheless, the Federal Government plays a
crucial, if limited, role in providing education for a lifetime--from
pre-school to adult career training.
The President's goals are to help families, communities and States
ensure that every child is prepared to make the best use of education;
that the education system enables every child to learn to his or her
potential; that those who need resources to pay for postsecondary
education and training can get them; that those who need a second chance
at training and education or a chance to improve or learn new skills
throughout their working lives can get those opportunities; and that
States and communities that receive Federal funds can use them more
flexibly, with fewer regulations and less paperwork.
Federal resources help States improve the quality of education and
training for the disadvantaged and for people with disabilities; support
State- and locally-designed elementary and secondary school reform; and
help low- and middle-income families gain financial access to
postsecondary education and skill training through loans and grants. To
help States raise student achievement, the President has worked hard to
make schools safer, improve teacher quality, move technology into the
classroom as quickly as possible, raise academic standards, and better
prepare students for college and the new workplace.
The budget reaffirms the President's commitment to America's children
by increasing the investment in Head Start and in Federal elementary and
secondary education programs--focusing on innovation and technology--and
launching a new effort to jump-start needed school renovation and
construction. In addition, the President has begun a national,
volunteer-based challenge called America Reads, to ensure that all
children can read well and independently by the end of third grade.
To ensure that all Americans have access to the high-skill training
needed for today's workplace, the President proposes to make two years
of postsecondary education universally available, through HOPE
scholarship
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tax credits of up to $1,500 for two years. And to encourage
lifelong learning, the budget proposes: tax deductions of up to $10,000
for tuition and fees for college, graduate school, or job training; a
$300 increase in the maximum Pell Grant college scholarship (to $3,000),
marking the largest increase in two decades and providing grants for at
least 348,000 more students; lower student loan fees and interest rates
for parents and students; the G.I. Bill for America's Workers so they
can choose where to get the best job training available; and new
resources to help move welfare recipients from welfare to work (see
Table 2-1 and Chart 2-1).
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Table 2-1. THE BUDGET INCREASES RESOURCES FOR MAJOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS BY $15 BILLION, OR 56 PERCENT OVER 1993
(Dollar amounts in millions)
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Percent
1993 1997 1998 Change:
Actual Estimate Proposed 1993 to
1998
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MANDATORY OUTLAYS/TAX EXPENDITURES:
HOPE scholarships tax credit/deduction.......................................................................... ....... 100 4,100 NA
America Reads (Education Department)............................................................................ ....... ........ 31 NA
School construction............................................................................................. ....... ........ 1,250 NA
Work Opportunity Tax Credit..................................................................................... ....... 120 160 NA
Welfare-to-Work Jobs Challenge.................................................................................. ....... ........ 600 NA
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Total, mandatory outlays and tax expenditures................................................................. ....... 220 6,141 NA
DISCRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY:
Head Start...................................................................................................... 2,776 3,981 4,305 +55%
Elementary and secondary education:
America Reads (Corp. for National and Community Service)...................................................... ....... ........ 200 NA
Goals 2000.................................................................................................... ....... 491 620 NA
Education technology.......................................................................................... 23 305 545 +2,270%
Title I Education for Disadvantaged........................................................................... 6,709 7,698 8,077 +20%
Eisenhower Teacher Training................................................................................... 289 310 360 +25%
Special education............................................................................................. 2,966 4,036 4,210 +42%
Safe and drug free schools.................................................................................... 582 540 620 +7%
Charter schools............................................................................................... ....... 51 100 NA
After-school learning centers................................................................................. ....... ........ 50 NA
Postsecondary student aid:
Pell Grants................................................................................................... 6,458 5,919 7,635 +18%
College Work Study............................................................................................ 616 830 857 +39%
Other campus-based aid........................................................................................ 845 811 771 -9%
Presidential Honors Scholarships.............................................................................. ....... ........ 132 NA
Training and employment:
Vocational education.......................................................................................... 1,176 1,131 1,172 -*%
Adult education............................................................................................... 304 354 394 +30%
School-To-Work (Education and Labor Departments).............................................................. ....... 400 400 NA
Summer Jobs for Youth......................................................................................... 849 871 871 +3%
Job Corps..................................................................................................... 966 1,154 1,246 +29%
Youth Opportunity Areas....................................................................................... ....... ........ 250 NA
JTPA adult/dislocated worker training......................................................................... 1,666 2,181 2,415 +45%
Employment service and One-Stops.............................................................................. 975 974 993 +2%
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Total, budget authority.................................................................................... 27,200 32,037 36,223 +33%
=====================================
Total, mandatory outlays, tax expenditures, and budget authority.......................................... 27,200 32,257 42,364 +56%
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STUDENT LOAN VOLUME (loan amount):
Direct loans................................................................................................... ....... 9,938 12,037 NA
Guaranteed loans............................................................................................... 16,029 16,965 16,774 +5%
Consolidation loans............................................................................................ 1,527 6,803 7,729 +406%
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Total, loan volume.............................................................................................. 17,556 33,706 36,540 +108%
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NA = Not applicable.
* Less than 0.5 percent.
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America Reads
Many of our children are falling short of meeting standard
educational levels--a failure that they often have trouble overcoming
later. In 1994, for instance, two-fifths of fourth-graders failed to
reach the ``basic'' reading level on the National Assessment of
Educational Progress and only 30 percent attained the ``proficient''
level. In response, the President has launched the America Reads
Challenge, a multi-part effort to help States and communities ensure
that all children are reading well and independently by the end of the
third grade. Business and academic leaders already have pledged their
support, and the budget proposes the Federal funding component. The
Administration will measure the success of this effort on a national
basis through the biennial administration of the National Assessment of
Educational Progress fourth grade reading assessment.
America's Reading Corps: One-on-one tutoring is one key to better
reading. America's Reading Corps will provide individualized after-
school and summer help for over three million children in grades K-3 who
want and need it. A five-year, $2.45 billion investment, through the
Education Department and the Corporation for National and Community
Service, would help communities mobilize 30,000 reading specialists and
volunteer coordinators to recruit and train over a million tutors,
including 100,000 college work-study students.
Parents as First Teachers: Nothing is more important to children's
reading skills than the time parents spend reading to, and with, them.
Research shows that the first three years of a child's life are crucial
to his or her development. An early exposure to books, even for infants,
is important to prepare children for pre-reading activities as toddlers.
Reading to them for 20 minutes a day can make a big difference in their
readiness for school. To give parents help and information in teaching
their children, the Administration proposes a Parents as First Teachers
Challenge Grant Fund of $300 million over five years, building on the
current Even Start Family Literacy program to support effective, proven
efforts that help parents help their children become successful readers.
Head Start
A healthy, caring family environment is the best preparation for
school. For over 30 years, Head Start has helped low-income families
create this environment by taking a comprehensive approach to child
development--improving children's learning skills, health, nutrition,
and social competency. Head Start involves parents in their children's
learning, and links children and their families to a wide array of
services in their communities. Over the last four years, the President
has secured a 43-percent increase in funds for Head Start, enabling the
program to serve 800,000 children in 1997.
The budget proposes $4.3 billion for Head Start, $324 million more
than in 1997, to enable 86,000 more children to participate than in 1996
and raising program quality (see Chart 2-2). With this funding, the
Administration would be well on its way toward meeting the President's
commitment of a million children in Head Start by 2002.
In addition, the Early Start component of Head Start extends
comprehensive early development services to infants aged 0 to 3 in a way
that supports families, builds parenting skills, and extends a safe,
nurturing, and stimulating environment to very young children.
Elementary and Secondary Education
The Administration has energized State and local efforts to raise
student achievement by boosting funds for various programs that
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States and localities then combine with their own funds to help all students
achieve at high levels in a safe, modern learning environment. The
budget builds on this momentum by proposing additional funds for all
major programs, and for the new America Reads initiative (discussed
earlier in this chapter) and the new school construction initiative
(discussed later).
The Administration's goal for elementary and secondary education is
to help States and communities raise the quality of education
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for all children. Administration initiatives launched in 1994 are designed to
establish a framework for comprehensive reform and to help States
finance their role in it. The goals include: high State standards for
all children; new curriculum and teaching methods to help all children
achieve those standards; teacher and administrator training to support
the standards; assessments of each child's progress; and a safe,
technologically up-to-date learning environment. The budget proposes to
increase funds for programs that support these goals, and proposes more
flexibility to enhance the success of State and community efforts.
School Construction: The General Accounting Office found that a third
of all schools across the country, with 14 million students, have one or
more buildings needing extensive repair. School districts also face the
cost of upgrading schools to accommodate computers and modern
technology, and of constructing new classrooms and schools to meet
expected record enrollment levels over the next decade. The President
proposes to leverage new construction or renovation projects through a
$5 billion fund for school districts with substantial need. The fund
would support interest subsidies or similar assistance to cut borrowing
costs for States and localities in order to reach higher levels of
infrastructure investment.
Goals 2000: Enacted in 1994, this Administration initiative helps
participating States establish high standards for all children and plan
and implement steps to raise educational achievement. It builds on the
National Education Goals, first articulated by the Nation's governors
(led by then-Governor Clinton) and President Bush in 1989, which provide
clear national targets but encourage States to develop their own means
to achieve them. All States have now chosen to receive Goals 2000
funding.
The program is working. In Maryland, 40 percent of all students met
challenging State academic standards in 1995, a 25 percent gain over
1993. Over the next two years, the Education Department seeks to
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ensure that at least half of all school districts are implementing reforms
based on State-developed standards, and that the number of students
meeting or exceeding their State's standards continues to rise. Goals
2000 also supports individual school reforms. The budget would finance
aid for 4,000 more schools than in 1997--for a total of 16,000 schools.
The budget provides $620 million for Goals 2000, 26 percent more than in
1997. It includes $15 million for parental information and resource
centers in 42 States to help parents become more involved in their
children's education and gain skills in child rearing through parent-to-
parent training, hotlines, and other activities. Each center also
provides information and training to parents of pre-school aged
children, either through the Home Instruction Program for Preschool
Youngsters or the Parents as Teachers program.
Charter Schools: One way to improve the quality of public schools is
to introduce variety and competition into the system. Charter schools
are public schools that parents, teachers, and communities create--and
that States free from most rules and regulations and, instead, hold
accountable for raising student achievement. Begun as a grassroots
movement in 1991, and supported by Federal start-up funds since 1995,
charter schools now number over 400, and some are now showing results in
higher student test scores and lower drop-out rates. For example, in the
Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, a Los Angeles public charter
school, median scores on a 4th-grade standardized reading test rose from
the 19th to 37th percentile in one year. The budget proposes $100
million for public charter schools, nearly double the 1997 level, in
order to fund start-up costs for as many as 1,100 schools and to make
further progress towards the President's goal of 3,000 schools by 2001.
Title I--Education for the Disadvantaged: Title I provides funds to
raise the educational achievement of disadvantaged children. In 1994,
the President proposed, and Congress adopted, changes to focus Title I
re-
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sources more on low-income children, to set the same high standards
for those children as for all others, to hold schools accountable for
progress toward achieving those standards, and to give States and
schools great flexibility in using Title I funds. The budget includes
$8.1 billion for Title I, five percent more than in 1997.
Education Technology: Education technology can expand learning
opportunities for all students, helping to raise student achievement,
but many districts lack the resources to integrate technology fully into
their school curricula. In February 1996, the President challenged the
public and private sectors to work together to ensure that all children
are technologically literate by the dawn of the 21st Century, with the
communication, math, science, and critical thinking skills essential to
succeed in the Information Age. The budget proposes substantial
increases in two technology programs, for a total 1998 investment of
$500 million.
First, the President has committed $2 billion over five years for the
Technology Literacy Challenge Fund. For 1998, the budget proposes $425
million, more than doubling the $200 million that Congress provided in
1997. Second, the budget proposes $75 million, 32 percent more than in
1997, for the Technology Innovation Challenge Grant program, which gives
matching Federal funds to school-centered, public-private partnerships
to develop and implement innovative applications of technology in the
curriculum.
Teacher Training: The Eisenhower Professional Development program
helps States invest in training teachers and other educators so that
they can help all children reach the State's challenging academic
standards. The President proposed, and Congress enacted, major
improvements in 1994 to ensure that the training is of high enough
quality and sufficient duration to pay off in the classroom. The budget
increases funding to $360 million, 16 percent more than in 1997.
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities: Students can reach their
full potential only in safe, disciplined learning environments. The Safe
and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program helps 97 percent of school
districts implement anti-drug and anti-violence programs in our schools.
It helps students resolve conflicts before they escalate into tragedy,
teaches them the dangers of drug use, and helps schools increase
security. The budget proposes to spend $620 million for the program, 12
percent over the 1997 level, and to encourage States to adopt models of
proven excellence.
Special Education: States have made real progress in giving children
with disabilities a ``free appropriate public education,'' as the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) calls for. The
Administration will propose amendments that will help improve
educational results for children with disabilities by promoting
accountability for performance and focusing resources on teaching and
learning. The budget provides $4.2 billion for special education, four
percent more than in 1997.
Bilingual and Immigrant Education: The Bilingual Education program
helps schools improve the quality of instructional services for limited
English proficient (LEP) students, teaching them English and preparing
them to meet the same challenging academic standards as all other
students. The Immigrant Education program helps States with large
concentrations of immigrant students who have recently arrived, helping
to offset their financial impact on school systems. The budget proposes
$199 million for Bilingual Education and $150 million for Immigrant
Education, 27 percent and 50 percent more than in 1997, respectively.
Postsecondary Education and Training
Education beyond high school is increasingly a prerequisite for
success in the rapidly changing job market. The rising rate of college
attendance over the last half-century was fueled by State efforts to
expand the public college system, and Federal efforts to help families
pay for college. The post-World War II GI Bill was a watershed event in
Federal investment in higher education, greatly increasing benefits for
returning servicemen. Since then, through the Higher Education Act of
1965 and subsequent amendments, the Federal Government has vastly
expanded grant and work-study aid to all low- and middle-income
students, and made it possible for every American to borrow
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enough money to attend college. The President wants to ensure that financial barriers to higher education continue to fall for all Americans. The budget
provides substantial new support to low- and middle-income families
through a new tax credit and tax deduction for education costs (see
Chart 2-3).
HOPE Scholarships: More than ever, today's employers look for job
applicants with more than a high school diploma. HOPE scholarships would
make the 13th and 14th years of education the norm for students by
offering, to most working families, up to a $1,500 per student tuition
tax credit for postsecondary education or training. Students would have
to maintain at least a B average to receive the credit in the second
year.
Tuition Deduction: To encourage Americans to pursue higher education
and to promote lifelong learning, the budget proposes to give families a
tax deduction for postsecondary tuition and fees of up to $5,000 in 1997
and 1998, and $10,000 starting in 1999. Together, the tuition deduction
and HOPE scholarship would put over $36 billion back in the hands of
Americans for education and training between 1997 and 2002.
Pell Grants: The President proposes to raise the maximum Pell Grant
award by $300, to $3,000, marking the largest increase in two decades.
The Administration's changes also would bring at least 348,000 more
students into the program, reaching a total of over four million low-
and middle-income undergraduates. Such help is particularly important to
raise participation and graduation rates of low-income students. With
Pell Grants, they are as likely to stay in school and earn a degree as
middle-income students without grants.
Student Loans: An estimated 5.5 million individuals will borrow $37
billion through the Federal student loan programs in 1998. Families at
any income level can receive loans, but students who show greater
financial need receive greater interest subsidies. The loans finance
study toward undergraduate or graduate degrees, or short-term vocational
training programs. The annual maximum loan amount
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varies from $2,625 for a first-year student financially dependent on his or her parents, to $18,500 for a graduate or professional program student. Under this Administration, the rate of student loan defaults within the first two
years after borrowers leave college has reached an all-time low.
Before 1993, students and parents paid fees of up to eight percent of
their loan proceeds. The Student Loan Reform Act of 1993, which the
President initiated, cut the fees to four percent and has already saved
families nearly $2 billion. The 1993 reforms also created the simpler,
less costly, and more accountable Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP),
and gave borrowers a way to afford payments on their student loans based
on their actual post-college income--which the existing guaranteed loan
program could not do.
The budget proposes to cut the loan fees again--by half for needy
students, and by a quarter for other students and parents. The budget
also would continue to allow schools to choose to participate in either
the FDLP or the guaranteed loan program--the Federal Family Education
Loan Program (FFELP). In addition, it would reform FFELP to improve
Federal management and give lenders and intermediaries financial
incentives to prevent defaults. It also would ensure that all borrowers
receive a variety of repayment options.
Presidential Honors Scholarships: The President proposes an
achievement-based scholarship program, rewarding the best and the
brightest of high school students. It would grant $1,000 honors awards
to the top five percent of graduating students in every secondary school
in the Nation, making clear the Government's commitment to excellence.
The budget requests $132 million for this program.
College Work-Study: Work-study gives students additional aid through
subsidized jobs, including an increasing number of community service
positions. The budget proposes $857 million for Work-study, three
percent more than in 1997, and continues the President's commitment to
raise the number of Work-study recipients to a million by the year 2000,
including 100,000 reading tutors to support America Reads.
G.I. Bill for America's Workers
For the past two years, the President has sought to dramatically
overhaul the complex, inefficient structure of Federal job training
programs through his proposed G.I. Bill for America's Workers. It would
consolidate multiple programs into a single, integrated work force
development system and provide Skill Grants (i.e., vouchers) to adults
who need training so that they, not bureaucracies, choose where to get
it. It also would streamline program administration, while improving
accountability by freeing States and localities to focus on results, not
process.
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The President's Principles for Work Force Policy Reform:
1. Give resources for training directly to adults so they can make informed
choices, without bureaucratic interference.
2. Consolidate and streamline Federal programs for adults, organize them within
the One-Stop Career Center delivery system, and ensure that the private sector
is a full partner.
3. Ensure strong accountability to taxpayers by establishing high standards for
program quality and giving States and localities responsibility for results.
4. Organize Federal programs for youth within the School-to-Work Opportunities Act
systems being established in States and local communities.
5. Increase funding for work force development each year, commensurate with the
needs of workers and the economy.
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Although Congress did not enact these essential reforms, the
Administration has pressed ahead to reform the job training system under
current law. The Administration is making grants to establish One-Stop
Career Center systems and School-to-Work systems; developing America's
Labor Market Information System; expanding America's Job Bank to help
match workers to jobs across the
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country; and implementing new authority to waive certain Federal legal and regulatory requirements in order to help States and local communities make changes to the job training system.
Comprehensive reform still requires legislation. The President will
again seek legislation that reflects the principles of his G.I. Bill.
Because enactment would not occur before the fiscal 1998 appropriations
process begins in Congress, the budget presents funding proposals under
the current program structure.
Youth Programs
The President is deeply committed to helping States and communities
help young people make a successful transition to the world of work and
family responsibility. As discussed earlier in this chapter, the budget
includes major new proposals to eliminate financial barriers to
postsecondary education and training for all youth. In addition, the
budget continues to support the goal by helping States develop and
implement their school-to-work systems. And it proposes additional
resources to aid disadvantaged youth who have left school, or are on the
verge of doing so, and have entered the labor force.
School-to-Work: This initiative, which the Education and Labor
Departments fund and administer jointly, gives States and communities
competitive grants to build comprehensive systems to help young people
move from high school to careers or postsecondary training and
education. School-to-Work supports reforms to the education system and
its links to employers, so that young people can better prepare for
high-skill, high-wage careers; receive top-quality academic and
occupational training; and pursue more postsecondary education or
training. Businesses get the trained workers they need to stay globally
competitive. By 1996, 37 States and 133 local partnerships had already
received grants to implement School-to-Work systems. The budget proposes
$400 million, maintaining the 1997 level, in accord with the strategy of
phasing in School-to-Work in all States by early in the next decade.
After-School Program: Young people need access to after-school
activities that keep them off the streets and out of trouble. The
Presidential initiative will provide $50 million to keep public schools
open during non-school hours, giving students access to after-school
tutoring and other educational and recreational activities in a crime-
free environment within their own communities.
Youth Opportunity Areas Program: Recognizing the special problems of
out-of-school youth, especially those in inner-city neighborhoods where
jobless rates can exceed 50 percent, the budget proposes $250 million
for new competitive grants to selected high-poverty urban and rural
areas with major youth unemployment problems. The Labor Department would
award funds to high-poverty areas, including designated Empowerment
Zones or Enterprise Communities, based on the quality of the local
applications--that is, those that show the best chance of substantially
increasing employment among youth. These ``seed'' funds would leverage
State, local, and private resources to sustain public-private efforts to
train and employ youth in private sector jobs. (For more information on
Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, see Chapter 6.)
Summer Youth Employment and Training Program: The summer jobs program
gives many urban and rural disadvantaged students their first work
experiences, and localities may include an academic component that re-
enforces the skills they have learned during the school year. The budget
provides $871 million to finance 530,000 job opportunities for the
summer of 1998, assuming that localities spend this flexible funding
entirely on summer jobs.
Disadvantaged Youth Year-Round Program: The year-round program helps
low-income youth who have dropped out of school, are at risk of dropping
out, or are in families on public assistance. The Administration will
expand upon ongoing efforts to refocus this program to stress local
programs of proven effectiveness. Local service delivery areas that
receive these funds under the Job Training Partnership Act can shift
resources between the summer and year-round programs, as local needs
dictate. The budget proposes $130 million for the year-round program.
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Job Corps: The Job Corps provides intensive, work-related vocational
skills training, academic and social education, and support services to
severely disadvantaged young people in a structured residential setting.
The budget proposes $1.2 billion to fund opportunities for 70,000 young
people.
Adult Programs
Most adults change jobs and get new skills by themselves or through
their employers. But, many others--particularly welfare recipients and
those permanently laid off from jobs--need help to get the services and
information they need to successfully manage their careers. The budget
proposes sizable new support for grants to States and localities to
finance a training and employment system that adequately serves these
adults, and helps build the job skills of American workers and job
seekers into the 21st Century. These activities are the core of the
adult portion of the G.I. Bill for America's Workers.
Dislocated Workers and Low-Income Adult Training: The budget proposes
$2.4 billion for Job Training Partnership Act programs that provide
training, job search assistance, and related services to laid-off
workers and economically disadvantaged adults, a $233 million increase
over 1997. The dislocated worker program provides readjustment services,
job search assistance, training, and other services to help dislocated
workers find new jobs as quickly as possible. The program for
disadvantaged adults helps welfare recipients and other low-income
adults, giving them the skills and support to become employed. States
and localities likely will continue to use a sizable portion of these
resources to supplement training for welfare recipients under the new
Transitional Assistance to Needy Families block grant. (For more
information on this new block grant, and on the related Welfare-to-Work
Challenge Fund and tax credit, see Chapter 7.)
Adult Education: The Adult Education program helps educationally
disadvantaged adults develop basic skills (including literacy), achieve
certification of high school equivalency, and learn English. In 1993-94,
the program served over 3.75 million adult learners--over 1.4 million
enrollments in adult basic education programs, about 1.1 million in
adult secondary education programs, and over 1.2 million in English-as-
a-second-language programs. The budget proposes $394 million, nine
percent more than in 1997 (and over 50 percent more than in 1996), to
meet the demand for literacy training that the new welfare and
immigration laws have stimulated.
One-Stop Employment Service: The budget proposes $843 million for
grants to the Employment Service--the Nation's public labor exchange--
and $150 million to continue building One-Stop Career Center systems to
streamline re-employment and career development service delivery. To
date, 24 States have received grants to implement One-Stop systems and
nine more States will receive grants in July 1997. The budget would
permit One-Stops to expand to all States in 1998. While the One-Stop
grants provide seed money for systems-building and increased automation,
Employment Service grants provide the core operating funds for the new
system. They help States to match employers and job seekers, and to
provide counseling and re-employment assistance to unemployment
insurance claimants and others who need more help finding jobs.