Recently, NDD United, which is a national coalition of organizations representing a broad range of fields like medical research, healthcare, housing, education and job training, released a new report, Faces of Austerity: How Budget Cuts Have Made Us Sicker, Poorer, and Less Secure. The report highlights the many real-world effects of cuts in federal discretionary funding that have resulted from sequestration and budget austerity. ACTE has worked in conjunction with the NDD United coalition, the Committee for Education Funding and the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce to help raise awareness about the real impact of sequestration. We have reported that federal funding for Perkins was cut by 5.2 percent in FY 2013 due to sequestration. This resulted in a $58 million reduction in the support for CTE in the 2013-14 school year. Even before sequestration, CTE funding has been cut by over $140 million since Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 because of reductions in discretionary funding by Congress.
This NDD United report tells the stories of many individual programs that are being affected by cuts. In addition to stories about infrastructure, medical research and education efforts from across the country, the report examines workforce training programs like the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board (SWORWIB). SWORWIB oversees the public workforce system in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, including a Workforce Investment Act (WIA)-funded SuperJobs Center. Despite providing services to more than 5,000 jobseekers and more than 250 employers, the SuperJobs Center saw a 26 percent budget cut as a result of sequestration. Additionally, limited WIA Youth funds have resulted in the closure of the summer youth employment program throughout Hamilton County.
In Congress, the budget conference committee is currently working to develop a compromise budget proposal that will affect funding for education and workforce training programs nationwide. It is important that they find a balanced approach that ends sequestration and avoids further reduction in federal support for CTE. Tell Congress that we can’t cut our way to a 21st century workforce!
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