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Labor and Education Budgets Benefit Construction Training Programs04-04-03 | News
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WASHINGTON ?EUR??,,????'??? The Departments of Labor and Education this month proposed budgets that would provide funding for occupational training. The Labor budget requests $6.19 billion for training and employment programs, and the Education budget includes $1 billion for technical education programs, including a new performance-based program. ABC supports performance-based training. The DOL Employment and Training Administration?EUR??,,????'???s (ETA) Fiscal Year 2004 budget request, released Feb. 3, proposed a budget of $11 billion that included $6.19 billion for training and employment programs. Among ETA?EUR??,,????'???s legislative priorities is the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act, focusing on strengthening one-stop career centers and improving performance accountability. The Department of Education announced a request for $1 billion for secondary and technical education programs. Proposing to replace the Carl Perkins Act grant programs that are currently allocated based on population, the department?EUR??,,????'???s new program would focus on performance-based, high-quality technical education at the community college level and coordinated with high-school training. States would be required to identify technical programs linked to high-wage, high-skill careers that can be developed through technical courses, degrees and registered apprenticeship programs. According to Department of Education Assistant Secretary Carol D?EUR??,,????'???Amico, ?EUR??,,????'??The new program would support and extend the achievements and accountability goals of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by requiring states and school districts to focus more intensively on improving student outcomes.?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??ABC looks forward to working with the Department of Education and Congress to assure ABC chapters?EUR??,,????'??? training and apprenticeship programs are recognized under a new program as models for providing paths to technical careers,?EUR??,,????'?? said Anita Drummond, ABC director of legal and regulatory affairs. ?EUR??,,????'??A performance-based system that requires student completion and job placement is viable if it is executed by states and regulated by the federal government without discrimination among providers. The devil is in the details, and ABC wants to assure that vocational funding meets the needs of students and the construction industry.?EUR??,,????'??
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