Duncan announces new grants for displaced workers
By CC Times, Published June 5, 2009

While visiting Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) in Wisconsin this week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a $7 million special competitive grant program to create innovative and sustainable community college programs to prepare displaced workers for second careers.

The U.S. Department of Education hopes the first-of-its-kind grant program will serve to develop national models that can be replicated across the country, especially in communities where autoworkers have loss jobs.

Accompanied by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, MATC Acting President Vicki Martin and Manpower Chair and CEO Jeffrey Joerres, Duncan called on institutions of higher learning, private and public nonprofit organizations and other agencies to propose model programs for training adults to pursue good-paying second careers.

Duncan was one of several cabinet secretaries and other high-level officials from the Obama administration traveling across the Midwest this week visiting communities affected by layoffs in the automobile industry.

“Education is the catalyst for a strong economy and the means by which adults will reinvent themselves and rebuild the industrial cities that have been the foundation of our nation,” Duncan said. “The Obama administration is committed to supporting auto communities and workers, who have been displaced from their jobs. Community colleges are invaluable resources for adults seeking to acquire new skills that are needed by employers.”

According to Manpower, the 10 hardest jobs for U.S. employers to fill in 2009 are, in order, engineers, nurses, skilled/manual trades, teachers, sales representatives, technicians, delivery and short-haul drivers, information technology, laborers and machinist/machine operators.

Community and technical colleges train for “in-place” jobs, those that cannot be outsourced, said Joerres.

“For instance, you can’t outsource a plumber,” he said. “Many parents, friends and neighbors push students into liberal arts, but a lot of those students end up waiting tables. Not to take anything away from those studies, but many people need to retrain for a practical skill. They’re careers, not just jobs.”

The new federal grants will provide seed funding for model programs in community colleges that help adults develop the skills they need to succeed in a new career, according to the department. Programs can provide services such as tutoring, academic and career counseling, and help with the registration process. They also can remove financial constraints for adults returning to school, including child care, transportation and textbooks.

Grant application information is available here. The deadline is Aug. 4.

The department expects to award about 28 grants by mid-September with projects beginning about Oct. 1. The estimated range of the grant awards is $300,000 to $750,000 over a three-year period, but the program must be sustainable beyond that period.