Reform or Dismantling? PresidentÂ’s Workforce System Proposal Raises Serious Concerns

Publication Date: February 2006

Publisher: Center for Law and Social Policy

Author(s): Abbey Frank; Evelyn Ganzglass

Research Area: Education

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

President Bush’s 2007 budget proposal calls for drastic reduction in funding for training and employment services and the consolidation of Workforce Investment Act and Employment Service programs into a single block grant to states. The proposed changes would channel most of the remaining resources into individual training vouchers thus diminishing state and local flexibility to tailor programs to meet the needs of employers and job seekers, especially low-income adults, hard-to-employ individuals, and disadvantaged youth.