Education & Workforce

Education and Workforce issues are critically important to the region’s economy and the New England Council has long played an active role in the effort to satisfy the need for skilled workers for our region’s businesses, both through our region’s world-class colleges and universities and through job training programs.

The ongoing shortage of skilled workers, especially in the fields of science, engineering and information technology, became so pronounced in the late 1990’s that it had the potential to stall the region’s economic growth. The New England Council undertook a collaborative project at the time with Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies that was the nation’s first regional approach to crafting new strategies for dealing with the skilled worker shortage.

The collaborative project assembled a Commission on High-Technology Worker Shortages that identified several keys to helping address the problem – skilled immigration through the increased use of programs such as the H-1B Visa Program, job training programs that will allow workers not currently in IT fields to received funding to attend school and become trained in this field, and programs to increase the amount of students who leave our region’s K-12 educational system with strong math and science skills.

In 2005, Council member A.T. Kearney prepared an analysis of the region's economic competitiveness. The report found that rising structural costs of housing and labor, and relative under-investment in public higher education are causing New England to lose its competitive edge to other regions of the country.

The Council continues to advocate on behalf of policies and programs that will help the New England region meet its employment needs and encourage attendance at our unmatched collection of colleges and universities.

On Capitol Hill there are two major pieces of legislation due to be reauthorized that deal with these two issue areas – the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the Higher Education Act (HEA).

• Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
• Higher Education Act (HEA)

Advocacy:

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• 2009
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• 2004

• January 2009: NEC Presses for Investment in Higher Education Infrastructure

Education:

• February 2007: The New England Council's Higher Education Principles
• August 2006: New England Council's STEM Education Principles
• March 2006: STEM Education Spotlight Report
• June 2005: New England Council's Sustainable Prosperity Report
• January 2005: Spotlight on Workforce Development

Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

Both Chambers of Congress passed bills in 2003 to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act. Unfortunately, however, a conference committee has not yet been convened to work out the differences between the two bills.

In 1998, Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act to better coordinate and deliver federal job training programs. The initiative was designed to meet both the needs of the nation’s businesses and of those seeking employment. Recognizing the unique nature of different states and regions, Title I of the Act mandated that training and employment programs be designed and managed at the local level under the Workforce Investment System. Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) were established to assist the states in developing a strategic workforce plan. A “one-stop” system was also created where information about and access to a wide array of job training, education and employment services is available to an individual in a single neighborhood location. For employers, the “one-stop” system allows them to have a single point of contact to provide information about their future skill and hiring needs.

With WIA up for reauthorization this year, there will be an opportunity to make changes to the program to better prepare New England’s workers with the skills that they need to meet the employment needs of the region’s employers. In addition to addressing funding shortfalls during the appropriations process, suggested improvements to the program may include increasing program integration, reviewing training provider requirements to ensure that eligible, high-quality providers are able to participate in the program, streamlining performance standards to more accurately assess program success and improving multiple funding source coordination.

The Council will continue to work with the New England Congressional delegation to ensure funding formulas and grants are beneficial to New England.

Higher Education Act (HEA)

The Higher Education Act was originally due to be reauthorized in 2003, but Congress, due to budget shortfalls, took advantage of the automatic one-year extension under the General Education Provisions Act. This year, however, has not yet yielded new legislation.

The HEA authorizes the federal government student aid programs, including the Pell Grant, FFEL/DL, Work Study and Perkins Loan programs. In addition, the HEA authorizes programs to help students finish high school, teacher training initiatives, and aid to strengthen institutions.

Some of the issues that Congress has been examining during the reauthorization process include: the rising costs of college, federal tax benefits, standards and accountability as measured by educational outcomes, distance education, teacher quality and quantity, and funding levels for student loan and Pell Grant programs. Congress has also been taking a close look at whether the HEA’s student aid programs have made post-secondary education more accessible.

The Council will continue to monitor the progress of this legislation. It is important that the Higher Education reauthorization bill takes steps to improve the accessibility and affordability of higher education in the region.