alabama's working families and the broken promise of economic ...

POLICY AGENDABridging the education and training gapThe Alabama College SystemThe inadequacy of Alabama’s need-based financialassistance hampers access to postsecondary educationfor all of the state’s low-income citizens, butperhaps no group more severely than adults withfamilies. Faced with job and family responsibilities,many workers find the cost of education and skillstraining simply beyond their reach. In addition,those job and family responsibilities pose uniqueproblems for adult learners, who may encounterdifficulties in balancing competing demands. Onlyhalf of Alabama’s first-year community college studentsreturn for a second year. With the skill andknowledge requirements for new jobs becomingincreasingly sophisticated, such attrition is a lossour economy simply can’t afford. An investment inacademic and personal guidance services and supplementalsupports can be a cost-effective meansto help these students increase their retention andcompletion rates.Though the 2007 Legislature voted to double thefunds available for the state’s needs-based financialassistance program, that action will allow minimalassistance to only 8 percent of the eligible students.Recent strong growth in revenue for the EducationTrust Fund makes the present a prime time tocreate new opportunities for low-income workingfamilies to pursue postsecondary education.[ Alabama should continue to allocate additionalfunds for need-based financial assistance.[ Until need-based financial assistance programsare fully funded, Alabama shoulddesignate at least 25 percent of available fundsto provide assistance to adult learners.[ To provide assistance to Alabama’s workingfamilies who may not meet eligibility criteriafor need-based programs, matching fundsshould be allocated for the creation of IndividualDevelopment Accounts (IDAs) to be usedfor education-related expenses.[ Alabama should increase its support of academicand personal guidance services and othersupports geared toward increasing the retentionand completion rates of adult learners.[ To provide accountability for program performance,including student performance,retention and advancement, the AlabamaCollege System should proceed with theimplementation of College Accountability PerformanceProfile (CAPP). The focus of CAPPshould change from evaluation of the performanceof community college presidents to areview of the overall success of the postsecondarysystem in meeting the educational needs ofAlabama’s citizens. The CAPP should be easilyaccessible to citizens and policymakers.The Office of Workforce DevelopmentAlabama’s workforce development system servesrelatively few of our residents who have limitededucational levels or skill attainment. Faced withdiminishing federal financial resources, Alabamaneeds to invest state resources to serve the needsof this population, as well as ensure an adequatelytrained workforce for new industries. Both thenumber of adults receiving training and the federalfunds available for these training programs havedecreased significantly in recent years. Provisionof education and skill acquisition programs offerslow-income families a direct route to increase prosperityand financial stability.[ Alabama should provide state funding commitmentsto offset the loss of diminishingfederal participation in WIA programs. Anexamination should be undertaken to determinewhether funds generated through the state’sEmployment Security Enhancement Act couldbe better utilized in such training programs.[ Alabama should actively market training programsto those half a million citizens who lack24 Bridging the Gap