Trade workers met with a U.S. congressman in Bloomington on Wednesday to discuss the impact of a federal jobs training bill — and the importance of reauthorizing the bill that is set to expire at the end of the year.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, alongside State Rep. Sharon Chung, D- Bloomington, and Central Illinois workforce development regional partners, discussed reauthorization funding for the Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. The program, first passed by Congress in 1990, was most recently renewed in 2018.
The roundtable discussion took place at the Bloomington Area Career Center that is located at Bloomington High School.
The Perkins act uses federal dollars to increase access to career and technical programs in local high schools.
Krishnamoorthi said many students coming out of school do not have the skills to match employer requirements, adding it is why there are many struggling to find work, while at the same time, many jobs are unfilled. A program like Perkins is aimed at giving people the skills to fill those jobs.
“This would be the absolute worst time to eliminate a program like this,” said James Dillon, associate director of the West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council. “In the old model, it was ‘Go to college, go to college, it’s the only way you’re gonna be successful.’ And we’ve really seen the model flip in that there’s so many good middle class jobs out there.”
One of the several laborers at the meeting was Blake Potts, an electrician’s apprentice who graduated from Normal Community High School this spring. He told those in attendance that despite still having a stigma attached to it, he is glad he chose not to go to college.
His mother did not agree at first.
“She went to college, got her master’s and everything, she didn’t want me to join a trade, she wanted me to go to college,” said Potts. “She’s happy I’m in it now because I came home with my first paycheck and I’m making more than my mom right now.”
Similar stories are happening more often now as the needs of today’s workforce shift.
“You’re seeing more schools push students and say it’s okay to go for those careers and that there’s a little bit of a stigma that’s rolled off those careers,” said Dillon.
In terms of improvements that can be made to the program, participants said the number of students interested in the opportunity is pushing the program toward capacity. They asked for ways to give more physical space to utilize, which is not possible under the 2018 version of the program.
“We still need more and more people to get equipped with those skills,” said Krishnamoorthi. “There’s so many shortages of people in these vital occupations.”
