So, here we are in the workforce system throughout the United States, perched on our chairs, full of uncertainty and with a total abdication of federal policy direction by the congress, we wait for the TEGL (Technical Assistance Bullitin) from the US Department of Labor to tell us how they will take money away at the local level from those we serve or those that serve the public.
At a time when the economy is slowing, gas prices are rising again, and people are being laid off because the work is not there, our national leadership, and especially this administration, has decided to "bribe" the public with a $600 check to pay bills, and not to INVEST in our workforce so that a more secure and positive future can be achieved.
All these actions by the federal government to push everything that costs money back to the states is having its effect. It is like watching dominos fall. First we see the mortgage crisis, then we see the banks in a crunch, then we see a financial inistitution in the UK taken over by the government there to prevent a fianancial catastrophe. Then we see housing prices falling in value, then we see banks tightening credit and re-appraising their property holdingd downward. I could go on and on, from retail to automobile services, a decline is happening. So as this presents an opportunity to retrain thousands of workers to "skill up" to be able to compete globally, the workforce system is reduced in funding and the federal government wants to pull back money that we have already committed to serve the people in job transition.
The fact that the recently resigned leadership at DOL was able to thwart the intention of Congress with the workforce investment act is a travistry in itself. As a public administrator, I do not have the authority to change the direction and intent of the legislative body that enacts policy.
Oh, I would be the first to agree that policy making at the federal level is s l o w and that if there is not a change in process in the future, the next generation will ignore it as unimportant and living in the past. The system as a whole is in need of a re-thinking from top to bottom. We need responsive public policy, funded properly to sustain momentum and results. How we arrive at this new level will take a group of leaders with a compelling vision to make the United Styates better at leading and more responsive and flexible to issues arising. But fiscal management will be the straw that breaks the proverbial back. So many years of a shell game at the top of governments, that eventually we will have to pay the piper. That will be the day all the smoke screens will disappear. I just hope by then we will have invested in our workforce to such a degree that we are back to number one in the world and we can weather this storm too.
But I digress. Workforce Development is the key to the future of our nation and if we do not change the educational output, and raise the awareness of the country to this key ingredient to success, then we will continue our fall as a country in math, science, and reading and eventually other countries will over-shadow us and be in charge of our businesses. We already owe trillions of dollars to other countries. What will happen when they ask for their money back?
