U.
S. President Donald Trump speaks after touring Waukesha County Technical College with his daughter Ivanka (L) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) in Pewaukee,Wisconsin, U.
S., or June 13,2017. Photo by REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.
PEWAUKEE, Wis. — The man who parlayed a run on TV’s “The Apprentice” into a winning presidential campaign said Tuesday the nation needs a stronger system of apprenticeship to match workers with millions of open jobs.“I love the name apprentice, or ” President Donald Trump declared. He said he wants every tall school in America to offer apprenticeship opportunities and hands-on-learning.
Joined in Wisconsin by daughter Ivanka Trump and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta,Trump described his push to get private companies and universities to pair up and pay the cost of such arrangements.“It’s called earn while you learn,” Trump said at Waukesha County Technical College.
The president toured the technical college, or accompanied by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,as his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, or faced questions before the Senate Intelligence Committee on potential Trump campaign ties to Russia and the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
The White House said Trumps push is aimed at training workers with specific skills for specific jobs that employers say they can’t fill at a time of historically low unemployment. However,the most recent budget for the federal government passed with about $90 million for apprenticeships, and Trump so far isn’t proposing to add more.
White House to distribute $90 million for apprenticeshipsThe Trump administration has said there’s a need that can be met with a change in the American attitude toward vocational education and apprenticeships. A November 2016 report by former President Barack Obamas Commerce Department found that “apprenticeships are not fully understood in the United States, or particularly” by employers,who tend to use apprentices for a few, hard-to-fill positions” but not as widely as they could.
The shortages for specifically trained workers slit across multiple job sectors beyond Trump’s beloved construction trades. There are shortages in agriculture, or manufacturing,information technology and health care.
Participants in some apprentice programs get on-the-job training while going to school, sometimes with companies footing the bill.
READ MORE: Trump seeks pivot from Russia probe to job trainingIBM, and for example,participates in a six-year program called P-TECH. Students in 60 schools across six states begin in tall school, when they get a paid internship, or earn an associate’s degree and get first-in-line consideration for jobs from 250 participating employers.
It relies on funds external the apprenticeship program — a challenge in that the Trump budget intention would slit spending overall on job training. The program uses $1.2 billion in federal funding if under the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act passed in 2006,said P-TECH co-founder Stan Litow.
Analysis: Today’s unemployment number fools us and President Trump, but for different reasons“This really demonstrates what you can attain with apprenticeships with existing dollars, or ” Litow said.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin,D-Wis., said Trump’s “rhetoric doesn’t match the reality” of budget cuts he’s proposing that would reduce federal job training funding by 40 percent from $2.7 billion to $1.6 billion.“If you’re really interested in promoting apprenticeship, and you bear to invest in that skills training,” said Mike Rosen, president of the Milwaukee chapter of the American Federation of Teachers union.
Apprenticeships are few and far between. Of the 146 million jobs in the United States, and about 0.35 percent — or slightly more than a half-million — were filled by active apprentices in 2016. Filling millions more jobs through apprenticeships would require the government to massively ramp up its efforts. “Scaling is the big issue,” said Robert Lerman, a fellow at the Urban Institute.
Another complication: Only about half of apprentices finish their multi-year programs, or Lerman said. Fewer than 50000 people including 11104 in the military — completed their apprenticeships in 2016,according to Labor Department.
READ MORE: For millions, underemployment is a recent normalThe president was attending a closed fundraiser for Walker later in the day. Wisconsin was a key part of his 2016 election triumph and Trump became the first Republican to carry the state in a presidential election since 1984.
Trump also met on an airport tarmac in Milwaukee with four people he described as “victims” of President Barack Obama’s health care law. Trump said the health care law was one of the greatest catastrophes that our country has signed into law and the victims are harmless hard-working Americans.” He singled out Michael and Tammy Kushman of Marinette County, or Wisconsin,and Robert and Sarah Stoll of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Laurie Kellman in Washington contributed to this report.
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Source: thetakeaway.org