Submitted by Kenneth Tamarkin, Executive Director, Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education at the State House, Boston, MA, September 15, 2009
I am Kenneth Tamarkin, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education (MCAE), the organization that represents Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Massachusetts, and on behalf of that organization, I am here today to testify in support of SB 37, the Workers’ Pathways to Self Sufficiency Act. I want to thank Senator James Eldridge, Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, and the co-sponsors of this bill for crafting legislation that will simultaneously aid low-income individuals in need and improve the quality of the Commonwealth’s workforce.
In Massachusetts, we have many residents who desperately want and need, but are unable to afford education leading to a degree or certificate that could open the door to a living wage job. Currently, the Educational Grants program is the only grant program in the state to provide support to learners that attend college less than half time to receive financial assistance and to use a part of that assistance for living expenses. Many adult learners have responsibilities that make it impossible to attend college more than half time and do not have the financial resources or income to pay for living expenses while attending classes. This legislation provides a solution for these learners by recapitalizing the Educational Grants program.
MCAE strongly supports investing $1.5 million in pilot funding for targeted services to help Education Rewards students complete a degree or certificate. Massachusetts already has small transitions programs in most of the state’s community college that are often the difference between a learner successfully completing a program or dropping out. We hope and expect that this new funding would build on those existing successes and help more learners complete their certificates or degrees.
MCAE also supports the sections of the legislation that refers to Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) recipients. If a TAFDC recipient needs Adult Basic Education (ABE) or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), the current work requirement policy creates a huge barrier to that individual gaining the education and training they need to qualify for a living wage job by enrolling in and attending a certificate or degree program. This legislation would double the amount of time that education and training can be used to fulfill the work requirement for TAFDC. This change would give recipients the opportunity to permanently escape poverty and increase their contributions to our communities. We need to help more people who only current options are low wage/low skill jobs move to self-supporting/taxpaying careers.
Tags: ABE, Educational Grants, Educational Rewards, Eldridge, ESOL, Forry, MCAE, SB37, TAAFDC, Workers Pathways to Self Suficiency Act, workforce
