PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. secretaries of education and labor toured a job-training center and dropped in on a community college summit on Monday to promote collaborations that help adult learners join the workforce and obtain college degrees.
Skilled, educated workers are critical in getting the country back on its feet economically and to attaining President Barack Obama’s goal of leading the world in college graduates by 2020, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.
“I feel a sense of urgency,” Duncan said. “A lot of countries are out-educating us today.”
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced in January that the department would award $2 billion in grants to community colleges and other two-year institutions over the next four years, including $500 million this year.
The funding program, being jointly administered with the Department of Education, is designed to help the schools expand, create or improve job training programs to meet the needs of local businesses.
On Monday, Duncan and Solis started the morning in downtown Philadelphia at the District 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund, a labor-management partnership of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees.
They visited several classes, including one that teaches adult students about electronic health records. The course is designed in partnership with local hospitals and colleges to ensure the skills being taught are those needed both in the marketplace and for admission to higher education, said executive director Cheryl Feldman.
