By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.
Broadcast version by Edwin J. Viera for Virginia News Connection reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Collaboration

It's not uncommon for state and local governments to focus on economic development. Attracting businesses and developing industries can provide infrastructure, housing, schools, and more. But the approach and partnership at Hampton Roads Workforce Council in Virginia is bridging government with people, embracing "the human side of economic development."

"We're just the flipside of the coin. We're focused on the talent," says Shawn Avery, president and chief executive officer of the Workforce Council.

"So, when we work with government, we're really working with our economic development departments and our local elected officials to make sure that we're filling the talent needs of the region."

The Workforce Council includes 15 cities and counties in southeast Virginia, an area known for shipbuilding. When a business is new or expanding, the Workforce Council works with government and educators to address training needs.

Their involvement can start as early as K-12, with career exploration and internships. Working with community colleges, they develop certifications and training programs for skilled jobs. At four-year institutions, there's a focus on engineering, manufacturing, management, and finance paths.

"We want make sure that there's no wrong door when it comes to working with our educational institutions," says Avery.

Here's what it can look like bringing together their government stakeholders, businesses, and educators:

• Newport News Shipbuilding - career exploration activities at career and technical education centers for K-12, and a program for welding certifications

• New Horizons Regional Education Center - securing funding from the U.S. Navy to expand its welding program

• Community colleges - increasing the capacity for skilled trades programs including electrician, pipefitting, and ship fitting.

'The strength behind the fleet'


Virginia Ship Repair Association (VSRA) has a similar experience with the Workforce Council helping them service their 319 members. The VSRA is a link between the U.S. Navy and the shipbuilding and repair industry, what association president Bill Crow calls "the strength behind the fleet."


From identifying funding, to developing training to address members' needs and finding the education partner to do it, VSRA estimates the Workforce Council has helped train 3,000 students since 2017.


"We only have three corporate-type companies, but the rest of the companies are small businesses or non-corporate that don't sit on a lot of cash. Trying to develop a workforce for them becomes extremely expensive, so that's a big help," says Crow.


VSRA works with middle schools to expose students to careers early through a digital ship-type competition, and bringing in industry guests to high school technical centers. Through the Workforce Council, VSRA's members can benefit from a cooperative between five local colleges.


Training is often at no cost to the employee or potential hire, who can be college age, high school graduates, military veterans, and people who want to change professions.


Some companies hire employees on contingency and have them go through the training programs. Other trainees are already working and need to upskill. Sessions typically last two-to-five weeks at a time. Companies will allow employees to be out of the shop for the required length of time and return to the job with the added skills.


The offerings include curriculum across six disciplines related to shipbuilding and repair. Three levels of marine trade training and welding enable employers to offer career paths which didn't exist six years ago.


Crow says they're seeking metrics to determine their programs' effectiveness. So far, VSRA is tracking students after they leave training and finding 90% are still on the job after two years.


"The success of the program is not training people who get into the industry for the short term," Crow says.


The Workforce Council continues to evolve with curriculum, investments, and partnerships. Two hundred wind turbines are expected to be installed along the Hampton Roads coast. The increasing demand from offshore wind employers happens to match the same type of skill sets as those for shipbuilding.


"The Hampton Roads region really wants to be an East Coast hub for the offshore wind industry. And so, we want to make sure that we're growing our capacity in the skilled trades, not just piecemealing in and barely meeting the needs," Avery says.


"We want to have an abundance of those skills in our region. You throw in the infrastructure that are coming, the bridges and the tunnels that we have in our area, that's also going to be a drain on the system. We need to make sure that we're overproducing what we need in those skilled trades."



Victoria Lim wrote this article for WorkingNation.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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A new bill in Sacramento would dramatically raise K-12 school funding targets by 50% over ten years. Assembly Bill 477 is intended to help districts raise educators' pay, to attract more people to the profession and keep them there.

Grace Consentino is a middle-school science teacher in Novato.

"My commute every day is a total of one hour and 30 minutes. I would love to be able to live in the town that I work in, but I live in a separate county because the cost of living is so high," she said. "This is why teachers leave."

A recent study on the state of education in California found one in three new educators is seriously thinking about leaving, mostly because of low pay. The bill would hike the local control funding formula.

Opponents say they are concerned about cost. The Assembly Appropriations Committee has not yet completed a fiscal analysis.

Dannel Montesano is a longtime attendance clerk in the Galt Joint Union School District.

"Starting paraprofessional pay in my district is $18.63 an hour, while down the street at McDonald's, the starting pay is over $20 an hour. So, our schools are suffering from constant turnover and staffing issues," Montesano said.

California is bracing for a big hit to the state budget, as tax receipts are expected to be lower. In addition, Congress has proposed billions in cuts to Medi-Cal. And the administration has threatened to pull federal funding from schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, sponsored the bill, which went before the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday.

"The Trump administration is attempting to dismantle public education and defund our schools. California must fight back to defend public education," he said.


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After several weeks of public comment, bills addressing school finance in Texas will be presented to the House of Representatives.

House Bill 2 is the public school funding bill and Senate Bill 2 is the voucher proposal, along with its companion bill, House Bill 3.

Chandra Villanueva, director of policy and advocacy for the group Every Texan, said the proposed voucher initiative, which would provide students $10,000 to help pay for private school, would hurt public schools and low-income families.

"Our schools are funded based on attendance, so when kids leave the system, the schools will get less money," Villanueva explained. "Until you can actually close a campus, you still have all of your same fixed costs around utilities, teachers. You'll see more overcrowded classrooms."

Backers of school vouchers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have said public schools will not be negatively affected. This is the second legislative session where Abbott has made a voucher program his top priority.

Teachers, advocacy groups and even members of the Republican Party have spoken out against vouchers. Many Texas teachers spent their spring break testifying before the legislative committee. Villanueva emphasized although the proposal is out of committee, they are not giving up.

"Members need to hear from their constituents," Villanueva stressed. "The public education committee has been targeted the most -- but even now, if your member is not on that committee, they're going to be the ones who are hearing this bill. And a lot of amendments are going to be offered up on the House floor. So that's an opportunity to try to limit the voucher, try to put more guardrails on it."

Both bills are expected to be brought to the House floor at the same time, but a date has not been set.


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Nearly 22,000 Florida college students could lose critical tuition help under a state House budget proposal.

The plan would cut $3,500 annual grants for students at 15 private schools throughout the state, including three historically Black universities and Embry-Riddle, the nation's top civilian flight school.

House lawmakers tied eligibility for Florida's Effective Access to Student Education (EASE) program to five performance metrics, including a 54% graduation rate and affordability benchmarks.

Bob Boyd, president of Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, warned of fallout.

"It's going to really devastate our sector," he said. "These are students pursuing nursing degrees, becoming pilots, teachers, and they are going to - a lot of them will drop out of their high-demand degree fields because they're not getting this voucher."

House leaders have said their new performance metrics ensure accountability - affecting just 1.2% of Florida's higher-ed students. But Boyd noted that his schools produce 30% of Florida's nurses while getting just 2% of state funding.

Keiser University Vice Chancellor Belinda Keiser said the cuts would hit non-traditional students hardest - working adults, single parents and first-generation college-goers who rely on these grants.

"Thirty-five hundred dollars a year over the next four years will be taken away," she said. "That might cause some of those students pursuing nursing, pursuing Homeland Security, pursuing cyber - and we offer all those degrees - to drop out. And to me, talent should always be one of your best investments."

The Senate's budget fully funds EASE without new metrics, setting up a clash in the conference committee. Lawmakers must reach a deal by April 29 to allow the constitutionally required 72-hour budget review before the May legislative deadline.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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