Handout # 5: Concerns, Issues, and Observations From the Field

The following information has been repeatedly articulated by stakeholders across Texas in reference to past workforce-related education initiatives. Those enrolled in programs, those providing the services, and those tasked with responding to plant closures have shared their perceptions of past programs. This information may be used to reflect upon a community's initiatives.

Concerns and Issues:

• Inadequate attention to developing the necessary infrastructure and capacity to effectively implement appropriate workforce-related literacy initiatives
• Unrealistic expectations about wages to be earned in new jobs without adequate skills and training
• A cycle of displacement resulting from the failure to adequately address workers' literacy and language deficiencies
• Lack of clear guidelines for accountability
• Unrealistic expectations and unclear criteria for program implementation and outcomes
• Inadequate preparation by service providers
• Historical turf conflicts among stakeholders

Observations Offered by Dislocated Workers about Past Education and Training:

• No input from workers/learners
• Insistence on learning English, with a focus on GED preparation
• Poorly prepared instructors
• Inappropriate job training / no new skills acquired / unsatisfactory re-employment
• Waiting periods for services
• Little consideration for individuals' low self esteem, age, health, or lack of education
• Lengthy sequential components (education, then training, then employment)
• Little connection between training and real job opportunities in the community
• Insufficient training to enable workers to change employment sectors and access better paying jobs in the service sector
• Short term income and medical assistance
• Few options to enroll in education and job training opportunities simultaneously
• Little integration of components

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