House Bill To Create Voc.-Ed., Job-Training Block Grants Advances

By Meg Sommerfeld

Washington

The House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training, and Lifelong Learning approved a broad workforce-development bill last week that would give states more control over vocational-education and job-training dollars.

The Republican-backed bill, introduced earlier this month as HR 1617, would eliminate 50 programs and replace more than 100 vocational-education, literacy, and employment and training programs with four block grants to states. Each grant would address a broad domain: youth-workforce preparation, training for adult workers, adult literacy and education, and vocational-rehabilitation programs....