White House Wants New Apprenticeship Program
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta had a message for business groups, education and worker advocates at the first meeting of the Labor Department’s apprenticeship task force recently: The registered apprenticeship model is failing, and they need to come up with something better.
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Acosta supports apprenticeships and often speaks about the value of such experience. But, he’s wary about the current program, which relies on DOL certification and offers a financial incentive to participate. Instead, he’s touting a Trump administration plan to allow businesses, unions and other groups to develop and monitor apprenticeships themselves.
“The registered apprenticeship program that already exists does not work,” he said at the meeting, which was attended by Ivanka Trump, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Acosta said “0.3 percent of the workforce” use the registered apprentice program and lamented that it’s “not scaling.”
He said the program will continue, but the administration will simultaneously develop its own “parallel” apprenticeship program that will be “industry recognized.”
Attendees expressed frustration at the public attitude toward apprenticeships, saying they are seen as low-class options for building a career. Apprenticeships, they said, should be in parents’ and educators’ lexicon when they talk about career opportunities with students.
Acosta said President Trump is eager to get started: “He doesn’t want this to take years. He wants this to take weeks.”
Source: Politico