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‘This was my last chance': Fight to keep Job Corps open seen nationally and in Pinellas County

‘This was my last chance': Fight to keep Job Corps open seen nationally and in Pinellas County

Yahoo04-06-2025
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The Pinellas County Job Corps will host a job fair Wednesday to help its students and staff after the U.S. Department of Labor announced it would be pausing the Job Corps program nationwide.
Job Corps is a vocational trade school designed to help low-income students.
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'This was my last chance to actually do something with my life so I kind of want to help save this place,' said Skye Considine, a student at Job Corps.
Considine said she had about a year and a half left in her program at the Pinellas County location. Now, she and more than 100 other students have just days left before the campus closes down.
The Department of Labor Secretary said, 'A startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve.'
The program will pause operations at all Job Corps centers by June 30.
'Job Corps does so much and it fills so many needs in our community,' said St. Petersburg City Council Member Corey Givens.
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Givens worked at this Job Corps for five years. He said the closure will leave a devastating gap.
'Not only are 150 young people trained here but over 100 people work here. Not only will you have young people who are homeless, but now you have people who won't be able to feed their families and it's just unfair,' Givens said.
When asked if the city of St. Pete can do anything, Givens said they can put pressure on elected officials in congress.
Tampa Bay representative Kathy Castor sent a letter to the DOL secretary asking to reverse the decision, and wants certain questions answered by June 15.
Castor asked how student participation numbers were gathered for their transparency report and why one year's worth of graduation rates was given. She also asked if COVID-19 impacts were considered, if there are efficient structural changes that can be made prior to stopping operations, and more.
Considine said she would tell leaders how Job Corps helped give her a future.
'It's a really good place to be here, and I don't want this place to be shut down because this was one of my only other options that I had left,' Considine said.
The National Job Corps Association filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to protect Job Corps Tuesday.
'For generations, Job Corps has provided life-changing education and hands-on training to young people looking for a pathway to a better future,' said Donna Hay, President and CEO of the National Job Corps Association. 'These students are often overcoming significant personal and economic challenges and Job Corps gives them the ability to gain the skills they need to build meaningful careers.'
The job fair will be Wednesday, June 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. inside the gym at Pinellas County Job Corps. Both students and staff may participate. See the flyer below for more information.
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Guest column: Gary students deserve more than virtual replacements
Guest column: Gary students deserve more than virtual replacements

Chicago Tribune

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  • Chicago Tribune

Guest column: Gary students deserve more than virtual replacements

As the president of the Gary Teachers Union, I have the privilege of representing the hardworking educators who are the backbone of our community. So it's with deep concern that I must address the recent decision by the Gary Community School Corporation to contract with Proximity, a virtual education provider. This is a move that will replace up to 45 local educators with a teacher-on-a-screen. The misleadingly named Proximity promises a 'licensed teacher in every classroom,' but let's be clear — the deal will only leave students more isolated. This online platform is no silver bullet for the challenges we face in education. It is a shortcut that sacrifices the real, tangible, in-person connections that are essential to student success. I know firsthand how deeply our educators care about our students. We do more than just teach: we mentor, we support, and we understand the unique challenges that each student faces. We know the names of their parents and siblings and can recite their struggles, and their triumphs. We sit through late-night meetings and community events, not because it's part of the job, but because we are part of this community. Our students' success is our success, and their failures weigh heavily on our hearts. This partnership with Proximity is not just a decision to 'go digital' — it is a decision to replace the soul of education with something far more distant. And it's a decision being made with no union collaboration, no teacher buy-in. As the exclusive bargaining representative for our teachers, I wasn't even consulted. Proximity may promise technology that works for some, but a 'virtual teacher' will never attend a school concert, offer a shoulder to cry on, or help a struggling student after school. They will not build the trust and the personal relationships our students need to succeed. The claim that Proximity guarantees a 'licensed' teacher is not an assurance of quality. Licensing is important, but teaching is more than having a piece of paper. It's about understanding the nuances of each student's individual learning journey, responding to their needs, and building a rapport that encourages growth — things that cannot be replicated through an algorithm or a screen. Did we not learn this during COVID? Our public school teachers are not just 'licensed' — they are deeply committed professionals who live, work, and raise families in Gary. They are part of our community. Replacing them with a virtual talking head is an insult to their dedication and to the families that depend on them. Let's not forget the financial implications of this decision. This may not even be cost effective for the school district! Everything we've seen says we'll still need a 'classroom facilitator' to be physically present. How much more will this cost? To the administration of the Gary School Corporation: I urge you to reconsider this decision. This is not just about saving money or adopting the latest technological trend. This is about the future of our children, the integrity of our schools, and the livelihoods of the teachers who are committed to making Gary a better city for everyone. We deserve more than virtual replacements. Our teachers and this community have built a school system that puts children first. We need to fight for our teachers and paraprofessionals — the people who have dedicated their lives to this work and to this city. Our teachers deserve better. Our students deserve better. And the community of Gary deserves better than to be sold short by a for-profit virtual platform.

Trump voters wanted relief from Medical bills. For  millions, the bills are about to get bigger
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Trump voters wanted relief from Medical bills. For millions, the bills are about to get bigger

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'When families get stuck with medical debt, it hurts their credit scores, makes it harder to get a car, a home, or even a job,' she said. 'Medical debt wrecks people's lives.' For Americans with serious illnesses such as cancer, weakened federal protections from medical debt pose yet one more risk, said Elizabeth Darnall, senior director of federal advocacy at the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network. 'People will not seek out the treatment they need,' she said. Trump promised a rosier future while campaigning last year, pledging to 'make America affordable again' and 'expand access to new Affordable Healthcare.' Polls suggest voters were looking for relief. About 6 in 10 adults — Democrats and Republicans — say they are worried about being able to afford health care, according to one recent survey, outpacing concerns about the cost of food or housing. And medical debt remains a widespread problem: As many as 100 million adults in the U.S. are burdened by some kind of health care debt. Despite this, key tools that have helped prevent even more Americans from sinking into debt are now on the chopping block. Medicaid and other government health insurance programs, in particular, have proved to be a powerful economic backstop for low-income patients and their families, said Kyle Caswell, an economist at the Urban Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Caswell and other researchers found, for example, that Medicaid expansion made possible by the 2010 Affordable Care Act led to measurable declines in medical debt and improvements in consumers' credit scores in states that implemented the expansion. 'We've seen that these programs have a meaningful impact on people's financial well-being,' Caswell said. Trump's tax law — which will slash more than $1 trillion in federal health spending over the next decade, mostly through Medicaid cuts — is expected to leave 10 million more people without health coverage by 2034, according to the latest estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The tax cuts, which primarily benefit wealthy Americans, will add $3.4 trillion to U.S. deficits over a decade, the office calculated. The number of uninsured could spike further if Trump and his congressional allies don't renew additional federal subsidies for low- and moderate-income Americans who buy health coverage on state insurance marketplaces. This aid — enacted under former President Joe Biden — lowers insurance premiums and reduces medical bills enrollees face when they go to the doctor or the hospital. But unless congressional Republicans act, those subsidies will expire later this year, leaving many with bigger bills. Federal debt regulations developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Biden administration would have protected these people and others if they couldn't pay their medical bills. The agency issued rules in January that would have removed medical debts from consumer credit reports. That would have helped an estimated 15 million people. But the Trump administration chose not to defend the new regulations when they were challenged in court by debt collectors and the credit bureaus, who argued the federal agency had exceeded its authority in issuing the rules. A federal judge in Texas appointed by Trump ruled that the regulation should be scrapped. Levey writes for KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.

Changing of the Guard: It's Time to Buy Small-Cap Stocks
Changing of the Guard: It's Time to Buy Small-Cap Stocks

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Changing of the Guard: It's Time to Buy Small-Cap Stocks

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Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchIt is still relatively early in the season, but we remain confident that S&P 500 members will validate the trends established at this stage through the remainder of the Q2 reporting cycle. Earnings and revenue beats are also tracking above historical averages thus Outside of Large-Caps Market breadth has improved, with a greater number of stocks participating in the bullish rally. One area of the economy that benefits significantly from two key themes of President Trump's approach – deregulation and lower taxes – is small businesses. There's less red tape, allowing them to operate more terms of earnings, this is where the real growth is occurring. Small-cap companies, as measured by the Russell 2000, are set to deliver more than 60% year-over-year EPS growth in the second may be challenging to see now, as small-caps have lagged significantly throughout this latest bull market. 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