Why Adult Basic Education should be moved from TEA to TWC

This editorial is based upon testimony Mr. Townsend gave recently at the state Capitol in support of HB 1629, authored by Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso.

A lot of economic developers and the communities they represent say they seek to be globally competitive. The Greater McAllen Alliance’s efforts truly are global in their targets.

The GMA is a collaboration of the economic development corporations of the cities of Edinburg, Hidalgo, McAllen, Mission, Pharr and Weslaco. We work together to market the McAllen metro area, which is essentially all of Hidalgo County, as the choice location for companies’ expansion or re-location decisions.

In the last two years, GMA has made recruiting trips to Korea and China touting Texas, and particularly the Texas-Mexico border, as the place to be for global competitiveness. We invited, and have had, representatives from the Texas Workforce Commission and Governor Perry’s Office of Economic Development & Tourism to tout the Texas business climate.

Our objective is to retain or create primary jobs, particularly in manufacturing. Our selling points are our geographic position in North America, the business climate in Texas and our available labor. The obstacles we face are transportation infrastructure in and out of South Texas, an educated and skilled labor force and an aging U.S. population.

The McAllen metro area has been successful creating jobs and lowering unemployment, particularly in the retail and service sectors. But again, I stress our recognition of the importance of primary jobs. Let’s look at one sector, manufacturing. In 2005, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) surveyed its members. Here are some of the results of the survey: 90 percent of respondents reported moderate to severe shortage of production workers; 65 percent reported the same for scientists and engineers; over 50 percent said those shortages resulted in significant impact to their customers. Here is a key statistic: NAM estimates there will be a deficit of 10 million U.S. manufacturing workers by 2020.

That problem is compounded by the effects of baby boomers. Forbes recently reported that in the U.S. every seven seconds a person turns 60 years of age and in 3 years, 40 percent of all existing workers will reach retirement age. In fact, U.S. Department of Labor projections show fewer workers entering the workplace than jobs to be created by as early as 2012, much sooner than the NAM estimates in 2020.

Where does Texas land in this? Projections over that same period are better than the national picture because we continue to have a surplus of workers over jobs created, but the boomer dip will put pressure on employers across Texas. Unlike other states facing labor shortages, Texas, with available labor, must shift the focus to the education and skills of the Texas workforce.

How does education and skill sets affect the recruitment of jobs for Texas? Let me provide an example in the McAllen metro area (note details provided in our handout). A call center prospect seeking a site for 1,000 employees had us in the initial cut. Now these are not primary jobs, but in our area, these jobs would have been absolutely welcomed. We made the final list, but in the end the company chose Idaho. We pressed them for an answer as to why we were not chosen and learned our area was eliminated primarily for two key stats gleaned from the Texas State Data Center and U.S. Census – our population’s low attainment of high school degrees or GED and low percentage of individuals possessing an associates degree or higher.

Let’s return to part of the stats from NAM – the need for advanced learning workers and line workers. We support the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board along with school districts, community colleges and universities across Texas in their goals to meet the needs for future scientists, engineers, and business managers. GMA members have made it a high priority to put school district and community college administrators and educators together with area employers so all will begin to better understand the link between education and jobs. I am sure others across Texas have similar discourse.

However, to address the need for future production workers for Texas employers, we express our support for combining adult basic education together with job skills attainment, under the direction of the Texas Workforce Commission. We believe this will better allow Texas to maintain and grow its economy.

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