Bush Pulls the Plug on Training

Date: Friday, October 04, 2002 12:34 PM

************ H-1B NEWSLETTER *************

* Get the Facts on H-1B at *
* www.ZaZona.com *

Our education president declared war against the training program that was
supposed to give Americans the skills to compete against H-1Bs. This article
doesn't mention the fact that Bush wants to use the funds to expedite the
processing of Green Cards for H-1Bs so that they can stay here permanently.

Bush officials admit that there are no other training programs that target
high-tech professionals. Why do we have a visa that targets American workers
to destroy their careers?

***** News Bulletin *****

ZaZona.com obtained reports that Bush will ask Congress for unlimited
authority to search and destroy what little is left of the careers of
American technical workers. Bush said that U.S. intelligience sources have
obtained evidence that the H-1B training funds have been linked to Al Qaeda
terrorist schools in Afghanistan. They are even being used to finance
research on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/tech_training020904.html

Give and Take
High-Tech Cuts Planned Under Bush Plan

By Claire Shipman and Kendra Gahagan

S A N J O S E, Calif., Sept. 4
— Professor Henry Estrada figures he knows something about success. For
three years, he has been drilling students with virtually no computer skills
in a grueling eight-week technical boot camp at Evergreen Valley College.

Every student has graduated and, even in really tough economic times, nearly
half have snared high-tech jobs.
"We've had instances of 19-year-olds who were previously working in
restaurants dishwashing, and then they land jobs at Sun Microsystems, and
then they're making $50k a year," said Estrada. "I mean that's pretty
phenomenal."

Most of the professor's students, who are training to become systems
administrators, come from minority and underprivileged communities in the
San Jose area. For many of them, the training means the first chance at a
professional career and the promise of a financially stable future.

In fact, 24 of this summer's crop of 25 students passed an
industry-recognized exam, which employees already in the tech field usually
take after a year or more of work experience. The passing grades mean
Estrada's students are certified and "job-ready" to work in the information
technology field.

"You see the sparkle in the eye … you see everybody supercharged, and you
just know, it's like they've been given a new lease on life," Estrada said.

Born of Compromise

But there's a catch. Just as the government-funded technical training
program is taking off, President Bush has pulled the plug.

It's part of a nationwide program, born of a political compromise. For a
fee, American companies were allowed to get more specialty visas, known as
"H-1B" visas, for skilled foreigners to fill vacant positions. That money
was then funneled into a program to train American workers for the same type
of jobs with a view to reducing the need for foreign workers in this field
in the long term.

The reliance on foreign workers has become a somewhat controversial issue
for the companies doing the hiring from overseas. During the tech boom and
the rise of dot-coms, companies regularly argued they could not find the
skilled workers they needed here in the United States to do the job and need
to go overseas.

The Information Technology Association of America, even in its latest
survey, says companies it polled say nearly 600,000 jobs will go unfilled in
the IT field this year due to a lack of qualified applicants.

Congress responded by gradually raising the annual cap on H-1B visas from
the original 65,000 in 1990 — when the special visa was created — to 115,000
in 1998. By 2000, the cap was raised to a high of 195,000, where it remains
today.

Over the years, the IT industry became the leading applicant for H-1B visas,
with more than half being used to bring in tech workers from India. But with
the tech bust of the past few years and tech companies alone laying off more
than 500,000 workers since last year, it is becoming increasingly difficult
for companies to argue they need to bring in more foreign labor. The H-1B
legislation is up for renewal in 2003, when many expect the cap for those
visas to be dramatically reduced.

Employers involved with the job training program funded from the H-1B fees
told ABCNEWS the homegrown graduates were just what they needed.

"I think the best indication that we're happy is that we keep coming back
for more," said Gary Serda, education communities manager at Sun
Microsystems, which sponsors the program at Evergreen Valley College. Sun
provides all the equipment for the Evergreen Valley program, as well as
training resources for the professors.

About Face

But Bush, who has called himself the "education president," has singled out
the program. Bush's budget team has called for the program to be canceled in
the fiscal year 2003 budget. Congress will now take up the matter as part of
its appropriations process, since legislation would be required to cancel
the program, as the administration has proposed.

While looking for money to put into other priorities, the team labeled the
program "ineffective."

But even as the Bush team has ordered the cut, the Labor Department's Web
site still touts the program's "much needed skills training."

"So when the president said to them, find me a place to cut," said Sen.
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., "they picked that one and they forgot to ask the
Department of Labor." Boxer has heard from scores of Silicon Valley
companies in her state protesting the cancellation of the program.

Now Labor Department officials, who had earlier touted the program, are
toeing the White House line, claiming the program doesn't work.

"In terms of the grants that have been issued," said Emily Stover DeRocco,
the assistant labor secretary, "the $196 million that have been invested,
those performance numbers have been quite low."

Administration officials say there are numerous other government-run job
training programs that they believe are working more successfully, although
none, they acknowledge, specifically target the high-tech skills gap so many
American companies cite.

Officials also argue the program is not reducing the need for foreign worker
visas and that its graduates are not getting hired in large numbers. But
officials from the Labor Department and the Office of Management and Budget
admit there has not yet been a comprehensive study done to know what the
nationwide hiring numbers are or whether the relatively young program is
working. Most of the first round of grant recipients just completed their
two-year grants this year.

Transformed Lives

Still, Estrada is hoping Congress will save the program and challenges
anyone to investigate his program as an example of results. He hopes
Congress will see students' success stories and realize this program serves
a long-term need, not a short-term fix.

Estrada points to students like Bea Luna, who recently achieved full
industry certification. For Luna, it was more than just a passing grade, but
also, a glimpse of a future she'd never even imagined.

"Just doing this class, I know it's going to happen for me," she said. "And
I never thought it would."

According to Estrada, the course has cost the government a mere $5,000 per
student. But for a student like Luna, a 23-year-old homemaker who is married
with a 1-year-old daughter, the impact the program has had on her confidence
level is invaluable.

"I'm a mom, I have a family … I don't have anything," Luna said. "I have a
high school diploma, that's it. And when I'm keeping up with these people,
it's a big confidence booster."

Gilbert Martin, 21, experienced a similar transformation. He was among the
first students to complete the training course funded under this training
program, and he was the first of those graduates to secure a job.

Martin seemed to surprise even himself at his graduation two years ago.

"I'm just a student that wanted something and accomplished it," said Martin,
choked up with emotion in his graduation speech.

The son of manual laborers who grew up in a rough section of San Jose
surrounded by drugs and gangs, Martin said the training steered him onto a
positive path in life

"You just completely turn around and do a 360 [-degree turn] and completely
change your view of life," he said.

Martin is now working at a tech startup company in Silicon Valley, after
previous jobs at Sun Microsystems and Adobe. Thanks to just eight weeks of
training, Martin is now an established technology worker.

But students like Luna and Martin may be some of the last graduates from
Estrada's classes if the administration has its way.

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