The Table Update

To keep you in the know:

At Adult Education Day and in previous blogs, we talked about the Governor’s proposed budget and Governor’s Workforce Cabinet recommendations for increased funding. This proposed increase was in line with Governor’s Workforce Cabinet Recommendations to Tackle Employer Talent Challenges and Accelerate the State’s Economy, which called for “significant and immediate increased funding to Indiana’s key adult education programs—Indiana Adult Education through DWD, Adult Charter High Schools, and the Workforce Diploma Reimbursement Program through GWC.” The increase in the introduced version (page 39, Line 27) was $16,985,041 for the first year and $20,985,041 for the second.

On February 20, House Ways and Means Committee passed a budget that took away those increases for DWD Adult Education at $12.9 million the first year and $12.9 million the second year.  The $12.9 million is the pre-pandemic level of funding for DWD adult education.

DWD Adult Education has not had an increase in funding since 2005.

There are 54 program providers across the state, offering over 250 class locations. The services offered include High School Equivalency Preparation and Testing, Career Certification, Workplace Education and Training, and English Language Instruction. The enrollment for 2020-2021 was 17,541, and 4,744 achieved graduate status. The waiting list for services across the state is approximately 8,000 eligible adults.

IAACE Advocacy Committee is working through strategic measures with our lobbyist Joe to ask the Senate to restore the increase in funding. Stay tuned.

If you have an interest in learning more, join the advocacy committee.

Jenn Wigginton

Jenn is the IAACE Executive Director. Her passion for adult education shines through in everything she does for IAACE. You can invite her to a chat for questions anytime. Click here to book a time to chat with Jenn