ITinfo: Training Funds May Be Cut In Favor Of H-1B Visas

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Federal Budget To Cut Training Funds

Government to allow more H-1B visa workers

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Training Funds May Be Cut In Favor Of H-1B Visas

by Dave Murphy
ISSN 1535-3613

The Bush White House want's to cut a technology training program for U.S. workers in favor of increasing the number of foreign workers coming to this country. The U.S. government says the job training program for Americans is ineffective because it doesn't create the type of highly-trained worker today's technology companies demand.

The goal of the job training program was to prepare U.S. citizens for high-tech jobs, specifically in order to reduce the need for foreign workers. The program, created by Congress in 1998, is financed in part by the $1,000 fee that employers pay when they request a foreign worker.

The Information Technology Association of America, based in Arlington, Va., defended the training grants and said they were never meant to be a quick fix. The training is a "major good for the economy and the public and the U.S. workforce," said association President Harris Miller.

The Bush administration reports that the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants are teaching low-level computer skills that aren't preparing U.S. workers to compete with highly-educated foreign workers, many of whom have college and graduate degrees.

Dave's Opinion

I think this is exactly the wrong position for the Bush administration to take. We should be encouraging U.S. workers to increase their skills through training, and the government should be facilitating technical training programs that challenge workers to improve themselves by learning the skills that will most benefit them and the nation. Now is not the time to take the easy road. Now is the time to improve ourselves.

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References

FY2003 Federal Budget
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http://itrain.org/itinfo/2002/it020415.html
updated April 15, 2002