| Education plays a key role in driving up
wages and keeping families off welfare, but for
many working parents, higher education is simply
priced out of reach. Stuck between the dual
challenges of working at low-wage jobs and caring
for their children, there aren’t enough resources
or hours left in the day to even consider stepping
foot in the classroom. Maine’s Parents as Scholars
program – a successful model pioneered in 1996 in
our state – is changing things by opening the
doors for many working parents and helping them
find ways to access post-secondary
education.
Parents as Scholars,
which provides the support necessary for working
parents who are pursuing post-secondary or
vocational education, is paying off for graduates
by helping them earn significantly better wages.
On average, graduates of the program earn $11.71
an hour–as compared to the median income of $8.00
an hour for former welfare recipients without
additional education. This extra income provides
these workers with an average of $160 more every
week, equivalent to about $8,000 more per year.
All told, the program helps about 1200
participants escape welfare each year – about
one-tenth of the state’s overall welfare
population.
Much of success of
Parents as Scholars can be traced to the hard work
of the participants. With a median grade point
average of 3.4, these parents are clearly
committed to giving their all to improve their
lives, build a better future for their children,
and end the cycle of welfare. Indeed, about 90
percent of the program’s graduates have left
welfare permanently.
To help expand access
to this remarkable new program, I recently
introduced the Pathways to Self–Sufficiency Act of
2002 in the U.S. Senate. My legislation would
expand access to this Maine program nationally,
permitting states to use federal welfare funding
to pursue programs like Parents as Scholars with
their own residents.
Designed to give the
same benefits to those participating in vocational
or post-secondary education that they would
receive if working, the Pathways to
Self-Sufficiency Act of 2002 gives states the
option to use federal dollars under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to
fund such efforts. By giving states additional
flexibility to provide help to these families,
state governments will be freed to undertake the
challenge and financial responsibility of
supporting the pursuit of post-secondary
education.
The legislation would
require participants to maintain satisfactory
academic performance, while also working at least
part-time. During the first two years, students
would be required to participate in at least 24
hours per week of class time, study time,
employment and work experience. For those enrolled
in a four-year program, participants would be
required to take part in a minimum of an
additional 15 hours of work beyond class and study
time, or a combination of class and study time,
work experience, and training, bringing the
overall work activity to 30 hours a
week.
The value of education
in improving income is bolstered by recent
findings of the Federal Reserve Board, which
showed that "median income between 1989 and 1999
rose appreciably only for families headed by
college graduates." As a member of the Senate
Finance Committee, I’m committed moving the
Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2002 through
the committee when welfare reauthorization is
taken up later this month.
Senator Max Baucus,
chairman of the Committee, has joined me in
sponsoring this bill, and I believe we have a good
chance of including this remarkable program in the
final legislation. The bottom line is that if we
expect parents to get off and stay off welfare, we
need to give them the tools to find good jobs,
whether it’s job training, education or breaking
down barriers to employment like substance abuse
or domestic violence. Using Maine’s Parents as
Scholars program as a model, the Pathways to
Self-Sufficiency Act will be a crucial first step
toward achieving this
goal. |
