Education For The Unemployed

Friday Aug 21, 2009

President Obama wants to make it possible for people receiving unemployment benefits to go back to school.

He maintains that by retraining for reemployment or new employment that America can ¿lay a new foundation¿ for our nation¿s economic growth by investing in our citizens in this way.

I agree. Why haven¿t we done this before?

Generally those receiving unemployment benefits have to show that they are available and actively seeking a job. To be available for work, you can¿t retool or retrain on a full time basis. Although that seems like a reasonable goal, what if there are no jobs to return to? Would it not make better sense to be retraining or in class getting ready for jobs that are available and will be available in the future? Not to mention the jobs that are empty now because people with needed knowledge and skills are not prepared.

We need fundamental rethinking of our unemployment system and how it works. Can we have a better benefit for our economy and for the individuals looking for a brighter future?

With unemployment running double digits and a continuing recession of almost 2 years and running, I say, ¿Yes.¿ Let¿s change our paradigm and redo the structure.

This IS an idea whose time has come!

Category: Government

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