WILTON – In the middle of the summer, in a nondescript office building alongside Route 2 & 4, the local CareerCenter held a job fair.
It featured a wide range of employers: Cianbro, Irving Forest Products, Sunday River, Woodland Senior Living, the Franklin Community Health Network. Coincidentally, the fair took place just five days after the Verso Corporation announced that the previously-idle No. 3 paper machine would be shut down for good. One hundred and twenty positions were eliminated, more than a year after the 2015 shutdown of two other machines resulted in 300 layoffs.
Not coincidentally, the job fair was packed.
The CareerCenter’s staff – four positions in total – is led locally by a manager, Patty Ladd. She has worked at the building since it opened in 1999. Ladd and her staff assisted would-be employers and employees at the fair on July 25, in addition to providing computer access, workshops on resume construction and helping people polish their interview skills. The turnout was exciting for the organizers; other CareerCenters hold quarterly or even monthly job fairs if there’s enough interest.
That same month, Governor Paul LePage sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, requesting that the state replace three workforce boards with a single group to oversee job training. He argued that the single board would allow for federal resources to flow more directly to job training programs. The request was opposed by all three existing boards and the Maine County Commissioners Association. The U.S. Department of Labor denied the request.
Last week, Ladd and her staff received notices that they were going to be laid off.
LePage had rejected $8 million in federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding for the three workforce boards, accepting enough money to operate the Maine Department of Labor’s CareerCenters for the first quarter of the fiscal year. That quarter was later extended by one month, until the end of October.
It wasn’t clear, Ladd said Thursday evening, if the CareerCenter building will remain open after Oct. 31. The layoffs are conditional, dependent upon the state not accepting WIOA funds prior to the end of the month.
More than just Ladd’s staff works out of the CareerCenter building. It’s also home to the Bureau of Rehabilitation, which works to improve the lives of disabled adults. A number of consultants, partners and businesses make use of the space; for example, assessments for would-be employees of Poland Spring are conducted there. At any time, Ladd said, there are ongoing projects lasting anywhere from a week to four or five months operating out of the building.
In total, Ladd said, roughly 40 percent of the building’s funding is paid for out of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds. It goes toward paying the rent, the computers and the staff. Ladd and her staff have been moving ahead as if expecting to work beyond the Oct. 31 date, to make certain there’s no slack should the WIOA funds come through after all.
Statewide, the loss of funding would impact 60-plus employees, but locally the immediate impact of the CareerCenter closing would be felt by people attempting to access its services. The center provides computer access and web application assistance, for example, including support for the statewide Maine Joblink site which links job seekers to employers via skill set and industry searches. The loss would also be felt by employers that have used the CareerCenter system to find employees and organize training.
In Franklin County, however, workforce development programs are interconnected. Changes at the CareerCenter, much less a total shutdown, will impact adult education programs and other organizations that rely on Department of Labor funding and organization. This reduction, program directors say, will impact a larger subset of Franklin County residents.
“I don’t know how much people realize it’s a marriage between adult education programs and the CareerCenter,” Robyn Raymond, director of Spruce Mountain Adult Education said. Program directors have been scrambling, she said, to try and determine how to deliver services previously organized and/or funded with the WIOA money.
Spruce Mountain’s College Transitions program, which prepares people continuing their education beyond the high school level, had 27 participants in the latest class. Of this 27 people, Raymond said, 25 went on to some sort of post-secondary education program, be it a community college, a trade school or a university. One of the more important benefits of the College Transition program is that qualifying students can receive tuition and mileage reimbursements after they begin attending classes.
Raymond said that for many residents of the greater Jay/Livermore/Livermore Falls area, such as displaced mill workers, the College Transitions program represented an investment. Rather than moving their family away, or seeking employment at a lower wage, the individuals invested time in their own education in a bid to get a good, local job. Suddenly, Raymond said, it wasn’t clear that the adult ed program would be able to access the funds that covered the reimbursements.
“Talk about being hit twice,” Raymond said, referring to the mill layoffs, followed by the potential loss of tuition.
The loss of funds could also impact the Spruce Mountain’s medical assistant program, a collaboration between Franklin Memorial Hospital, the CareerCenter and Adult Ed. The program is intensely popular – Raymond had 56 people turn out for a chance at one of 10 spots – and benefits both the employee and employer: hospitals need medical assistants, while possessing the proper certification opens up a number of career paths to the employee. The $3,000 tuition for the program, previously covered through $30,000 to $40,000 of WIOA funding, now might need to be covered by some combination of the student and the adult ed program.
Raymond said that she tries not to push the looming funding crunch onto the Adult Ed students – 918 in all, counting community education enrollments. The last thing many of her students need, she said, is another stressor. She’s been contacting her local state representatives, trying to raise awareness about the issue.
Glenn Kapiloff, director of the Franklin County Basic Adult Education, called the potential loss of funding “devastating.” Earlier this year, local businesses and adult ed programs collaborated to bring an introductory Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning course to the region. Running for six weeks, the program provided students with an overview of the subject, setting them up for a potential career that both pays well at an introductory level and meets the needs of employers eager for technicians. Organizers had hoped to hold additional HVAC courses with the assistance of the CareerCenter.
Along a similar vein, Kapiloff has been trying to organize an industrial sewing course – two local businesses are now actively seeking employees in that field. Without the CareerCenter and the WIOA funds, he said, that might not happen.
The CareerCenter helps organize tours, bringing would-be students to local businesses and bringing employers into the schools. Department of Labor employees impacted by the loss of WIOA funds are the ones that help organize the 75-plus businesses that pack Mt. Blue Campus for its Career Expo.
“[The CareerCenter] provides a net that reaches further than what we have locally,” Kapiloff said. The decision to withhold the funds, he said, would fly in the face of the often-stated focus – at the state and the federal level – to prioritize job creation.
What concerns Kapiloff the most is what he referred to as the “ripple”: indirect impacts of the refused funding that organizers can’t foresee. He compared it to cuts approved at the county level for adult education and organizations such as Western Maine Transportation. Less money for Western Maine Transportation meant fewer routes, which made it more difficult to get students to courses. Fewer participating students meant some classes couldn’t meet their minimum student thresholds, reducing options for students with their own transportation.
Kapiloff noted that he had intended to begin offering more programs in the evening – the predominately daytime schedule for Adult Ed programming could be a barrier for those currently working – but wasn’t certain that would be possible following the cut in county funding.
“We do a lot of things that people don’t notice, day in and day out,” Kapiloff said, “and then they’re gone.”
The adult education directors, much like Ladd, hope that the governor changes his mind before the end of the month and accepts the federal WIOA funding. In addition to local representatives, the leaders of some organizations have begun reaching out to the state’s Congressional Delegation and Secretary of Labor Acosta.
Meanwhile, Ladd and others are meeting and trying to piece together resources for programs that Ladd described as “extremely helpful in getting people to work that might not otherwise be there.”
“It takes a whole community,” Ladd said, “to keep people employed.”
#MAGA
This is sad. Waytago, Gov!
What a clown LePage is! He never misses an opportunity to be vindictive.
How can any state elect such an imbecilic unempathetic person to a position of dogcatcher?
We are voting with our feet before the next election.
Sad way to go, Gov. is right! It is my understanding that CTE at RSU 9 is reimbursed 101% from a grant. Hopefully that will not be affected because you know who will have to kick in the difference.
I care about this community and feel the local CareerCenter is a huge part. Most people I know have used at least one of the services in this article, and the fact that we can walk in to a local building is extremely important, to say nothing of all the connections to other services. I want to believe it matters if we make our voices heard. Here are some numbers to call: Governor LePage 1-855-721-5203; Senator Thomas Saviello 287-1505; Congressman Poliquin 202-225-6306; Chellie Pingree 202-225-6116.
So, the Governor wants Mainer’s to go to work, but wants to cut the resources to get them there?
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These are the very resources that we need.
This is a great story but why don’t you report the other side? Why did Governor LePage decline the $8 million dollars? Perhaps he has a vendetta against Patty Ladd and her staff? I highly doubt it but I’m sure there is another side to the story that is left out.
Terrible loss for our community!
This makes me sick. The governor gives lip-service promises about improving the business climate and helping Maine’s people get to work and then pulls a stunt like this for personal paybacks, disgraceful.
Another small step towards 3rd world status.
Sure, it’s all the Governor’s fault that we have problems. Crap on him because he doesn’t cut taxes and save you money, then crap on him again when he tries to save you some money.
The Governor has saved this State a lot of money !! I’m sure if his side was included in this article,he has a good reason for not taking the money. Until we hear his side of the story we shouldn’t start with the name calling.
Hey Ed W, wake up! This is another example of Le Thug screwing the little guy so he can cut taxes for his millionaire buddies. I remember as 20 year old in the early 70’s working my butt off as a mason tender and wanting to get some training or get into college to better myself, and having no opportunity to do so. I could barely afford night classes which I’d travel 100 miles round trip but would be so exhausted from lugging bricks and mixing mortar all day I would fall asleep in class and fail.
I believe in giving a hand up for people who need it and appreciate it just like the G.I s got after WW11.
The Gov’s record as a highly paid manager of a salvage business and former Mayor has always been to cut and slash to save on the short term so he can say he saved money. When someone takes his place they realize the damage he has caused to the ship and the repairs will cost us all twice as much to fix. Good strategy if you’re banking on people forgetting and easily swayed by passing the buck. I predicted this exact scenario the day he was a potential candidate. Just wait until his prodigy acting president leaves office, we will be in a much deeper hole on the Fed level and the next will have to fix it. Even the simpsons predicted that one. Great job GOP, you know how to pick’em.
I attempted to use their services and found it to be a ineffective organisation and in my opinion and experience should of been shut down long ago.
“Enthusiasm for a cause sometimes warps judgment.”
— William Howard Taft
As the article points out, many services are connected through the local center. I don’t see this as a matter of sides but a chance to stand up for our community needs before it’s too late. Even if you had a negative experience, are you certain you want to let and entire set of resources for job seekers and people who are trying to learn leave the area?
farmingtowner, I can empathize. On the surface, the Career Center appears to be an important part of our local economy. My son went to them last February, in hopes of getting aid to help him find a job. The CC and one of their associated organizations have given him a boatload of broken promises and broken appointments instead. He has special needs for which the CC said they could give him all kinds of help, and nothing at all has come to fruition. Here it is 8 months later, he has had only one interview, he still has no job, and he has given up on the Career Center. I’m now trying to invent ways of how to employ him myself so that he can at least get a foothold in the job market.
Yeah, thanks a lot, Governor LeRage. A family member is losing their job over this. Happy Holidays to you, too.
We have people who need good jobs. Federal money was there to support training, coordination of resources, communication between employers and potential employees.
Who will fulfill this roll now? Governor LePage: Who? How, and When? and with what funding?
I agree the building should be closed. Tried using it a few times with no avail. It was a huge waste of time and red tape nonsense. Close the building, save the millions and just let adult ed help the needy as they do now.
So sad.. now what Governor Lepage.. I see you still have your job
The rich get richer and the poorer get poorer..
This was a great resource for people in Franklin County.. now they will have to travel and no money to travel with.. Thank you governor.
Sorry for you all at the career ctr.
Where have elected officials Russell Black, Tom Saviello, Lance Harvell and also Franklin County Commissioners Charlie Webster, Terry Brann and Clyde Barker been on this? I receive some of their folksy friendly constituent reach-out newsletters and cute social media pics of them posing with calfs, but have not seen nor heard anything about their opposition to this move by LePage and the impact it would have on displaced workers in their own backyard. Where’ve you been, boys? Please explain what measures you took to you try to dissuade the guv on this and how effective you were in doing so.
Literacy Volunteers is also impacted by this problem as we collaborate with 3 Adult Education programs and 2 Career Centers in 2 counties to provide tutoring to adults. We have written letters to request funds release.
I never called my political representatives until very recently, and I don’t do it often. But I think the time has come to let them know how their constituents feel about important issues instead of just accepting whatever is decided for us. Maybe calling doesn’t matter, but I doubt they all read the comments here which is why I posted the numbers. And @ Sammy, the article says the adult ed is funded from the same money.
Aren’t folks, receiving unemployment, required to participate in workshops offered through the Center?
Thank you, “let your voice…” for those phone numbers. I was wondering what I could do to help, and you gave me one possibility.
Let your voice be counted
The adult ed program will not be affected.. we don’t need that big fancy building..
Close it and use adult ed service or apply for a job at the employer directly..it’s done a poor job of finding people jobs!!!its just red tape nonsense.. good decision governor!!
When the business I worked for closed, they had someone come talk, making it sound like they could really help us. But what it turned out to be, was a bunch of red tape and hoops to jump through so you could get you unemployment money (mine a “wonderful” amount of $86 a week) these were mandatory meetings.
I’m sure they have helped many, many people and I don’t want to see them shut down.
But if they do close I’m just wonder how far the unemployed will have to travel now to jump through hoops to get the little amount of unemployment money they’ll receive, which will then be spent on gas to get there.
I thought adult ed was funded from the RSU 9 budget ? Seems like some misinformation somewhere here !!!
I heard they pool resources to offer help to train folks. We need them to work together with employers so we can have jobs.
Thanks for the phone numbers.
I will call all of them and insist that they give more support to the Governor in his efforts to keep us out of bankruptcy.
Also… Is it possible the career center is like the educational system in this state…. Bunch of ineffective folks circling the wagons protecting their turf,, on our taxes?
Of course they don’t like the Gov because he is not their puppet.
Think I’ll make that call now. Starting with Pingree.
I support this courageous Gov.
He is a brave man.
Anyone that says they need help finding a job doesn’t want one! Jobs are available everywhere, ask any employer if they can find enough good help. So sick of people feeling entitled to easy living. Find the ambition to look and you’ll see there are plenty of jobs without those of us that are working paying for your search. Sorry, not all jobs are glamorous and you might have to get your hands dirty…
I can personally say that this budget freeze does not make any since to me. LaPage you are complaining about the welfare cases being so high in the state of Maine but yet you cut one of the major sources in the state of Maine to help lower those numbers?? I have been working for professional employers since I was 15 starting with a work permit and now am a employee for a company where I work 40+ hours a week. I am currently attending Medical Assistant Class through Spruce Mountain Adult Education where I was informed that I would be able to apply for scholarships to help me financially afford this program. I have busted my rear end to get into this course along with my fellow classmates. Being told that there is a freeze in the budget along with being told their are layoffs at this career center is an extreme slap in the face to these men and woman. They have helped me in a tremendous way with the medical assistant class and also with other employments. I have never met such a driven group of men/ woman so supportive of their community and helping people succeed in which ever career path they take. I personally have been working up the medical field ladder since I was a junior in high school with a goal of becoming a Medical Assistant. I have been given the amazing opportunity to complete this goal/dream with Adult Ed then being told sorry funding is at freeze is a HUGE disappointment to me. LaPage I have always been a big supporter of you but this has affected me and my family directly. My husband and I have put a lot into our community and to be told we are not able to get a little support is very discouraging. You can’t complain about high welfare statistics are in the state of Maine then take away our community resources to help lower this. You want your cake and to eat it too is a good example. I want to thank Wilton Career Center for all you do and thank you for giving us hope and sticking beside us all when times get tough and seems like we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. You always do! And help us find it too!! High respects to you all from me and my family!!!
R.A.H people collecting unemployment call to set it up. Yes there are mandatory classes you take to receive your “benefits”. I know some people who have gone to these classes and it didnt amount to anything !!! They sat through an eight hour class and got nowhere except the check in the mail that they already had paid into the system along with there employer.
People on unemployment should not have to go through the classes to get money that is due to them for there hard work. I see this as the first step to stop wasting money in this department of the state as Gov. LePage has been doing the last several years.
Like Captain Planet said if people want a job they can go directly to the employer and fill out an application. If the employer is far enough away you cant drive there you most likely won’t commute there to work either.
In a recent letter to Governor LePage I asked him to help me seek to understand his line of thinking. How might we benefit from denying workforce funds that I currently fail to see? As much as I would like to hear directly from Mr. LePage and have an open dialogue about his decision, I am equally interested engaging in civil discourse with community members that have opposing views and support the return of $8 million in federal funding.
I am extending an open invitation to visit Spruce Mountain Adult Education on Monday, October 23rd at 9:00 am. Here you will be able to witness a network of community resources team together to support local people — specifically our current College Transitions cohort. Representatives from the Wilton CareerCenter, Central Maine Community College and the Maine Educational Opportunities Center will be collaborating with us that day . In addition, Maine Public Radio will be visiting our location and interviewing our adult ed staff. One of our major talking points? How the CareerCenter helps us pave the way for students to financially access our innovative training opportunities and become employed through Greater Franklin County businesses. My wish is to share our experiences and opinions with each other, but to also remain solutions-focused. If this interests you, please reach out to me: rraymond@rsu73.com.
The employers mentioned bring in millions of dollars, if the career center is vital for keeping them stocked with employees, then let them kick in the difference. Every time I have used the center, their performance has been less than stellar.
I’d also like to see representatives Saviello and Harvell engaging with this. What bothers me is that the governor’s move is just a financial matter of refusing available federal funding and seems to have no basis in assessing the programs. I’m sorry to hear about the anonymous Farmington homeowner’s frustrations with the service they received, but single anecdotal experiences are not enough to evaluate complex programs like this.
Jesse I totally agree going to employer for the job but a lot of businesses lack in advertisement of job postings. When I was searching for work the career center helped provide the tools like jobslinks.com that a lot of businesses report to when seeking new employers. Also I know I personally lack in making resumes the woman there helped me through this process. Other than schooling I am lost where I get help to learn those skills. There was a point in time where I had to fax time sheets to my employer in Bangor, I didn’t know anyone with a fax machine local that would be willing to let me come in any time of open business hours to complete this deadline requested by my boss each week other than the career center amazing office reasources. I will always stand behind this business and how helpful they have been to me. Jesse I am a firm believer that the amount of work you put into something the better results. The woman their are not going to do the work for you but if you show that you want to put good effort into something they bust their but to make sure you get where you want to go but you need to work at it too. I’m not saying that the people who didn’t have good luck with them didn’t work hard but the career center isn’t their to make you fill out resumes, make you go out into the community to look for jobs they are there to support you and give you the resources and tools you don’t have access at home. Have you ever been to the career center when you have been in need for employment and no where else to turn? I have.
Samantha I have not used the career center. I have always found jobs on my own. Being partially self employed I dont qualify for any unemployment for the three or so months a year I am out of work because of roads being posted. As Phil Keith said we cant judge the career center on one persons experience with them. One person has a good experience and another with a bad one.
Much like the Spruce Mtn Adult Education program, Franklin County Adult Education works with and relies on the services provided by the local Career Center and the support from those at the Department of Labor. I invite anyone from the community to attend a tour of the Mt Blue Campus on the first Thursday of each month when school is in session at 9:30 am. This is a collaboration of Foster CTE Center, Adult Education (Franklin County and Spruce Mtn), Central Maine Community College, the Career Center, Greater Franklin Development Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce. These organizations work to fuse economic and business needs with education and training available to both students and adults. The purpose is to strengthen the social and economic wellbeing of those living in Franklin County.
Imagine that. A one sided story focused on the plight of the bureaucrats and loss of ‘vital services’. Glad to see an ineffective staff overseeing ineffective programs finally kicked off the dole.
Really folks. Unemployment at all time lows and think the public is somehow served by thi whiney bunch? And no, they are not responsible for the all time lows. A well functioning capitalist economy growing in spite of the bureaucracy, not because of it is why unemployment is low.
I am a college graduate living in the college area and worked with this career center. The employees are not as capable as those at other career centers I have been exposed to, and the services that were offered were sub par in my opinion and certainly not worth the amount of government funding provided. Having been on the employer side of things, and attended job fairs looking for staff for the company I was working for, there are community centers that can be utilized that do not require this type of overhead funding and can be put on by the employers or other non profit agencies that do not require staff funding. The services that our company paid for utilizing the career center, while minimal, was not value added and was eliminated after a few years. While I agree with the sentiment that we need to put the funding in job creating and growing areas, I do not feel as though funding is being well utilized in this area.
I found this news story interesting, because I thought that in a way it breaks apart the “us and them” idea. A Republican government led by Trump is urging the Governor LePage to take the funding, if I understand it correctly. Not just “bleeding heart liberals”. I can also see LePage’s point of view, which the article presents. But as the article makes clear, it is not only the buildings, but most importantly the services that will be lost.
http://mainepublic.org/post/trump-admin-asks-lepage-reconsider-rejection-millions-job-training-funds
This news bit from WVOM sheds some light on the story. Governor LePage tried to do away with a layerof fat in administrative costs and they wouldn’t let him.
GHRT REWIND 10 17 LePage Rejects Fed Money 1345
The Governor wanted to combine three different departments to save on administration costs which equal about 10% of the money so he could put more towards job training. The Obama administration (as I understood from the radio) wouldn’t allow that to happen and now the Trump administration appears to be doing the same thing. If D.C. would allow this consolidation to happen the Governor wouldn’t have a problem accepting this money. When you are forced to spend $900,000 on admin that is unnecessary that is ridiculous.
So the logic is to unemploy people (14 in Franklin County) who help unemployed people access training and job skills and to find jobs just because he didn’t get jis own way? This still makes no sense to me other than a selfish act. Jesse, how could you even know that admin is unnecessary? Are you an auditor or have actual data to support this or is because you believe so and so says so, so it must be true? It’s okay, I know you can’t actually answer this I’m just feeling isolated these days because it seems that every angry childish grown man gets to force their way on everything that helps people get by and I just have to sit in amazement and wonder if it really is 2017. Good luck with health insurance.
Samo I can only go by what I heard on the radio. I was putting the Governors side out there. The admin may be necessary but with my knowledge of government I highly doubt it is. There is plenty of waste in government. As far as health insurance goes its a no win situation so many dont want it and many do want it. Should it be mandatory? NO !!!! Should it be available for those who do want it ? Yes but not at everones expense. It should be affordable for evry person who wants it. Expanding medicaid proved expensive before and we’re still paying that debt off. Now at least we will be able to seek other plans outside of the state. Two insurance companies is hardly a descent option as our third option we have now is leaving as of January 2018.
Jesse,
Federal money goes somewhere. If LePage wants to single handedly help trim the federal budget by rejecting funds for Maine, most of it for rural Maine, you won’t feel the savings in your federal taxes, but the impact of those funds, expanded Medicaid, job training money, etc., is another significant loss for this area. Your ideology works at a personal household budget level, but austerity has been proven to be bad for the greater economy, and this is just another outdated idea that LePage holds. He has done more damage to rural Maine, and ironically that’s where he gets most of his votes.
I think your prejudice about the word administrator might be clouding your judgment. $900,000 on how many career centers across the state? It’s not that much money if you think about hiring full-time people who have invested in their education to get them to be able to do the job…. so let’s just say you hire administrators at $60,000 including their health benefits, how many can you hire for under a million? Around 15. The article posted says the state has 12 centers. So even if you hate the fact that someone could make $60,000, it’s possible that it is split amongst several lower salaried workers in each center. I don’t know anything about the budget, but I find it useful to stop and crunch numbers when I see people using a million dollars as a huge wasteful amount of money. Think, please, before you get on board with our moronic governor.
Yokel control you misunderstand what the point here. The point is that the amount of administration is not needed the job can be done with less so MORE money can be put towards job skill training for people who may not have taken full advantage of there free public education. I will support our Governor because he has brought this state out of the red and into the black unlike any Governor in recent history. He’s not all about handing out money on the back of the working class…. we will have to agree to disagree on how money is best spent…
Jesse, Are we discussing the rejection of federal dollars into the State of Maine, something even Donald Trump can’t understand the logic of?
On a separate issue: Yes, LePage did put the budget right for the state, on the backs of the poor, working poor and rural communities.
Neither of us know wether or not President Trump even knows this has happened. Maybe so.
Im curious as to what the poor had to do with getting the state back in the black. The working poor ? I know what I make a year and its hardly middle class wages or even close to being above the “poverty level” so I’m not sure what you mean. The only way it was put on the back of the poor is if you mean when the Governor made DHHS enforce existing laws that require people to work? I don’t know many people that aren’t impressed with what the Governor has done for this state unless they lost some benefits or just don’t like republicans no matter what they do. Obviously any reasoning can’t be understood by some so have a nice day ….
LePage has systematically shifted the tax burden to local communities so your fight over education funding is because of this. If the state paid more, the impact on local people’s state income tax would be much lower than the impact on the community / people’s property tax under LePage’s policies. So yes, he hit rural Maine up for this budget windfall. Don’t worry though, Southern Maine is fine with it. He hurt his own people, and the people he supposedly hates, benefited. Oh, there are some budget fights over the education funding, down there, too, but they pony up the cash without any real cuts to their children’s education and opportunity. Plus, they saved some dough on their incomes above $200,000 that would have been dispersed to schools around the state. Sales on Volvos are up, I hear. Go LePage.
He’s not all about handing out money on the back of the working class….
You’ve got a lot of nerve Jesse.
I worked at Verso for over 20 years. I worked hard and earned every penny I ever made. I lost my job last year. The ladies at Spruce mtn adult ed and the career center were major blessings in my life. I think everyone that took the college transitions class would say the same thing. now i’m in college and the funding isnt there for me to continue. Tell me why your supportive of that!
I was a fan of LePage. I understand cutting admin cost. this is not the way to go about it!!! this hurts people and familys trying to get back on there feet.
and yes….Trump is urging our guv to change his mind.
I’m sure if you worked at Verso for over 20 years you must have severance or a nice pension.? Why not use that?
Government doesn’t owe you an education. Pay for it like rest of working people have to.
I have an uncle that worked at verso as well, know what he did ? He went and got another job !!!! He didnt whine about loosing his job or expect anyone to educate him in another field. I know a lot of mill workers that have moved on and not by using the career center to do it !!! Good for you to be back in college not everyone needs to get themselves thousands of dollars in debt to have a good career.