DeLaney: ‘My colleagues across the aisle are playing a zero-sum game’

Yesterday, the House Education Committee passed House Bill 1001 along party lines. This bill is an attempt to correct problems with last year's HEA 1002. It sought to create job training opportunities for high school students who may not be interested in attending a two- or four-year college. This year's bill extends the program to post high school training. It seeks to fund this by draining resources from our successful college scholarship programs.

“My colleagues across the aisle are playing a zero-sum game,” Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) said. “They believe that we can’t help kids that don’t want to go to college without hurting those who do.  

“The bottom line is that this proposal will not increase education funding but will simply shift it away from higher education to pay for a new, untested program.  

“The money for the 21st Century Scholars program has been devoted to Hoosier students and universities for decades. I am sorry to say the result of diverting this funding to pay for this rushed job training program will hurt poor, minority, and male students the most at a time when our college going rates have dropped from 65% to 53%.

“At the same time, the majority party rejected my attempt to protect children from being exploited by an apprenticeship program that leaves them unpaid for doing valuable work. What we saw today is that Republicans on the education committee refuse to slow down and implement a job training program in a logical and coordinated fashion. Neither our students, nor our state budget is being protected.”