Schumer rallies for Upstate Job Corps centers
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer on Wednesday, June 11 demanded that the Trump administration stop its attempts to close Job Corps centers, including the one in Oneonta.
According to a news release from Schumer's office, closing the five upstate Job Corps centers would eliminate more than 550 jobs and take away the opportunity for thousands of students to get training for careers.
Schumer said Upstate New York's Job Corps centers — in Albany, Sullivan, Orleans, Otsego and Chautauqua Counties — "are essential for local small businesses and other employers that rely on Job Corps for a pipeline of new skilled workers to fill jobs."
Schumer said the Trump administration is not only attempting to shut down Job Corps centers by June 30, but in the recently released presidential 'skinny' budget request, Trump said he wants to totally zero out funding for the program.
Schumer "is leading efforts in the Senate to oppose these destructive and potentially illegal actions like pausing existing funds for the Job Corps centers by the Trump Administration to end this valuable program to train Upstate NY workers, and is demanding the GOP, especially NY House Republicans, many of whom have districts that rely on Job Corps, to stand with their constituents in fighting to save Job Corps by pushing the Trump administration to reverse course on these damaging policies," the release stated.
'Across Upstate New York, the Trump administration's cruel order to shut down Job Corps centers has caused students and teachers to scramble, and if this goes through, it will be our small businesses and local economies paying the price," Schumer said. "Job Corps is one of the best bang for your buck programs we have, one of America's largest workforce training programs with thousands upon thousands of success stories putting young people into good-paying careers and helping employers grow with new, skilled workers.'
According to the release, the Oneonta Job Corps is currently providing training to hundreds of students and employs about 130 staff.
"Attracting students from all across the country, the center prepares students for careers in auto trades, healthcare, and pre-apprenticeship union trades in electrical, tile, and cement masonry, " the release stated. "Oneonta's Smart Grid Advanced Training for Electrical program helps students develop the skills they need to work on overhead lines, underground residential distributions, and smart meter logic controllers."
In partnership with Mohawk Valley Community College, the center is training the next generation of drone operators through its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operator program, the release stated.
Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek spoke of the impact of losing the Job Corps campus in the city.
'The loss of the Oneonta Job Corps Academy would have a severe impact on our economy, our infrastructure, the capacity of our community services, and the quality of life in the city,' Drnek said. 'But beyond that, the closure of the Job Corps program, would be the retraction of a helping hand, and of the opportunity for hundreds of young men and women to pull themselves from poverty and place themselves on the very ladder of success that is the American Dream, in many cases providing precedent and role modeling to family, friends and neighborhoods.'
Last month, Trump paused operations at Job Corps centers nationwide sparking widespread outcry. Schumer said the move would kick more than a thousand young New Yorkers out of training programs "and potentially to the curb," create mass layoffs of hundreds of workers at Job Corps centers in every corner of the state and hurt local businesses and other employers in need of skilled workers.
"Since then, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the pause, but Job Corps employees and students are being left in the lurch and are being forced to scramble as they do not know what the future holds as a final ruling in the court case is pending and the Trump administration continues its attacks on the program," the release stated. In addition, according to the release, Trump's 2026 budget proposal would completely eliminate funding for Job Corps centers, effectively killing the program.
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