West Virginia Press Association Staff Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Development and Labor Issues, on Monday, began their final meeting ahead of the Regular Session by hearing a presentation regarding adult education.
Beginning the presentation was WV Adult Education Southeast Region Instructor and Administrative Assistant Lucy Lester. Lester is also the State Advocate for Adult Education Fellowship.
“I’m here today with three of our adult-ed students who are going to speak to this committee in a little bit,” Lester began. “But first I’d like to just go through what Adult Education does, and how they support West Virginians, and what all we do for our students.”
According to Lester, West Virginia’s Adult Education programs service those who are 16-years-of-age and older, and not currently enrolled in high school. The programs offered include high school equivalency diplomas and various other certificates, all leading the student toward secondary education.
“This is all free to adults in West Virginia,” Lester added, noting that the programs receive both state and federal funding. “These programs give students the opportunity to have a second chance to succeed in life.”
Joining Lester for her presentation were Adult Education students John Crawford, Asmael Saifo, and Cleotha White. Crawford, a Bridge Valley student and double-amputee, was the first of the students to address committee members.
“The highest grade level that I had was ninth grade,” Crawford said. “When I started, mathematics was my worst subject, and they encouraged me repeatedly to work through. This semester, with the guidance and help from these individuals at the center, I have literally learned how to do a complete amortization table, to do a home-ownership loan, how to do fixed-rate annual percentage rates, and I learned all of this starting in May with no more education than how to move fractions on a piece of paper.”
“I had never written an essay before in my life,” Crawford added. “I got an A in my English class, and I got the only 100% given from a tenured professor who worked at West Virginia University (WVU). […] These individuals, they’ve literally turned my life around.”
Next to address committee members was Syrian immigrant Asmael Saifo, who said, “When I joined this program in 2014, my English was zero.”
“My son gave me his phone number and the address of my apartment, and he put it in my pocket,” Saifo continued. “He said, ‘Don’t go anywhere. Your English is zero, you cannot communicate with people. When he left and moved to Florida, I used this paper a lot for people to take me home. Now I can travel everywhere by myself and my wife with me.”
“Imagine yourself in foreign country by yourself without any friends,” Saifo added. “This program is not just teaching us English – it is teaching us everything.”
The final student to address the committee was Cleotha White. According to Lester, White suffered a traumatic brain injury which left him unable to read. White has been attending Adult Education classes for 19 years, and has regained the ability to read.
“I met a very nice family who told me about the GED program,” White said. “They got me started, and I ran with it. My reading was zero zero. You could put three letters together, and for me to say that word, I couldn’t say it. But today I can read.”
“This program has helped me so much,” White added. “I’m doing a lot better. This program gave me a chance to get my GED. I’m still struggling, and I still have a lot of obstacles that I’m going through, but this program is the best that I’ve ever been in.”
According to Lester, there are approximately 10,000 enrolled Adult Education students in the State of West Virginia.
Shifting gears, committee members next heard an update from WorkForce West Virginia Director Scott Adkins regarding the state’s unemployment fund, and year-to-date 2023 unemployment numbers.
“If you look at the initial (unemployment) claims in 2023, we actually had 2% less claims than we did in 2022,” Adkins said. “[But] we paid out 42% more benefits in 2023 with fewer claims than we did in 2022.”
“Now there’s a couple factors at play there,” Adkins continued. “The weekly benefit amount went up to $662 just a few years ago. That was at $424. That’s going to continue to go up every year because it’s based on the average income of West Virginia workers.”
According to Adkins, West Virginia’s average income was $51,614 in 2022, raising the weekly rate in 2023.
“[In addition] we paid out nearly 36,000 more weeks in benefits with fewer claims,” Adkins added. “So folks are staying on unemployment just a little bit longer. It’s a week longer across all sectors. If we continue to pay out more than we bring in, […] at some point we’re going to come to a head with the unemployment compensation trust fund.”
The West Virginia Legislature’s 60-day Regular Session begins Wednesday, January 10.
