President Obama's American Jobs Act and Its Impact for African American Families

 

As you’ve seen, the President announced the American Jobs Act before a joint session of Congress last Thursday evening. The American Jobs Act reflects a commitment to strengthen the recovery and help increase access to jobs for all Americans. With unemployment among African-Americans at an unacceptably high rate of 16.7 percent – and 1.4 million African-Americans out of work for more than six months – the President believes that inaction is not an option. That’s why the President is putting out a plan to increase the pace of job creation, and why he is committed to fighting for Congress to act on this plan. These measures – which will expand opportunities for the long-term unemployed to reenter the workforce, provide incentives for businesses to hire, and make investments in revitalizing schools, infrastructure and neighborhoods – will help create new job opportunities in African-American communities and across the country.

The President’s plan will put Americans back to work in key areas that are central to America’s future competitiveness.  It will repair and modernize classrooms across the country and make sure that teachers who have been laid off because of budget cuts can be brought back to work.

• Preventing Teacher Layoffs:  As many as 280,000 education jobs are on the chopping block in the upcoming school year due to continued state budget constraints. These cuts could have a significant impact on children’s education, through the reduction of school days, increased class size, and the elimination of key classes and services. The President’s plan will support state and local efforts to retain, rehire, and hire early childhood, elementary, and secondary educators (including teachers, guidance counselors, classroom assistants, afterschool personnel, tutors, and literacy and math coaches).  These efforts will help ensure that schools are able to keep teachers in the classroom, preserve or extend the regular school day and school year, and also support important after-school activities.

• Modernizing At Least 35,000 Public Schools – From Science Labs and Internet-Ready Classrooms to Renovated Facilities($30 billion): The President’s plan calls for substantial investments in our school infrastructure, modernizing and upgrading America’s public schools to meet 21st century needs.  The cost of maintaining more than 100,000 public schools is substantial for already overstretched districts.  The accumulated backlog of deferred maintenance and repair amounts to at least $270 billion.  Schools spend over $6 billion annually on their energy bills, more than they spend on computers and textbooks combined.  For children in the nation’s poorest districts, these deferred projects too often mean overcrowded schools with crumbling ceilings and a lack of the basic wiring infrastructure needed for computers, projectors, and other technology. The President’s plan will invest $30 billion in enhancing the condition of our nation’s public schools – with $25 billion going to K-12 schools, including a priority for rural schools and dedicated funding for Bureau of Indian Education funded schools, and $5 billion to community colleges (including tribal colleges). The range of critical repairs and needed construction projects would put hundreds of thousands of Americans – construction workers, engineers, maintenance staff, boiler repairman, and electrical workers – back to work. 

• Safer, Healthier, and Technologically-Advanced Schools of the Future:   Permissible uses of funds would include a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade technology in our schools.   Local districts will also be able to put these funds to work to invest in upgrades to allow schools to continue to serve as centers of the community – from improvements to school ground outdoor learning and play areas to upgrades to shared spaces for adult vocational and job development centers.  These efforts will not only make our schools safer and healthier learning environments, but also ensure that our schools are fully equipped to teach 21^st century skills in math, science, and other technical fields and to serve as effective centers for workforce training and development.

• A Focus on Schools in Need:   To ensure that schools in the most disrepair will be able to make necessary enhancements, 40 percent of the funds will be directed toward the 100 largest high-need public school districts. This investment is particularly important as national surveys have found that the schools with the highest proportion of lower-income and minority students are least likely to have functional laboratory equipment. The remaining 60 percent will be directed towards states to allocate, and states would have flexibility to use those funds to service other high-need districts, including schools in rural areas.

• Modernizing Community Colleges to Train a 21^st Century Workforce:  America’s community college system was built up over 40 years ago to support education and training activities of that time.  These colleges are in desperate need of upgrades to ensure that facilities are equipped meet the demands of the 21st century workforce.  Deferred maintenance at community colleges is estimated to be $100 billion. As part of this school modernization initiative, the President’s plan proposes $5 billion of investments for facilities modernization needs at community colleges. Investment in modernizing community colleges fills a key resource gap, and ensures these local, bedrock education institutions have the facilities and equipment to address current workforce demands in today’s highly technical and growing fields.

Other highlights of the plan include:

• The extension of unemployment insurance will benefit 1.4 million African-Americans and their families, while providing targeted support for the long-term unemployed. In addition to extending unemployment insurance, the President is calling for reforms and tax incentives that will help the long-term unemployed secure a job.

• Support for subsidized jobs and summer/year-round jobs for African-American youth – for whom unemployment is above 30%. In an environment with an unemployment rate of 32.4% for African-American youths, the President is proposing to build on successful programs like the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund to create jobs and provide training for those hardest-hit by the recession.

• An extension and expansion of the payroll tax cut for nearly 20 million African-American workers. By extending the payroll tax cut for employees next year and expanding it to cut payroll taxes in half, the President’s plan will help increase the paychecks of nearly 20 million African-American workers – providing them with more money to spend in their communities.

• Tax cuts to help over 100,000 African American owned small businesses.  The President is proposing tax cuts that will go to every small business nationwide, providing incentives to hire and make new investments.

• A commitment to rebuilding and revitalizing communities across the country will target investments to the communities hardest-hit by the recession. The President’s investments in infrastructure include a school construction initiative with a significant commitment to the largest urban school districts, an investment in revitalizing communities that have been devastated by foreclosures, and a new initiative to expand infrastructure employment opportunities for minorities, women, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

For more details on the plan, visit:

• White House Blog:  Small Businesses Creating Jobs is the Core of the American Jobs Act (Karen Mills, Administrator of the Small Business Association): http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/09/small-businesses-creating-jobs-core-american-jobs-act

• White House Blog: Get the facts: (includes the President’s speech, a graphics slideshow, and a fact sheet on the American Jobs Act): http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/08/american-jobs-act-get-facts

• White House Blog: Your Voice Makes a Difference in Putting Americans Back to Work (Jon Carson, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement): http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/08/your-voice-makes-difference-putting-america-back-work

• Text of the Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/08/address-president-joint-session-congress

• Fact Sheets on the American Jobs Act:
  • Short Overview: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/08/fact-sheet-american-jobs-act
  • Long Overview: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/08/fact-sheet-and-overview

• Fact Sheets on the American Jobs Act and its Impact on Communities:
  • Impact for Women and the Economy: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/women_fact_sheet_9-8_final_version.pdf
  • Impact for African American Families and the Economy: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/af-am_sheet_9-8_final_version.pdf
  • The Impact for Hispanic Families and the Economy: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/hispanic_fact_sheet_9-8_final_version.pdf
  • The Impact for Low Income Families and the Economy: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/low_income_sheet_9-8_final_version_2.pdf
  • The Impact for Native Americans and the Economy: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/native_american_9-8_final_version.pdf

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