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ALISA HINES: NOW NOT ALL JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS ARE CREATED EQUAL ACCORDING TO
OKLAHOMA SENATOR DR TOM COBURN.
IN A REPORT RELEASED BY HIS OFFICE, SENATOR COBURN IS HIGHLY CRITICAL OF
MONEY BEING WASTED ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
OUR ROB MCCLENDON SAT DOWN WITH SENATOR COBURN TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WORKS, AND
WHAT HE BELIEVES DOESN'T.
ROB MCCLENDON: DR COBURN, IN THE FEDERAL OVERSIGHT REPORT THAT YOU RELEASED
ON JOB TRAINING, YOU REALLY FOCUS ON HERE IN OKLAHOMA.
I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, WHY HERE, AND WHY THAT SUBJECT?
TOM COBURN: WELL, IF YOU'RE GONNA BE CRITICAL WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS
LOOK AT A WHOLE AREA AND YOU KNOW, I'VE KNOWN ABOUT THIS, THIS HAS BEEN KNOWN
IN TERMS OF THE JOB TRAINING DUPLICATION THAT'S OUT THERE, FOR TWO
AND HALF YEARS.
AND, THE HOUSE ACTUALLY, A COMMITTEE IN THE HOUSE ACTUALLY REFORMED THIS AND
CUT IT FROM 33 TO 1 PROGRAMS; OF COURSE, IT HADN'T COME ANYWHERE, THE
SENATE WON'T ALLOW IT TO BE, BE SEEN.
NOW WE SPEND 18 BILLION DOLLARS ON 47 SEPARATE JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS, AND
WHAT WE DECIDED TO DO IS, WE LOOKED TO SEE WHAT WORKS; AND, WHAT WE FOUND
IS, I HAD ALL OF OUR FIELD REPS WHO WORK FOR THE U S SENATE OFFICE HERE IN
OKLAHOMA, GO OUT AN INTERVIEW ALL OKLAHOMA-RUN JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS,
OKLAHOMA INSTITUTIONS, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, CAREERTECH, AND THEN ALSO
TRY TO GATHER INFORMATION ON ALL THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS.
AND, MOST OF THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS WERE FAIRLY COOPERATIVE AND WHAT YOU
SEE IN THE OUTCOME IN THE REPORT IS WHAT WORKS IS WHAT OKLAHOMA RUNS, NOT
WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RUNS; IN TERMS OF, TRULY GIVING SKILLS TO
SOMEBODY THAT WILL HAVE, ELEVATE THEIR STANDARD OF LIVING, WHAT WORKS IS WHAT
OKLAHOMA DOES.
WITH RARE INSTANCES SOME OF THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS WORK, BUT NOT WITHOUT
SIGNIFICANT COST AND NOT IN TERMS OF AN EFFICIENT WAY.
SO, WE LOOKED AT OKLAHOMA SO THAT WHEN WE SAID, HEY, WE'RE LOOKING AT US,
HERE'S OKLAHOMA, NOW LOOK AT YOUR STATE AND SEE HOW WELL IT'S WORKING.
AND, OF COURSE, MOST PEOPLE WON'T EVER DO THAT, THEY WON'T EVER LOOK AT
WHAT WORKS.
ROB: SO WHAT MAKES THE STATE-RUN PROGRAM THROUGH THE CAREERTECH SYSTEM
EFFECTIVE?
COBURN: ONE, FLEXIBILITY; NUMBER TWO ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE STATE LEGISLATOR
AND THE GOVERNOR, IN TERMS OF, ARE, THEY HAVE MATRICES ON 'EM,
PERFORMANCE MATRIX.
THERE'S TRANSPARENCY WITH 'EM, THERE'S MINIMAL RULES, IN OTHER WORDS,
PEOPLE ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO DO THE SMART, COMMON SENSE, RIGHT
THINGS AND IT'S SEEN IF THEY'RE NOT DOING IT.
WHERE AS IN THE FEDERAL PROGRAMS, WE, WE HAVE, WE RUN 47 SEPARATE, DIFFERENT
FEDERAL JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS IN OKLAHOMA, 168 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR;
WHAT, IT'S ALL CONTROL FROM WASHINGTON, HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO, HERE'S
WHAT YOU CAN'T DO.
THERE'S NOT HARDLY ANY MATRIX, SOME OF 'EM HAVE MATRIX, BUT MOST DON'T
HAVE MATRIX; WHAT ARE YOU ACCOMPLISHING AND WHAT DID IT COST TO ACCOMPLISH
THAT?
IN OKLAHOMA, WE KNOW THAT; BECAUSE WE'RE SPENDING OUR MONEY, SO WE'RE MUCH MORE
IN TUNE WITH HOW IT'S BEING SPENT.
ON THE FEDERAL JOB PROGRAM, WE'RE SPENDING OUR MONEY TOO, BUT IT'S
SEEN AS COMING FROM WASHINGTON, AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY ISN'T
THERE.
ROB: SO HOW IMPORTANT IS IT, NO MATTER THE STATE THAT INDUSTRY AND
EDUCATION WORK TOGETHER?
COBURN: CRITICAL, AND CAREERTECH AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES HAVE ACTUALLY
PROVEN THAT IN OKLAHOMA; WHERE YOU COMBINE INDUSTRY NEEDS WITH CAREERTECH
SKILLS GENERATION AND EDUCATION THROUGH THE COMMUNITY COLLEGES, AND
NOT JUST THEM, BUT OTHERS, AND WHAT HAPPENS IS, YOU HAVE A REAL FORMULA FOR
SUCCESS.
AND, AND THERE'S GOOD LEADERSHIP TOO IN OKLAHOMA; LEADERS, YOU
KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE PROBLEM WE HAVE, AND IT'S NOT CRITICAL THAT
OKLAHOMA'S WORKING IN FEDERAL JOB TRAINING, THEY'RE AS FRUSTRATED WITH
'EM AS I AM BECAUSE THEY SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, HERE'S ALL THESE HURDLES WE HAVE
TO JUMP TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING AND THEY'RE TELLING US WHAT WE
CAN AND CAN'T DO, AND IN THE MATTER OF COMMON SENSE IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE
THAT WE'RE DOING WHAT YOU'RE TELLING US TO DO, GIVE US SOME FLEXIBILITY,
AND OF COURSE, THERE IS NONE.
ROB: SO JUST TO BE CLEAR HERE, IN TODAY'S ECONOMY DO YOU BELIEVE THERE IS A
ROLE FOR JOB TRAINING?
COBURN: ABSOLUTELY; BUT, NOT FEDERAL.
ROB: OKAY, SO.
COBURN: IT, IT'S, JUST GO LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, IT'S NOT WORKING ANYWHERE,
EFFECTIVELY OR EFFICIENTLY.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE'RE RUNNING ONE POINT FOUR TRILLION DOLLAR BUDGET
DEFICITS, AND WE'RE SPENDING A DOLLAR ON JOB TRAINING THAT'S NOT
EFFECTIVE, AND WE COULD BE SPENDING THAT DOLLAR DOING BREAST CANCER RESEARCH
THAT MIGHT SAVE SOMEBODY'S LIFE, WHERE'S THE MORAL EQUATION AT?
INSTEAD OF SAYING, OH WELL, WE'RE THROWING MONEY AT IT, WE SEE IT AS A
PROBLEM; AND SO, WHAT I HIGHLIGHTED WAS IS, YOU KNOW, NOT ALL OF
OKLAHOMA'S PROGRAMS WORK PERFECTLY, BUT IN CONTRAST TO THE FEDERAL JOB
TRAINING PROGRAMS, THEY'RE SO MUCH BETTER, IT'S LIKE NIGHT AND DAY.
THE REASON IS LEADERSHIP, YOU ACTUALLY HAVE, AND RESPONSIBILITY; PEOPLE ARE
TAKING LEADERSHIP POSITIONS TO MAKE 'EM WORK IN OKLAHOMA.
ROB: WELL ALRIGHT, DR COBURN, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
COBURN: YOU'RE WELCOME.