Copyright 2002 San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
September 19, 2002, Thursday , METRO
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
September 19, 2002, Thursday , METRO
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. 1A
HEADLINE: Project Quest facing budget showdown ; Some council members wonder if the $3.7 million job training program is worth it as thecity faces a big deficit.
BYLINE: Analisa Nazareno
BODY: Rene Serna had a hungry 5-year-old son and sank into depression two years ago when earnings from his part-time job couldn't keep up with the bills.
Today, he works full-time at Standard Aero's T-56 engine overhaul and repair plant, earning $11.96 an hour. He credits Project Quest, the city's job training program, for helping him put his family on sounder financial footing - so sound that he and his wife were able to buy a three-bedroom house.
"It built me up financially," he said. "It lifted my self-esteem."
The program that helped Serna increase his income recently has come under fire as City Council members contemplate ways to make up for a $42.4 million shortfall in next year's budget.
Some council members are saying the $3.7 million job training program shouldn't lean so heavily on the city's general fund for financing. Project Quest received $3 million from the city last year. The program faces a $600,000 cut in the next budget, which goes before the council today.
"It's a lot of tax dollars, and you have to give the constituents of San Antonio assurance that the program is worth that," District 10 Councilman David Carpenter said. "If it is, they've done a poor job of relaying that message to the public."
Carpenter said lingering bad feelings toward the grass-roots organizations that founded the program - Communities Organized for Public Service and the Metro Alliance - also have contributed to the increased scrutiny.
The groups recently opposed development of the PGA Village golf resort, which council members said could have increased job opportunities and sales tax revenues.
"They have been forcing the city into corners and taken a stake to the PGA," he said. "They could have put their stake into mandating better jobs, and they didn't do that. And that's where they are today."
Said Mary Pena, Quest's executive director: "When you're talking about a $40 million deficit, of course it's going to impact Quest. But to me it's not so much whether we're doing the right thing or not.
"We stand by our work. It's because of the work that we do that I believe that the funds will come (in the future)."
Economists and national work force development experts have lauded the program's model and effectiveness. But they can't definitively say whether Quest participants manage to sustain decent salaries over the long haul.
After participants exit Quest, job liaisons call employers after 90 days to verify employment and wages. Since 2000, they have sent surveys through the mail, but more than half of the participants fail to return them.
The federal government, by comparison, requires job training programs to evaluate wage gains of participants after six months by tracking their Social Security numbers. The analysis nets earnings and employment data for up to 95 percent of participants in the state's federally funded work force development program.
Quest does not do a similar analysis using such federal data, Pena and board members said, because of the initial start-up cost of $50,000.
"When we look at our funding, we want as much money going to the participants as possible," said Andres Sarabia, a COPS leader and a Quest board member. "So are we going to decide to spend our money on studying the program when we can spend our money on 10 more participants? No. If someone wants to spend the money to study our program, we welcome it."
Ten years ago, a marriage of business and grass-roots interests gave birth to the job training program for the unemployed and underskilled in San Antonio. At the time, a national recession, high illiteracy rates, and job layoffs gave city leaders reasons for much concern.
The vocal organizers of COPS and Metro Alliance turned their attention from improving street drainage to building job opportunities. Quick-hit federal job training programs and part-time community college enrollment, they said, didn't lead many people to better jobs.
"When we started doing our research on why other training programs have failed, we found the flaws," said Quest board member Pat Ozuna, a COPS organizer. "We didn't find the flaws by talking to administrators. We found out the flaws by talking to people who had gone through them."
Their research led them to create Quest, which they said addressed the complex needs of low-income adults, who struggled to support their families and attend school.
The San Antonio Express-News owns the copyright to this story. For a full copy of this story, e-mail Analisa and she will send you a clip via e-mail or snail mail.
HEADLINE: Project Quest facing budget showdown ; Some council members wonder if the $3.7 million job training program is worth it as thecity faces a big deficit.
BYLINE: Analisa Nazareno
BODY: Rene Serna had a hungry 5-year-old son and sank into depression two years ago when earnings from his part-time job couldn't keep up with the bills.
Today, he works full-time at Standard Aero's T-56 engine overhaul and repair plant, earning $11.96 an hour. He credits Project Quest, the city's job training program, for helping him put his family on sounder financial footing - so sound that he and his wife were able to buy a three-bedroom house.
"It built me up financially," he said. "It lifted my self-esteem."
The program that helped Serna increase his income recently has come under fire as City Council members contemplate ways to make up for a $42.4 million shortfall in next year's budget.
Some council members are saying the $3.7 million job training program shouldn't lean so heavily on the city's general fund for financing. Project Quest received $3 million from the city last year. The program faces a $600,000 cut in the next budget, which goes before the council today.
"It's a lot of tax dollars, and you have to give the constituents of San Antonio assurance that the program is worth that," District 10 Councilman David Carpenter said. "If it is, they've done a poor job of relaying that message to the public."
Carpenter said lingering bad feelings toward the grass-roots organizations that founded the program - Communities Organized for Public Service and the Metro Alliance - also have contributed to the increased scrutiny.
The groups recently opposed development of the PGA Village golf resort, which council members said could have increased job opportunities and sales tax revenues.
"They have been forcing the city into corners and taken a stake to the PGA," he said. "They could have put their stake into mandating better jobs, and they didn't do that. And that's where they are today."
Said Mary Pena, Quest's executive director: "When you're talking about a $40 million deficit, of course it's going to impact Quest. But to me it's not so much whether we're doing the right thing or not.
"We stand by our work. It's because of the work that we do that I believe that the funds will come (in the future)."
Economists and national work force development experts have lauded the program's model and effectiveness. But they can't definitively say whether Quest participants manage to sustain decent salaries over the long haul.
After participants exit Quest, job liaisons call employers after 90 days to verify employment and wages. Since 2000, they have sent surveys through the mail, but more than half of the participants fail to return them.
The federal government, by comparison, requires job training programs to evaluate wage gains of participants after six months by tracking their Social Security numbers. The analysis nets earnings and employment data for up to 95 percent of participants in the state's federally funded work force development program.
Quest does not do a similar analysis using such federal data, Pena and board members said, because of the initial start-up cost of $50,000.
"When we look at our funding, we want as much money going to the participants as possible," said Andres Sarabia, a COPS leader and a Quest board member. "So are we going to decide to spend our money on studying the program when we can spend our money on 10 more participants? No. If someone wants to spend the money to study our program, we welcome it."
Ten years ago, a marriage of business and grass-roots interests gave birth to the job training program for the unemployed and underskilled in San Antonio. At the time, a national recession, high illiteracy rates, and job layoffs gave city leaders reasons for much concern.
The vocal organizers of COPS and Metro Alliance turned their attention from improving street drainage to building job opportunities. Quick-hit federal job training programs and part-time community college enrollment, they said, didn't lead many people to better jobs.
"When we started doing our research on why other training programs have failed, we found the flaws," said Quest board member Pat Ozuna, a COPS organizer. "We didn't find the flaws by talking to administrators. We found out the flaws by talking to people who had gone through them."
Their research led them to create Quest, which they said addressed the complex needs of low-income adults, who struggled to support their families and attend school.
The San Antonio Express-News owns the copyright to this story. For a full copy of this story, e-mail Analisa and she will send you a clip via e-mail or snail mail.