Sen. Charles Schumer is continuing his push locally to marshall support for the Job Corps Academy in Cassadaga.

We continue to stand behind efforts to increase the use of vocational education for Chautauqua County students. As a county with a shrinking population, we have a strong BOCES program as well as Jamestown Community College and the programs it offers. For all the consternation about the Job Corps’ potential closure, we have yet to hear why the Job Corps is irreplaceable for Chautauqua County residents, nor why there is no alternate way to provide the same services while potentially saving money.

Daniel DeMarte, JCC president, appeared with Schumer last week and talked about a new JCC program scheduled to launch this fall to help train Job Corps students become licensed practical nurses. Jomo Akono with the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters said the union provides some of the training for Job Corps students who want to be carpenters while Stephen Storey, a gear specialist with Green Mountain Electric Supply in Dunkirk, talked about the way the Job Corps provided him training and guidance as he embarked on his career.

We can’t say the programs discussed by DeMarte and Akomo and the training and guidance received by Storey won’t help students. We do question whether or not the Job Corps is the only way to provide those programs and services to students.

As we have said before in this space, there is a difference between supporting the Job Corps and supporting the Job Corps’ mission. If federal funding for the Job Corps is eliminated, there is absolutely nothing stopping others in the education field from finding ways to take the best of the Job Corps’ offerings and keep them alive.

It’s time to adapt. We can’t out of one side of our mouths raise concerns about federal spending deficits and out of the other side of our mouths resist every effort to cut federal spending. This is exactly why federal spending is out of control – every program has a constituency, and nobody wants to disappoint one of those constituencies. Rather than fight for the status quo, we’re better off fighting for a better future. It’s time to reimagine Job Corps programs without the Job Corps.