Dr. Erin Ward Bibo: Public Testimony Before the Committee of the Whole, April 23
Good afternoon Chairman Mendelson, Committee Members, and staff. My name is Erin Bibo, and I am Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at CityWorks DC, whose mission is to dramatically improve the early career outcomes of DC youth and young adults by creating innovative programs and mobilizing employers, educators, and city leaders to develop a local, diverse talent pipeline. I’m also a Ward 6 resident and parent of a Banneker Achiever, an Eliot-Hine Eagle, and a Maury Cougar.
I am here to share what most excites and concerns me in the city’s FY27 budget, in terms of education and workforce investments. Let’s start with concerns:
Significant cuts to the OSSE-funded adult Integrated Education & Training Programs will reduce their capacity to support by half - from 1000 adult learners in FY25 to fewer than 500 in FY27. This is in spite of these programs consistently performing in the top quartile nationwide in terms of learner outcomes on employment, earnings, and credential attainment. In past testimony, I proactively highlighted how impressed the industry leaders of Hire Local DC have been about the AFE programs’ efforts to inform and improve their curriculum, work-based learning offerings, and student coaching. Programs like UPO, CC-Prep, Catholic Charities, YouthBuild, CSOSA, LAYC-Career Academy, Next Step Public Charter School, and So Others Might Eat are truly doing exceptional work, with candidates who do not qualify for DOES funded workforce programs. This is the second year of funding cuts - cutting approximately $3M in local funds over two years (leaving only $1.79 million in local funds in FY27). I implore you to preserve their existing levels of funding at minimum.
Similarly, I am crushed to see cuts to UDC’s Workforce Development & Lifelong Learning Division. I have been so impressed by the caliber of candidates coming out of the WDLL Construction programs. At DC Builds DC’s most recent interview event, WDLL candidates were considered job ready by employers and offered roles at a higher rate than the rest of the interview event attendees. Moreover, Michael Proctor of the WDLL team was recently featured at a DC Builds DC panel on the changes they have made to their construction programming based on feedback from DC Builds DC industry leaders. With all of the job opportunities on the horizon in the construction trades in this city, I believe it is shortsighted to eliminate programming that’s effectively preparing residents for these good jobs.
Here’s what I’m happy to see:
The city’s sustained investment of $200k in the Education Through Employment data system will help the office to launch new public-facing dashboards to measure the impact of the District’s education and workforce programs. ETEP is also focused on building out dashboards for schools and LEAs to understand their alumni college and career outcomes, a tool that is critically needed and that schools have long requested. CityWorks DC has collaborated with the ETEP team to host school and LEA leaders for a session to provide feedback on the dashboard design and functionality, as well as provide insight on the training and support that will best equip school leaders to utilize dashboards with their school-based teams. These leaders are so excited to be able to access this early career outcomes data to inform their practice and improve student outcomes.
The City’s inclusion of formula funding tied to a programmatic weight in the UPSFF to support the sustainability and planned expansion of the Advanced Technical Center (ATC) is fantastic news. The ATC provides students from across the city with exactly the type of Career Asset Building opportunities they need and they want. Building robust career pathways into high wage, high demand jobs is one of the smartest investments we can make for our young people.
Thank you for your continued leadership and support of important Career Pathways investments for our District, its residents, and industry. I’m happy to answer any questions.